Hidden Safari Animal

For this Art Methods Class, our assignment was to create a free-hand drawing of a Safari animal with a blue (cool) color and hide the picture with red, orange, and yellow (warm colors). To see the picture you have to wear special glasses that reveal the blue outline of the drawing. The following picture is my hidden Safari animal.

Our first task was to make our own glasses that would help us see the hidden animal in the picture. We took a 4”x12” piece of construction paper and cut an oblong hole across the paper to look through. Then, we taped a piece of red cellophane on the back of the construction paper, creating our special glasses.

For the animal drawing, we chose an animal (ex. elephant, lion, monkey, zebra) of our choice from variety of visuals. Then we used upside-down contour drawing to help us sketch an animal from one of the visuals using a blue colored pencil. When finished with the drawing, we used red, orange, and yellow color patterns to conceal the animal drawing. With each layer of color added, we took our glasses to ensure that the animal was not hidden too much. Once we were satisfied, that the animal was hidden from the naked eye but visible with the red cellophane glasses, we framed the picture for display.

This activity could also be used for a 4^th grade social studies lesson when students learn about the 50 States. The students would draw or trace the outline of every state using a blue colored pencil. Then they would use warm colors to camouflage the image. When finished, the camouflaged illustrations would be hung on the wall. Beside each picture, there would be a note card with three clues of the state that is hidden and student would have to guess which one it is.

Eric Karle Inspired Story Book

The following picture is an Eric Karle inspired story book we did for our Art Methods Class. Our assignment was to create a two-page storybook layout based on Eric Karle’s artwork. To do this project we had to prepare various colored sheets of paper a week in advance. First, we took a 12X18 sheet of white paper and moistened the surface of the paper with a sponge brush. Then we splattered several colors (ex. white, blue, and yellow) on the paper. Once we had the desired mix of colors on the paper, we took a sponge paintbrush and spread the paint all over the paper. Each student created three of those pages and put them away to dry. Meanwhile we were to think of a storybook scene that we wanted to have on our two-page storybook layout. The next class period we met, our paste paper was dry, so we sketched our characters on the paste paper and cut and glued the characters on to 12X18 piece of construction paper. The scene is about a naughty kitten that always scares a goldfish in its tank. On the next page, the neighbor’s bulldog chased the kitten up the doghouse. After that, the kitten never again teased the goldfish. The words read, “You naughty kitten! See how it feels to be scared.”

An extension activity with this collage would be 4^th grade science when students learn about the animal food chain. Similarly, the students would create a booklet for a grassland biome food chain. On each page, they would have an animal or plant in the correct order of the food chain. Students would label each page, “primary producer, primary consumer,” etc. and explain the role each animal plays in the food chain.

Van Gogh Inspired Fingerpainting

The following picture is an art activity that we did for our Art Methods Class. For this particular class period, our theme was Vincent van Gogh and his painting “Starry Night.” Our requirement was to create a painting similar to Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” Using finger painting with the three primary colors, black, and white, we painted on white paper. Although, we could choose our own scene we still had to imitate some of van Gogh’s swirls and strokes, textures, shades, and tints, as well creating space by having a foreground, middle ground, and background. For this picture, I tried to make it similar to van Gogh’s painting. However, I could not and did not want to make it exactly similar. I did try to keep the theme and motion of “Starry Night” by creating swirls and similar settings, yet my painting is very different. I really enjoyed experimenting, making swirls, and mixing colors to create different shades and tints in the center swirl and the distant skyline.

An extension activity with this finger painting would be science where students learn about the seasons. The students would use the finger painting to create a scene of their choice for each of the four seasons. For this activity, students would have the opportunity to use the primary colors, black, and white and they would learn how to mix colors to create different shades, tints, and a variety of colors to make their painting colorful depending on the season they are painting. This activity would take more than one class period to complete.

Van Gogh Inpired Cityscape Collage

The following tissue collage is also a Vincent van Gogh “Starry Night” theme. For this art project, we were required to create a city/farmscape that would resemble van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” We used tissue paper to create swirls similar to van Gogh’s painting style. To begin, I took a variety of different colors tissue paper and cut out pieces with varying designs (swirls, circles, lines, etc.). Then I took a piece of blue construction paper and pasted the tissue paper cuttings onto the construction paper with an acrylic paste. Afterwards, I covered all the exposed areas of the construction paper with the acrylic paste to seal it off. When the tissue collage was dry, I pasted a farm scene cut out of black construction paper onto my collage to create a farmscape. Then I used various colors of oil pastels to create an outline of the farm scene, to emphasize, and to create movement in the tissue swirls. 

An extension activity with this tissue collage would be for a third grade social studies class. When studying maps the students could use tissue paper to cut out shapes of buildings, roads, lake, trees, etc. as their map symbols. Then they would paste the tissue paper cuttings onto another piece of construction paper to create a map of a town. They could also use the oil pastels or permanent markers to create fine details on the map. When their project is finished, the students would present it to the class and explain the reason and makeup of their town map.