Firstly, I hope that everyone stays safe and healthy during this time!!! (I already miss everyone)…I will be posting online instruction in Art via Google Classroom: each Art class has their own Google Classroom (based on their homeroom in 3rd & 4th grades, and what day/time you have Art in fifth grade). Almost all of you have already joined, so we are ready!

These Art Google Classrooms will have grade-level activities, lessons, instruction and feedback. This will start on Monday, March 30th, the date school resumes online after break.

Until then, students could try one of my Symbaloo activities (see the top of my webpage), or try a little Zentangle (video below), or even something from the drawing prompt list at the bottom of “March News” post. (These are just suggestions to keep your creative skills going, not required).

We did get a lot done in March, though! Third grade artists completed patterned “Name Designs” (which were sent home), and used bilateral symmetry to draw insects. Fourth grade artists learned about “Celtic knots” (I put a video for a simple version below), and how to draw them using rulers. Fifth grade artists finished their three-dimensional “Radial Art” paper pieces (also sent home), and made clay pots the last week of school (except for Friday) using pinch and coil construction methods. (I hope to fire these once school reopens.)

Ideas for drawing while on break (cite: Creative Live Blog,”No More Blank Pages”-https://www.creativelive.com/blog/easy-drawing-ideas/ ):

People

• Draw a caricature of yourself.
• Depict yourself as a superhero.
• Draw self-portraits from different perspectives. Try positioning a mirror from different angles.
• Sketch your hands in different positions. Draw your feet.
• Draw a close up of the eye. Try your teeth. Do a study of different people’s ears.
• Draw a self-portrait from your reflection in a spoon.
• Draw yourself double your age.

Landscape/Perspective

• Draw the view out of a window.
• Draw the clouds.
• Capture the view from your car’s rearview mirror.

Imagination

• Draw an object and give it a face.
• Create an alternate cover to your favorite book or album.
• Illustrate a scene from your favorite song.
• Draw a scene or character from your favorite book.
• Illustrate your favorite fairy-tale.
• Invent your own insects.
• Draw an intricate made up flower. Make it a bouquet.
• Design your own typeface.
• Create your own game board.
• Combine animals to make your own mythical creature.
• Draw a scene from a dream you’ve had.
• Draw a home in outer space.
• Fill the page with things with wheels.
• Fill the page with things that float.
• Fill the page with robots.
• Combine two subjects that don’t belong together in the same scene.
• Design your personal logo.
• Divide a paper into 6 sections and create a different pattern in each one.

Still life

• Draw a towel in different positions: crumpled, hanging, strewn on the ground.
• Get a a few kitchen utensils and gently toss them on the table. Draw them as they land.
• Draw a still life of items from your pantry.
• Draw the ingredients of your favorite meal.
• Draw an old pair of shoes.
• Draw a pile of unfolded laundry.
• Draw the inside of your closet.
• Draw your room before it’s cleaned.
• Draw the same still life 3 times, zooming farther in each time.

Drawing Exercises

• Blind contour drawing: Without looking at your paper, draw any object, such as your own hand, in one continuous line without lifting your hand from the page. Grab a partner and do simultaneous blind contour portraits of each other.
• Left & right: Draw something with your dominant hand, then your non-dominant hand.
• Everything else: Draw the negative space around an object.
• Topsy turvy: Draw a portrait from an upside down photo.
• Copy the masters: Draw an illustration from your favorite book.
• 360 degrees: Choose an object and draw its outline. Turn the object slightly and draw the outline again. Repeat.
• Minimalist: Draw something with the fewest lines possible.
• Different techniques: Try shading different ways: hatching, cross hatching, stippling, and more.
• Light it up: Play with lighting. Draw outside at different types of the day and inside using multiple or single light sources from different angles.

See you online March 30th, 2020!!!