Art

Diagramming & Dry Erase

As my son (age 13) starts Latin this year (with The Lukeion Project), I am out of the grammar business with him, and starting anew with my two youngest.  I’ll post about our grammar progression at a later date, but I really enjoyed these “art” projects they created today. The assignment was to take the sentence, “The bird eats the worm,” and add modifiers.

The red bird gorily eats the poisonous worm. (boy, age 10)

The rainbow bird majestically eats the sparkly worm. (girl, age 12)

Watercolor Water Cycle

A combination project of art and science.  After studying the water cycle, we painted watercolor pictures of landscapes that included rivers, mountains, sky, and plants.  Clouds and precipitation were added with white and gray acrylic paint after the watercolors were dry.  Labels were written with Sharpie pens.

Tiki Scratch Art

Materials

  • Scratch art paper*
  • Scratch art tools of various styles
  • Ballpoint pen
  • Tape
  • Colored paper for mounting

*Scratchboards are the most durable but expensive.  You can also find scratch art paper with white backing, rainbow backing, or clear backing.  All available on Amazon. We used clear backing.

Directions (Original idea at Inside the Lines.)

  1. Google “tiki line drawings” on a computer.  Choose one and print, or draw your own.
  2. Lay the printout/drawing on top of the scratch art paper. Tape both down.  Using the ballpoint pen, trace the drawing.  The lines should transfer through to the scratch art paper.
  3. Remove the printout.  Use scratch art tools “carve out” space of white/color.  Scratch wood texture into some spaces.
  4. Mount on a piece of colored paper when finished.

 

Nature Mural

Summer art project. Size is 3 feet across by 4 feet long.

Project time was approximately 6 weeks, working 10-15 minutes per day.

Mural 1

Nature Mural, ages 9-12

Supplies:

  • Bulletin board paper
  • Wax paper
  • Pencils
  • Paintbrushes
  • Acrylic paints (red, yellow, blue, black, white)
  • Watercolor paints (standard palette)
  • Painting tarps, t-shirts, towels, tape, water

Instructions:

  • Tape wax paper to wall with painters tape.
  • Tape bulletin board paper over wax paper.

(The wax paper prevents any paint from seeping through.  If you have a large roll of butchers paper / freezer paper with the waxed backing, that can be used as well).

  • Choose a scene and animals.
    • Print out images from the internet to find poses and colorations.
    • Sketch a background.  (In this case, Mom sketched the dock and the horizon line).
    • Have kids take turns sketching animals, plants, etc.

Mural 2

I suggest only one child working at a time, unless they are feeling particularly chummy!

  • After all sketching is done, paint animals using acrylic paint.
    • Have the kids mix all their own colors using only primary colors (blue/red/yellow) with black and white for dark/light tones.
  • Paint background objects using acrylic paint.

Mural 3

  • Let dry thoroughly..
  • Paint water using watered-down watercolors. The watercolor can be washed over everything, so neatness is not needed.
    • Waves were added in with acrylics later.
    • Small details can be added with paint or even sharpies if needed (we sharpied in the herons’ orange eyes).

Mural 4

Math Art & The Right Side of Normal

I’m currently purging the schoolroom, starting to prepare for our move this summer. While cleaning out, I found these pictures I created long ago with my oldest daughter.

3x5-math-art

Ten years ago she was almost 7 years old.  To say she was struggling with math is an understatement; no matter how much we worked on math, especially facts, the next day all would be forgotten.  Zero retention.  I began doubting my ability to teach her, especially since she was also struggling with reading.

Fortunately for both of us, around this time I also stumbled upon a yahoo group run by Cindy Gaddis at The Right Side of Normal.  I learned so much from her and the other moms on the group.  (The yahoo group has pretty much died out, but the Facebook page is still active, and her book and website contain wonderful information.)  My child was absolutely a “resistant learner,” and thanks to Cindy this was the beginning of learning to work with my daughter, rather than against her.

4x4-math-art

We dropped all formal math curriculum and began to play.  These pictures are the very first thing we created, a treasure for me as they mark the beginning of my journey as a teacher of (and learner with) my children, not just an instructor.

Math Art Week 4 – Division Facts

This “division tree” is similar to the multiplication leaves from last week. The first step in this project is to cut circles of different sizes from varying types of paper.  If the student struggles to cut circles, circle punches can be used, or they can be cut ahead of time by the instructor.  (Some of my students wanted to make their shapes more like leaves than circles.) Next, arrange the circles in stacks; use the term “divide” as much as possible: “Divide your circles into 3 stacks?  What about 4?  How many circles are in each stack? Can you divide them evenly without any leftover?”  Once the student grasps the concept of dividing, proceed with the project.

week4pic1

Materials

  • various colors and types of paper*
  • scissors and/or circle punches
  • glue or mod podge

*We used scrapbook paper for the background, colored paper for the tree and circles, and some origami paper for the decorative bits. In the picture above, origami paper is used for the top 2 layers, which makes it difficult to distinguish that there are 2 layers!

Directions

  1. Cut and divide circles as describe above.
  2. Decide on a permanent arrangement / number of stacks.
  3. Cut a tree to match the number of stacks.
  4. Glue all parts to a heavy piece of paper.
  5. Create a label to show which division fact is being illustrated.

