Kids Art: Painting Octopus with Watercolors and Glue

It's been way to long since I posted a Kids Art Tutorial!!

So I thought I'd share some octopi my art students painted a summer ago...

This would be a perfect art project for a elementary classroom studying Marine Biology...

By The Way...

Did you know, we grow the worlds largest Octopus right here in the Puget Sound?

(The largest know one weighed 600 lbs and had an arm span of 30 feet.)

Anyway....

I started out having the kids draw an octopus in pencil, asking that they use the whole page for their design with some parts going totally off the paper....

The next step is to go over the design with colored glue.  This time we used black.

If you haven't colored glue before its easy, just add some acrylic paint to a bottle of glue and then stir like heck till it's all mixed in ( I use a chopstick to stir).  Then use the glue bottle to go over your drawing.

The glue works as a raised resist so after it's dry, finish your painting with watercolors.

 This talented group of kids made me look good.  :)

For more Kids Art projects check out these:  Colorful Fish, Giraffes, How to Draw a Deer,

Or 

Just search Kids Art using the "Search this Blog" button at the top of this page.

Thanks for visiting!!

Denise

I will be linking up to many of the parties on my side bar...do check them out.

Kids Art: Autumn Leaves with Watercolors and Glue

Well I guess it's official Autumn is finally here!!  It blew in on Sunday with a typical Northwest storm....it was marvelous!!  I sat in my cozy chair, had my morning cup of joe and watched it blow...I guess it's time to get out my knitting!!

My after school art classes started back up this week too, so I thought I'd share an easy  very successful  fall art project.

This is a two day project;

The first day I had the kids draw leaves on their paper with pencil.

Then they went over them with black glue.

(I just added black acrylic paint to Elmer's glue...mixed it up good with the end of a small paint brush and ta-da black glue)

It could take over a day for the glue to dry, depending on how much they put on.

I then have them paint the background in cool colors and the leaves in warm colors....

The idea is that the glue keeps the watercolors in the lines....

And it works pretty good too!!

Aren't they lovely?

That's it for today, but if your looking for more art projects...Type in Kids Art on my search box and it should pull up some more ideas for you to try.
Thanks for visiting!
Denise
I will be linking up to many of the parties on my side bar...check them out.  :)

Kids Art: Clay "Gingerbread" Ornaments

I always do a clay project with my art class around this time of year and Clay "Gingerbread" Ornaments was the perfect choose.  For me it was easy and simple to do...For the kids it gave them several things to cut out and paint...they can never just stop at just one.  :)

So here's the project in a nut shell:

I gave each of them a ball of terracotta colored clay for them to roll out ...just like cookie dough...Simple!

I have learned through the years not to give to many chooses, so I gave them 7 cookie cutters to choose from....Each child got to make 4 ornaments.

After rolling out the clay to about a 1/4" thick they cut out their shapes using the cookie cutters.

We used a straw to make the holes for hanging.

I then took them home to fire...

We painted the following week...Again I did not give them a ton of color chooses...my experience has been when I do that, they put every color on all the ornaments...kind of like a rainbow threw up on a piece of clay. :)

I fired the pieces for a second time and wha-laa...Lovely Christmas ornaments...

that their family's will cherish for years to come!!

Wouldn't a whole tree done in the snowflakes be beautiful?!?!

Well there it is a simple easy clay project...give it a try!  Most schools have access to a kiln and a desperate need for art volunteers!!.

And as usual Thanks for visiting and I will be linking up to many of the party's on my side bar..check them out!

Denise

Kids Art: Water Colors and Elmer's Glue...

Last week was my last after school art class for this year....So sad!!  :(

I truly had the best group of kids, and they turned out some fantastic art work!!

I think this last project is proof of their artist ability!! 

These are kids from 1st to 5th grade....

MIGHTY - FINE!!

So here is the fun and simple lesson....

Like usual it started out as a directed draw on the wipe board, this time of my old Betta "Flame"...

(who sadly he is no longer with us).

Any-hoo

After completing their drawing, I had the kids trace over their lines with Elmer's Glue, mixed with black acrylic paint.  (I just gave each glue bottle a few good squirts and then mixed it up the best I could).

I also had them practice on a scrap piece of paper, just to get the hang of it...

You need a nice even pressure on the bottle.

We then left them to dry until the following week...

That's when the real fun began....

Time to paint!!!

The glue works a s a wonderful barrier and keeps the watercolors where they belong...

Well mostly.  :)

And..

The thick Black outlines really make the colors pop!!

Yes I know these last 3 fish aren't Betta's...

My assistant Joanna did the directed draw for these lovelies...

Nice job Joanna!!!

Although this was my last class...don't worry I do have one more

 "Kids Art" project to share with you...

Some very cute hippos.

So...

Check back soon and until next time...

Thanks for dropping by!!!

Denise

 I will be linking up to many of the parties on my side bar...

do check them out!  :)

Kids Art: Giraffes (With Some Very Unique Markings)

Here is a fun project we did in art class that I will certainty do again!!!

