Flower Still Lives with Glue and Chalk

    4th Grade students learned about different artists that painted still lives or flowers.  We studied Janet Fish, Matisse, Van Gogh, Renoir, and de Heem.  I wanted them to see a range of artists from Modern to the Baroque period.

    Next, students practiced a simple still life drawing in their sketchbook.  They were told that they would eventually be outlining their drawings with glue and had to avoid tiny details.  I gave them this handout for ideas, but told them they could draw their own as well. 

 

  Next, students drew their flowers on 12x18 black paper.  The vase was to be symmetrical and fill half the paper and then finish with flowers.  Once done drawing they outlined everything with glue.  Some students used little skewers to add glue to small areas.  Next class, when the glue was dry, they added the chalk. 

  This lesson was adapted from the book Dynamic Art Projects for Children (which is a great book).  In the lesson provided they suggest using a brayer with black tempera to roll over the glue.  I tried this, but was not thrlieed with the results.  I  found that it was best to have students use a small paint brush and black tempera and just paint the glue.  Added the paint really helped pop the flowers.

I was happy with the results and would do this project again.

 

Warm leaves in the Cool wind...

Today my 2nd graders finished this lesson. I was really happy with the results. We started by making leaf rubbings and then painting them with warm colors. I was able to review the term texture that we discussed last year. Next, I showed the painting Starry Night, and we discussed what Van Gogh's swirls represented. The students used cool colored oil pastels and made swirls on 90lb. white paper. We used tempera cakes (with lots of water) to finish the background. Finally, on the last day, we cut out the leaves and glued them onto the background. Some students added green leaves by printing with cardboard and tempera. This was a fun fall project that reinforced art elements learned last year.