Leaf Paintings in Tints and Shades

 

This lesson was inspired by the leaf paintings featured here at Paul J. Gelinas Junior High School.

My grade 4 students created our version of these paintings by drawing a large outline of a leaf on their page using pencil. They then divided the shape using one central line and then used lines to create smaller areas of shape. 

Students were then asked to choose one colour paint of their choice as well as black and white and then painted the divided areas using as many tints and shades of their chosen colour as they could mix. Once painted they used a thick black marker to retrace all their lines before cutting out their leaf and gluing to black card. I love the way these turned out, they remind me of stained glass windows.

Spin Paintings

I saw this activity at 'Casa Maria's Creative Learning Zone' and knew I would have to try it at some point. Her student's results were so beautiful and reminded me of British artist Damien Hirst's Spin Paintings. 

The only place  I know that still sells salad spinners is IKEA. Grab yourself a couple. I then made a cardboard template of a circle that fit the inside of the salad spinner. I had the students trace the template and cut out a couple of circles for themselves out of white paper. The consistency of the paint is important. It needs to be fairly thin and runny. We used liquid watercolours in squeezy bottles. The painting process is best completed in pairs with younger students. One can hold the spinner whilst the other adds paints and spins the lid. Students can open the lid at any time and decide whether to spin more or add more paint. 

The results were exciting and once dry you could incorporate them into another art work. We simply glued ours onto card as an example of experimental painting. We also completed 'Tie Dye with Baby Wipes' in the same lesson.

Tie Dye with Baby Wipes

This is a really easy project that I enjoyed as much as the students. I did this with grade 1 students but I'm sure any year level will enjoy it. The idea comes from 'I Can Teach My Child', where Jenae says you can use either regular textas/markers or liquid watercolours. I found the markers weren't as effective so we used tempera paints. I also discovered that very few children this age could wind the rubber bands around the wipes so you will probably need a helper for young children.

The results were exciting though and once dry you could incorporate them into another art work. We simply glued ours onto card as an example of experimental painting. We also completed 'Spin Paintings' in the same lesson. With older students you could discuss more about the history of the artform and perhaps link it to similar techniques such as Batik.

  

Flower Sculptures in Clay

These flower sculptures were created by grade 3 students in paper clay. Students were given a large variety of fake fabric flowers to observe and chose one flower of their choice to reproduce in clay.  Each student began by rolling and cutting a clay tile approximately 10cm square. They then rolled and cut pieces for leaves and petals and attached them to the tile using the correct joining method (score, slip, stick, smooth).  We also researched the way flowers are made in icing for cake decoration and some students chose to use some of these techniques, particularly for roses. 

The completed clay work was so lovely that I decided against ceramic glazing as I felt students could achieve more subtle, realistic results with paint only. Painting also allowed for exploration with colour mixing and creating tone for a more realistic look.