Penguins in Antarctica

First we painted a cool color background with tempera paint. I encouraged them to create a pattern. 

I had two tables set up as the "snow stations"...once they had painting all the white space of their background, they could come add dots of snow with wooden sticks and white tempera paint. 

Day Two: Creating Penguins...we did a step-by-step process using construction paper. 

Group Project Option: I did a collaborative Antarctica collage with some other classes for our upcoming art show. This was really fun! Minecraft penguins were pretty popular with the boys. 

Cezanne Inspired Still-Life with Fruit

I've been teaching this lesson for the last couple of years and I keep changing it. This year I really focused on getting the kids to 'draw' the actual still-life, instead of letting them invent a still-life by tracing circles. I think drilling this early is going to make a big difference...

Day One:
We define "still-life" in our idea books. They draw a still-life on their own (pre-assessment) then I draw it with them. We compare our drawings and see who was using their "artist eyes" to really observe the objects.

Then I let them trace a plate to get a big circle...and then they draw the fruit and paint with warm colors.

Day Two:
We write about contrasting colors in our idea books then draw two columns...one side warm colors and the other cool colors. Then we draw a pattern for our "table" on our painting from day one. They get to paint with cool colors to show contrast. I like to talk about how "water is your friend" when you are painting....as a result, they create some value without really knowing it. So they're paintings have a little more depth. I have also started letting them use the smaller, nicer brushes...so those little brushstrokes look really nice.

Here is a really nice painting...not a still life at all...but hey, if the art teacher can't appreciate a good painting, then why are we here? 

Day Three: Adding shadows and highlights. 

I got the oil pastels out to bring some "definition" to these paintings...cause I guess I can't live without line. We added some extra pizazz/patterns/designs. Then I demonstrated how to do an "easy shadow" and a quick highlight...we outlined in black to bring some more boldness to our paintings. 

Overall...some of my favorite still-lifes yet.