Keith Haring Murals

We recently began a new project about Keith Haring.  My 5th graders had never heard of him before and it was exciting seeing them light up when they explored his work.  We started out by reading a biography on him.  I found it here.  I then showed a variety of his murals and artwork.  We also explored his website haringkids.com  The students really loved the silly flash videos they have on the website.  Students practiced drawing in his simplistic style.  I stressed the idea of being imaginative and creative.  I wanted them to think outside the box and come up with truly original and inspired ideas.  I explained that Keith Haring sometimes created artwork that was meant to simply be fun, and other times it was meant to send a message.  Once we practiced our drawing skills, students split into groups of 2 to 4 students and received large pieces of butcher paper to create their own mural.  They used tempera paint to add their designs. At the very end they will add black outlines around their shapes following the style of Keith Haring.  During the 2nd week of this project Google actually celebrated Keith Harings birthday on their homepage and students were so excited to tell me about it. So far, the projects are looking fabulous.  My only problem is finding enough space in my room to let them all dry.  I have 5th grade classes back to back, so by the time my 1st class leaves, almost all my surfaces are covered with wet murals.  My 2nd group has been doing a nice job steering clear of the wet projects and working in their areas in an organized manner.   It is great to see the students delegate tasks to one another and work so cooperatively in their groups!! Each group had to come up with a major theme for their artwork.  Some groups are doing themes that are about bullying, patriotism, friendship, saying no to drugs, etc. Others are doing fun and silly themes like dancing, sports, aliens, etc. I am glad I could incorporate a group project into my plans this year.  I  don't have too many done ones yet, will hopefully posts some finished projects soon!!

Winter Birds

6th graders are creating winter bird pictures to decorate and add some winter spirit to the halls. We have had an unseasonably warm February, so these birds actually look a little out of place on snow covered trees. However, the kids are really taking pride in them, and they are turning out amazing!!! We started out this lesson by looking at some examples of realism in art. We discussed what makes something a successful work of realism. We touched upon shadows and highlights, color matching, and attention to detail. I printed off packets with color pictures of all the birds so that students could use them as a reference throughout the entire process. We practiced drawing our birds several times before moving to the final copy paper. Students used simple shapes to break up the form of their bird and create a construction line map to work from. I was astonished at how quickly they picked it up. For the final copy we initially used brown paint to add a tree with a few branches. Students decided how big or how small to draw their tree and branches. Once they were confident with their drawing abilities, the student then drew the bird on the tree branch and began filling in with oil pastels. The final steps were to add oil pastel details to the tree, such as, shadows, bark, pine needles, and snow. To finish them off we sprayed them with a squirt bottle of half water, half white tempera. There are still several students working on their finishing touches, but the ones that are finished are lookin good!!!! I wanted to keep the birds we created native to Ohio, so, I let them choose from a Cardinal, Chickadee, or Blue Jay as their subject. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of finished blue jays yet. I will definitely post more finished products soon. If you would like to see the presentation I used to introduce the lesson it is here. My full plan is here.