Math Art Week 3 – Multiplication Facts

This week in Math Art we created an art panel to illustrate a multiplication fact. Our plants had leaves broken into 2 sections; each section was doodled differently.  The students multiplied the 2 sections by the number of leaves they created to figure out their math fact.

week3pic1

Materials

  • cardboard pieces from boxes
  • gesso
  • various paintbrushes
  • acrylic paint
  • plain colored paper for leaves and stem
  • decorative paper
  • mod podge
  • fine tip permanent ink art marker, such as a Sharpie Fine Point Pen*

*It is important to use a permanent ink pen, or the doodles will smear when mod podge is applied.

Directions

  1. Paint cardboard with gesso to prime it.  Let dry.  (Use hairdryer to speed up drying time).
  2. Paint a background color on cardboard with acrylic paint.  Let dry.
  3. On colored paper, draw leaf shapes.
    • Divide each leaf shape into sections.  You may choose 2, 3, 4 or more sections.  Each section will be doodled differently.
    • If you are working on a specific math fact, instruct the students to divide their leaves into that number of sections. For example, if you are creating, 6×4, you may have 6 leaves each with 4 sections, or 4 leaves each with 6 sections.
  4. Decorate the leaves by doodling each section with zentangles.
  5. Cut out a slightly larger leaf from the decorative paper to mount under the doodled leaf.
  6. Cut out a stem shape.
  7. Use mod podge to apply all shapes to the dried cardboard.
  8. Write out the math fact and mod podge it on the cardboard.

 

Math Art Week 2 – Fractions

Our project this week was based on the book “Picture Pie” by Ed Emberley.  Picture Pie helps the reader create simple pieces of art based on the fractions of a circle.   While these look simple, the execution can be quite tedious.  Below are the details for a simple bookmark.

FullSizeRender

“Fraction Fish Bookmark”

week2pic11

Materials

  • black construction paper, cut in 2″ strips for bookmarks
  • colored or patterned paper for circles
  • 1″ circle punch
  • scissors
  • glue
  • laminator (optional)

Directions

Teach a short lesson on the fractions of a circle.  Have kids use the circle punch and scissors to cut up and sort fractions.

 

Choose pieces for the Fraction Fish bookmark. This project requires 12 quarters and 2 eighths.


 week2pic9

Arrange pieces in desired configuration.  Glue onto bookmark.

week2pic10

Let dry.  Laminate if desired.  (If you choose not to laminate, press the dried bookmark until all pieces are nicely flattened).

Other Projects

Math Art Week 1 – Number Bonds

This summer we are hosting a small “Math Art” class for a few of our friends.  Each week we will create a math-themed art project (or an art-themed math project!).

week1pic3

Ways to Make “10”

For Week 1 we created a mixed media board that illustrated a Number Bond.  Each student picked a Number, then cut numbers out of newspaper and magazines to show at least 4 “ways to make” their chosen Number.   The ages of these kids were from 7 to 11 years old.

Materials

  • cardboard
  • various paintbrushes
  • Mod Podge
  • papers to create a background (scrapbook paper, newspaper, old worksheets)
  • acrylic paint
  • small container to mix paint with water
  • wax paper
  • old magazines and newspapers
  • scissors
  • pencils

Directions

  1. Cut pieces of cardboard from old boxes.
  2. Use a paintbrush & Mod Podge to paste on a background.  We used old math worksheets & tests. Tear paper to fit. (If you haven’t used Mod Podge before, just paint the cardboard with a thin coat, place your piece of decorative paper, then paint another thin coat on top.  Continue layering.)
  3. Let dry, about 15 minutes if the Mod Podge is a thin coat.  Trim edges.
  4. Paint the background with watered down acrylic paint.  If the paint is too thick to see the background, wipe some off with a towel.
  5. Let dry.
  6. Have each student choose a Number.  On a piece of paper, have them list at least 4 “ways to make” that Number.  Provide magazines, newspapers, and scissors to hunt for numbers.  (The weekly ads are a great source!)  They can keep track of the numbers they have found by laying them on the paper where they wrote their answers.
  7. When the background paint is dry, use a pencil to sketch the body of a dragonfly.
  8. Paint the dragonfly body with acrylic paint (NOT watered down!).  I place a dab of red, yellow, blue, and white paint on a piece of wax paper for each child, and let them mix colors as they wish.
  9. Let dry.
  10. Have each student look through magazines to find a pretty pattern for wings.  Cut wings and set aside.
  11. Once the paint is mostly dry, use Mod Podge to attach the numbers and wings.
  12. After all paint is completely dry, you can Mod Podge over the entire piece as a finish coat.

Doodle Animals

In Classical Conversations we spend the first six weeks of the year learning the “OiLS” method of drawing taught in Mona Brookes’ book “Drawing With Children.”  OiLS stands for circles (O), dots (dot of the i), straight lines (line of the i), angled lines (L), and curved lines (S).  The children learn to see these elements in many different pieces of art and drawing.

These same elements are also used in the meditative drawing technique of Zentangles.  We do doodles/tangles in our house almost every day as a way to focus our minds and exercise fine motor muscles (sample day here).

doodle horse

The Idea

Combine OiLS drawing method with other drawing techniques, including Zentangles.

 

doodle frog

The Execution

Lately we’ve been combining our doodles with regular drawing exercises (from 20 Ways to Draw… books).  For younger children (or those with less drawing experience), you could print a picture off the internet and have them fill in the spaces with doodles.  The pictures on this page took a week or two to complete, working 5-10 minutes each day.

doodle squirrel

The Extension

For older children (or those more advanced in drawing), use doodles as accents and/or shading for 3-dimensional drawings.  Results would be similar to the techniques of hatching, cross-hatching, and stippling.