The kids have been been enjoying adding patterns to all of our art work so ...

Why not Giraffes?



Markers



After showing the kids some examples of giraffes I found on Etsy...(just to get their creative juices going), I did a directed draw of a Giraffe on the white board for the kids that weren't sure where to get started.



Oil Pastels with Water Color painted over it.



I love that even when I show them step by step how to draw something they all turn out so wonderfully different!! 

*****

We discussed different kinds of shapes they might want to use for the marks on the Giraffes...

And I let them choose what type of media....

Oil Pastels, Markers or Water Colors.

Markers

As you can see they turned out ....



Markers



AWESOME!!!



Oil Pastels



Each one just as unique..



Oil Pastels with water color



Oil Pastels



As the child who created it!!!



Oil Pastels



So there it is...Some very unique Giraffes...

Give it a try with your kids...it was loads of fun!!

And as usual....

Thanks for stopping by!!

Denise

PS:  I will  be linking up to many of the parties on my side bar!  :)

Kids Art: Spray Painting Spring

Oh-wouldn't it be great if we could just open a can of spray paint and spray out SPRING???  We could use some of that around here...It's been RAINY and WINDY.

Anyway that's just what my art kids did...They Spray painted Spring...

And I have to say this was one of our favorite projects!!!

I got the idea when I was going through Garret's sketch book...He does graffiti art and one of his favorite "doodles" is a hand holding a can of spray paint.  He usually has his name coming out of it... in all sorts of creative ways.

SOOO...

I thought...what if...I have him do a directed draw and have the kids draw their version of what they love about SPRING Spraying out of the can.

Great idea, huh?



Garret giving the directed draw...the kids loved his sketch book!



Garret always does a wonderful job teaching the younger kids and I think it's so good for the boys to see that drawing is cool at all ages (they adore Garret)!!  Of course he IS pretty AWESOME!!  :)

We discussed how, when paint comes out of the can the spray gets wider the further it goes from the can





OK...So Joey's doesn't really say spring...It does say Joey!!  :)

Notice how he copied Garret's Skull and Crossbones?

The kids all designed their paint can labels differently!?  Such talent!!

This would be a fun project to do for any season or holiday!!

Give it a try (if you do, I would love to hear how it turned out)!!

As always I will be linking up to many of the link parties on my side bar.

But most of all thanks for stopping by!!

Denise

Kids Art: Clay Heads..(or pot heads as I like to call them)

Just thought I'd share with you a couple darling "Pot Heads" created in my after school art class...

They are made from a simple pinch pot using terra-cotta clay.

I think the hardest part is convincing the kids to keep it simple and just paint the features on the face...

the eyes, cheeks and mouth....

These kids did just that and the results are darling!!!



My plan is to have them plant the heads with grass seed so the can cut the "hair"...

but I think the tissue paper flower looks mighty fine!

I also have some darling pigs and a couple of cute puppy's to share...

so check back later.  :)

Take care!!!

Denise

As usual I will be linking up to the parties in my side bar.

Kids Art: Painter's Tape Tree

Here's another fun project I did with my after school art class.  For the month of February we did a study on trees and this was my kids very favorite project....

Interesting enough it was also the lesson that they had the hardest time understanding the concept, at least at the beginning (mostly the younger ones)....The Tape is used as a "resist" to keep the water color off or away from the paper

So here is the lesson plan....

Like the tree of hearts we started out discussing the shapes of trees...

How the are larger at the base of the trunk and get smaller at the top and that the branches do the same...they are larger where they are connected to the tree and get smaller as the grow outwards.

( a tough thing to do when your tearing tape to make a branch)

anyway...

We looked at how at the end of a branch you can often see the Y shaped.

(The top two trees are good examples of this) 

I then gave them a piece of watercolor paper and some tape...showing them how to tear the tape to make the tree...(I did a step by step example for them in the front of the class)...

Some of the kids needed a little help getting started and even along the way....

but they did an awesome job!!!

We started with the trunk and the large branches (I suggested 3 large branches) and then used the left over tape for the smaller ones.

The next step is to paint the whole piece of paper (including the tree) using watercolors...

I let them choose their colors but suggested they do a night time scene with a moon or maybe a sunset...

For the moon I asked them to put it in the branches (so that when the tape comes off, it looks like the moon is behind the tree)...NICE!

My plan was to take the tape off after the paper was dry but the kids couldn't wait....so as long as there wasn't "puddles" still sitting on the paper we took it off without a hitch....

Some of the kids did have a problem with the paint running under their trees.

(Possibly the tape wasn't pressed down hard enough or they used to much water)

My easy fix was wait till next week and then paint the tree.  :)

(You've gotta LOVE the MOON on this one)

Well that's it...Go ahead and give it a try it was sooo fun!!!

I will be linking up to many of the parties on my side bar...check them out!!!

and as always...

Have a great week!!

Denise