This project is like magic. The first year I did it, I was absolutely astonished at how well it turned out. It is still my favorite printmaking project that I teach. I usually post 4-8 examples of each project and every year I find myself posting WAY more than that for this lesson. It's just that good.
I have visual instructions for this project on my original post of this project. The concept here is that students start with a large piece of foam and press in details to print one step at a time. The inks are layered and students eventually wind up with a three color print.
Andy Warhol is the major inspiration for the lesson. We take a look at various example and talk about how screen printing was Warhol's primary method of art making. It gives the students a good jumping-off point for the lesson.
Also, before you ask, we use photo reference for the animal drawings. I get a huge stack of animal books from the library and students choose a specific photo or two to draw from. I get way more detailed and realistic work from students this way.
Enjoy the examples from this year!
Click here to download my lesson plan.
Everyone has favorite projects. Sometimes they are tried and true lessons that students love and look forward to working on each year. Others are fresh and new; maybe you have only taught them once or twice. I'm devoting this post to my favorite projects. I'm hoping that some of you will tell me about yours as well.
My idea is for people who read this blog to post a link to their favorite lessons in the comment section for this post. The link could go to another blog, Pinterest post, or other outside site. I will then put the info, pictures, and maybe even lesson plans into this original blog post and fill it up with all kinds of awesome. Let's see how this goes.
I'll start with a few of my own favorite projects. This first one is something that I did for the first time last year with my 5th graders. PLUSH MONSTERS!!
This project is one that I have been doing since student teaching. Clay Castles are incredibly popular at my school. I have students from first grade up asking when they get to make them. Of course kids always love to work with clay, so having an exciting lesson built around it is just a bonus. If I would ever stop doing this project, the villagers would probably revolt!
Finally, this is a project that I have adapted a little from a colleague in my district. It combines my love of science with sweet art skills to end up with a super cool project. It also ties in closely with third grade science curriculum. Your principal will love this lesson as well. It is all about using simple machines to create a Rube Goldberg style machine inside the head to complete a task that ordinarily happens in the head. Simple Machine Brains are great fun.
Now it is time to comment with links to your favorite lessons. I can't wait to see all of the interesting and innovative projects that all of you are working on.
Rina over at K-6 Art wins the prize for the first favorite lesson comment! Virtual high five! Her favorite project post is Oil Pastel and Baby Oil 'Paintings.' She is using a super cool technique using baby oil to allow the pastels to blend more like paint. Check out her blog for more information!
Amber from Schooling at Home Happenings uses blogs to find quality art projects for her students. She likes this project that is based on the work of Henri Rousseau. Amber really likes that the project reinforces information about climate zones, weather, and animals. The cool thing about this blog is that she has a wide range of ages working on the same project. It is really interesting to see how the project is adapted to different age groups.
