Drawing Projects

Coral Triangle II by Courtney Mattison

Hopespots Still lifes

This lesson taught observational drawing skills looking at one of Courtney Mattison’s ceramic coral reef peices Hopespots

Architecture Drawings

This lesson looked at architecture in art as the primary focus.

Kinetic Animals

This lesson was a fun way to look at animals and break them into their basic shapes which they then attached using an unusual method to enable their animals to move!

Creative Businesses

This lesson looked at the concept of form vs. function in art and how to contradict the two within the scope of creatively designing a business.

Pillow Plush Sea Life Creatures

This lesson looked at the work of artist and scientist Ernst Haeckel for the subject matter. It then required the use of a technique developed in the 1800’s to show contrast and form using small dots.

Auto Biographical Webs

This lesson was a Halloween themed lesson with motifs relating on how they pertained to each student which were interwoven together to create a spider web.

Shadow Drawings

This lesson looked at surrealist artist Salvador Dali and how he created obscure images which metamorphed, blended, and twisted into distorted and surreal fantasies. We used shadows cast by objects outdoors to view shapes in other ways.

Scratch Art Greek Vessels

This lesson studied ancient greek vessels which imitated the color scheme and form. Students used a crayon resist with acrylic coating to scratch images that related to them. Students learned that many techniques can be used to create drawings besides just pencil and parchment.

Wacky Hair Day

This larger than life head piece that also doubled as a mask focused on modern day artists Laeticia Ky and Nagi Noda. Students thought critically about the boundaries art can push as we thought about what constitutes sculpture and if the human form can be used as a vehicle for art. The painted hairpieces were embellished with multitudes of media including pipe cleaners, jewels, tissue paper, sequins, glitter, buttons, pom poms and feathers.

Celestial Watercolors

Before creating this work, students looked at the work of Lia Halloran who creates art based on space. Watercolor techniques like wax resist and salt were used to create this piece. A discussion of what comprises space and human’s relativity to it prefaced the lesson.

Under the Sea Scuba divers

This lesson was inspired by the works of Courtney Mattison who makes ceramic pieces about the effects of climate change on coral reefs. Students were shown how to use dry brush and watercolored pencils for finer details which were used to add elements on top of their backdrops. Photos were taken as a fun addition to help students imagine themselves as scuba divers exploring the world below them.

Traditional Chinese White and Blue Pottery

This lesson referenced 14th century chinese white and blue pottery. This was a two part lesson where students first used 2-d materials by painting in sections categories of their favorite things. The second part was creating a cup using a pinch pot method with painted white and blue details. This mimicked the original orientalized chinese porcelain.

Favorite Meal Placesettings

This lesson was inspired by Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party. To make the content relatable, children made a piece about their favorite meals. Every part was considered and collaged on top of a woven background of paper. This placemat also taught a staple to another art medium-weaving- in fabrics.

Circus Scenes

This lesson centered on Henri Mattise Le Cirque. His cut paper method was replicated for the circus scenes. How to create an image out of torn and cut paper only was a good challenge for students.

Open Ended Collages

This lesson was made from using ten different watercolor techniques. Students were then left with creating a scene of their choice out of paper. How to combine texture, color, and patterned paper to create an image was shown as an introduction to collage. Many students followed my example by creating a “scene.”

Ancient Mayan Masks

This lesson originated from looking at ancient Mayan masks. A look at the historical culture and why they were used was discussed beforehand. The color scheme and ordanment emulated the traiditional masks. How the additions of cardboard portruded was used to showcase the differences between sculpture in the round and relief sculpture.

Book Sculptures

This was a fun way for children to recognize that sculpture can be made out of a wide variety of materials. The used books were the mechanism for creating this sculptural piece. Paper methods like accordian folding, pop out, spiral, bending, and cut out were all show to create dimension to their sculptures.

Tree of Lifes

Gustav Klimpt’s Tree of Life was used as inspiration to this lesson. His “golden phase” and mark making which characterized his style were imitated for these sculptures. Students then added drawn symbols related to their own character to adorn the trees. The sculptural technique of slots was used to show how to conjoin two peices together so the trees would stand.

Botero Animals

This lesson was inspired by Fernando Botero and his overenlarged robust forms. Instead of humans, animal subjects were used to create more interest for children. A demonstration of how to crumple paper and wrap with cheesecloth and glue mixture was shown. Children chose one element they wanted to exaggerate on their animals to replicate Botero’s style.

Clay Cartouches

This lesson made attribute to the historical Egyptian cartouches, an oval shape with heiroglyphics inside to spell the name of their kings. Instead, students wrote their own names in heiroglyphics. This was a fun and personal way to learn about an ancient art practice and time period. Students remarked how they hung these in their rooms “marking” their territory of their space!

Gnomes

This lesson was highly imaginative and excitable to children. The gnomes were made from two pinch pots. Joining methods and texture tools were demonstrated. Children then went outside and gathered natural elements to add to their gnomes. They were finished with paint.

Clay Monsters

This lesson was an introduction to clay. Students first learned how to make a pinch pot for the form. Other techniques like how to combine pieces, bend, make slabs and use clay tools to create texture were also shown.

Abstract Fish

This lesson branched from looking at the work of Ocean advocate and modern ceramic artist Courtney Mattison. The subject matter of fish was chosen due to the wide variety from which to choose. Styrofoam is a good way to introduce printmaking. The styrofoam incised plate can be used again and again to make multiple prints. The students loved the process and the unknown factor of how the image will turn out.

Reflective Castles

This lesson was introduced by looking at medieval castles around the world. Parts of the castle and what they were used for all gave way to students having fun in creating theirs. This lesson was doublefold as they first learned about warm vs. cool colors to create a watercolor background. They then made a ‘monoprint’ from first printing on the top portion and then folding the paper over to make a more transluscent print.

Hockney Inspired Plants

This lesson took inspiration from David Hockney a pop artist who painted vibrant and unnatural landscapes with bright plant life that drew you into his scenes. These were quite a challenge as duct tape was the only material available.

Duct Tape Wallets

These wallets made completely out of duct tape showed students that art can be both aeshetic and functional. Crafting beads and decorative elements were added to the wallets. Every aspect including the latch to make it close was made out of this unusual medium.

Grow it.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.