the one where we bust out the paint

If you take a look, you will see that my last post was on the first day of school ~ in 2013. Uh...what happened there? Half of the summer is even over.

I have a project that I did with my class in the last days of the school year to share with you.  

I saw this painting from one of those wine & canvas group painting classes. It was actually a kids' project for Father's Day. I showed it to Greg and told him that I wanted to paint this to put in my class. He asked if I was going to have the students do it to. Good idea! I am rarely afraid of painting with kids, so why not!

Before we started on the canvas, I gave the students a piece of paper the same size as the canvas and we practiced drawing the owl. We went through the drawing process step by step so when it was time to draw the owl on the canvas there would be minimal erasing. I find that when you draw with kids, if you break the drawing up into basic shapes it helps them be more successful. For example, I told them the top of the head was a U shape that was stretched wide, then the left side was a J hooked onto it.

We painted on 5 x 7 canvas boards. Originally, I wanted to do a bigger painting, but in my last minute buying, the store didn't have the stock I needed.  This size turned out to be just fine.

Painting tip: I use old egg cartons as paint trays. Depending on the size of the project, they can be cut into fours or sixes, or even left whole. When we are done for the day, we just toss them in the trash.

Here are some of the finished products. I love how even though we all did the same painting, they turned out very individualized. I'm digging the mustache!

We worked on this in several paint sessions over the course of about three days. We went slowly, step by step. I painted my own and showed them tips and tricks as I projected it with the document camera.

The black outlining on the original was likely done with paint, but it was probably a much larger canvas, with the correct brushes for line work. Since ours were smaller canvases and our brushes a little bulky for that type of work with the inexperienced hands of the little people, we finished our details with a Sharpie. I think it worked well.

To completely finish the project, the students created a dedication card to go on the back to cover up the unsightly label. I also hot glued a piece of string on the back in a loop for hanging.

Here's my example. Like I said, I painted along with the kids. I did this with the intention of redoing the art on a bigger scale for a class decoration for this coming year. But I'm pretty pleased with the small version, so I will be incorporating this one into my classroom art.

 

art for the classroom

This year I wanted to incorporate art more in my classroom ~ both visually and in the activities we do. When I was still deciding on the theme for my class, I was inspired by this photo on Pinterest.

(source)

I love the paintings these kids did. They are all the same, yet so individual. Don't they look happy about what they have created? I knew this would be the perfect painting for my class. 

By the way, this is a really popular picture. It has been repinned 65 from my boards alone. I wonder how many other people actually made an owl painting.

Here's my version. The main colors I used in my class this year are pink, orange, turquoise, and green, with the neutral of brown. I incorporated most of those colors into the painting.

It was fun creating this and thinking about the kids who will be in my class. I thought about the atmosphere I want to create for the kids and how I want them to feel at home. I put all of my positive teaching energies into this painting.

Heather made one of her own, but she's not quite finished yet. Hers looks wonderful so far ~ the same as mine, yet so very different.

The next piece of art I created was inspired by Farley. She did this project with her 4th graders last year. Check it out on her blog ~ here and here.

I looked at her students' projects a bunch and a bunch, but when it came time to do mine, I forgot to let the rays go off the side of the canvas. Hmm. Oh well. I still really like how it turned out. All along I was going to have the sun at the bottom until all the rays were done and it happened to be sitting on the table sideways. I decided I like it that way better. Good thing it was before I put the letters on.

She had her kids use a Sharpie for all the black. But, I'm really comfortable with the brush, so I just used black paint and varied the thicknesses a little.

Here they are hanging up in my class. I think they look lovely together. Hopefully they will inspire the students to embrace their creativity, remind them to shine & do their best, and make them feel our class is a homey place to be. The canvases are not huge (11" x 14") because I didn't want them to be the focus of the classroom. But they are just enough.

My art is certainly more "tight" and more controlled than the examples of kid art I was copying. At first that bothered me that I wasn't able to let go and let it be more loose. But then I realized I love what I created and that's all that really matters. I made the art the way I wanted.

Soon I will give you a tour of the whole class ~ including the bubbled paint from a leak from recent rain storms. See it above the bulletin board? Awesome, right?

School starts tomorrow.

I'm nervous.

I'm excited.

I'm ready to get back to work, but not ready for summer to be over all at the same time.

I won't sleep tonight.

I will stay up really late so I will be exhausted enough to sleep.

But I will have nightmares and won't sleep well.  Happens every year.

But tomorrow will be a great day! And this is going to be a great year! I can feel it in the air.