Painting with chalk

As we move through the history of art in Art 1 we have to stop and take note of the styles of Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch.  We note how they were post-impressionism artists with some expressionism in their work.  We look at how color can affect the mood of a painting.  So we started by making a simple tree, dividing it in half and then chalk painting one side with bright colors and the other side with depressing dark colors.

This is also  great way for students to get the hang of chalk painting.  I don't know where I came up with this a few years ago, but we do is take colored chalk and we mix it with colorful paint.  The rules are simple.
1. You have to have the paint and chalk combine, so you can't just cover the paper with chalk.  This means you have to do the short choppy brush-like strokes of van Gogh and Munch because the paint doesn't spread very far off of the chalk.
2. You also can't use the same color paint as chalk.  So you can't use a blue chalk with a blue paint, their is no color change when you do that.  The more you mix it up the more beautiful and interesting that the painting will get.
3.  And lastly, make sure that you wipe off the chalk when you are done painting with it.  The paint will ruin the chalk and you can't wash chalk.  You can let the paint dry and then clean it with an xacto knife though.

Here are some of my favorites this year.  I tried to get them to create a mood with their final project.  

Paige S.

Kayley R.

Drea B.

Jacob K.

Keeping it simple

So our first week back from Christmas break was kind of crazy.  We had an early dismissal, a late start, no school, an early dismissal and a late start.  That was our first week.

So I decided to do a project that was simple but could be complicated depending on what the students put into it.  I wanted something that had tons of options with very little instruction.  So we started doing tape and paint abstracts on canvas.

I had each student bring in a canvas size of their choosing.  We then started by making samples on small scraps of watercolor paper so that they could get a few ideas before just diving into their canvas.  We played with applying tape designs first versus painting first.  We experimented with what happens if you paint then tape then add more tape and paint again.  It was a lot of experimenting going on.  I think they each found their design and technique in this process.  Some still decided to just wing it.

Once they were ready for the final I gave them the good blue painters tape to create their designs.  Some painted first, some taped first, some cut the tape some made symmetrical designs, some just let go with their designs.  But in all it was good for them to have no restrictions and to just have fun with mediums.

Demi H.

Dustin M.

Erin S.

Kamber L.

Logan O.

Malary M.

Marcelle W.

Sammy K.

6th grade prints

This is our attempt at styrofoam printmaking with 6th grade.  Not too bad, but lessoned learned to pass on for next year.

More paintings in paintings

I know, still more??  But of course..

by Roy Lichtenstein in the style of Chuck Close
painted by April K.

by Salvador Dali in the style of pointillism
painted by Alex L.

4th grade van gogh's

For the 4th grade artist unit, we had to study Van Gogh's Starry Night.  This is one of my favorite paintings.  I love the colors and swirls and the violence of the sky with the calmness of the village.  The kids found everything that I wanted them to see when we VTSed the painting.  (Visual thinking stratagies). 

But... I didn't want to just repaint starry night.  I wanted them to take his inspiration and make our own pictures.  So we talked about places that you could go or draw.  Then we drew a large object on the left side of the picture just like van gogh's tree, and we drew some hills with a quiet scene on the right side, like his village and hills.

Most of the kids picked a tropical destination, but a few picked the mountains or a park or one of my favorites which is the icebergs in sunset.

More painting in a paintings

Old Guitartist by Pablo Picasso
painted in the style of Van Gogh's Expressionism
by Brett P.

Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol
Painted in the style of Roy Lichtenstein
by Rylee S.

Yellow Dog by Franz Marc
in the style of Van Gogh's Expressionism
painted by Shayla B.

Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh
painted in the style of Roy Lichtenstein
by Zach K.

More Owls

My Friday class just finished their owls the other day, so I am showing them off today.  They came out cute.

A painting in a painting

I was trying to think of a challenging project for my Painting/Sculpture students. Mostly I was trying to think of a project to slow them down.  They are making quality work, but at a feverish pace and I am running out of ideas. 

So about 2 weeks ago I had this thought,  what about painting a famous work of art in the style of another famous artist??  At first I think they thought I was crazy, but then they started to get into the project and while not all of them are done the first few are pretty good.

"Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gogh in the style of Picasso's Cubism
painted by Summer

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Jan Vermeer in the style of Andy Warhol
painted by Robyn

"Numbers in Color" by Jasper Johns in the style of Georges Seurat's Pointillism
painted by Chelsea

Terry Redlin painting in the expressionism style of Vincent Van Gogh
painted by Cody H

"Saturn Devouring his Children" by Francisco Goya in the technique of Fauvism
painted by Chris B

"American Gothic" by Grant Wood in the expressionism style of Edvard Munch
painted by Logan H.