Easter Egg Cards with my 7-10 Group

Painting Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol with my 9-13 group

For the last three classes we have been gradually building up portraits of Warhol and Frida. We began by lightly outlining the faces onto the canvas using the grid method, based on printed out photos of the artists. We also made monochromatic scales, mixing as many shades of purple/green as we could. The students first applied their midtones then focused on applying darker tones, then finally lighter tones. The students were then asked to choose a colour that complements one of the shades of green/purple for the back ground. They were shown a colour wheel in order to make this decision (choosing a shade on the opposite side of the wheel).

Upside Down Drawings with my 9-13 group

I really love doing this activity because it helps students to be less precious about their work and gives them a chance to have a laugh with each other at the end of the lesson. 

I got the idea from reading Betty Edward's "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain." She encourages students to practice this method of drawing as it forces them to focus on the lines and shapes that make up a picture rather than informing their drawings on preconceived ideas of what objects look like. I handed out print-outs of Picasso's drawing of a man sitting in a chair and a knight on a horse and asked them to turn them upside down and draw from the top of the page downwards. I think the results are great!

Drawing Using a Grid with my 9-13 Class

Eric Carle Style Collages and Book-Making

The best part about this project was getting the students to make 'pages of texture and colour.' This involved using balloons, toothpicks, brushes and their hands to apply paint to several pages. I encouraged the students to work together and discuss how many pages they would need for the sky and grass. The students were to share all the pages when making their collages so it was an excellent exercise in getting the kids to think about the needs of the whole class above their own. 

Yayoi Kusama Pumpkins

Yayoi Kunama is one of my favourite artists so I was very excited to try this project out with my 5-7 year old class. Below is an example of my work that I showed the students as an example. I began by covering my pumpkin drawing with polkadots using Q-tips. I think covered an entire page with oil pastels and then painted a layer of black acrylic. Once the paint had tried I carved triangles using a pushpin. I decided to allow the students to draw the triangles with oil pastels first and then painting back ink over the top in order to make the process easier and less time consuming for them.

T-shirt stencils with 9-13 group

Tie-Dye T-shirts and Tote Bags!

Making Autobiographical Comics!

During my time completing my Diploma of Education I had the fantastic opportunity to visit a highschool and deliver an art-based work shop to a small group of Year 7 students at lunch time. This is the resource I made for them to assist them in planning for their comics. I drew a lot of inspiration from Heather McAdam's program that she implemented for University students.

 Heather McAdams Autobiographical Comics

End of term gems from last year

One of the best things about teaching younger children is that they make amazing presents at the end of term!