Watercolor Paintings

I think I might call every project my favorite project, but these watercolor paintings are actually my favorite. Historically, most of my students have said that the watercolor lesson was their favorite, too, because it opens them up to a new media and they are given a lot of choice in subject matter. Let me outline the lesson:

We start by creating watercolor booklets to teach each of the watercolor techniques. Last semester I created a video tutorial for students to follow along to, which I love because it allows me to walk around the room and help the students who need assistance instead of being stuck at the front of the room instructing. The video is also linked to my lesson slideshow, so students are able to go back and re-watch it at any time if they forget how to implement one of the techniques. The booklets are made out of one sheet of paper, so they can essentially take them anywhere! When I first started out painting with watercolor, I enjoyed sitting outside and painting my surroundings, so the booklet was a helpful bit of inspiration for trying different techniques.

Next I introduced students to the project, where they ultimately choose between painting a landscape, dragon, or animal. This year I had students create thumbnail sketches of all three subjects and receive feedback from their peers before finalizing their subject matter. Once they decided on one of the three subjects, students sketched out a full-page rough draft. Each class completed a TAG (tell something nice, ask a question, give a suggestion) critique to provide further feedback on their ideas. After the critique, students were able to make final alterations to their rough drafts before moving on to their finals. 

I have been beyond impressed by the artwork my students have been producing this week! The goal is to use at least three watercolor techniques in their paintings, and I've been seeing some used in new ways than I've ever seen before. I cannot wait until these paintings are finished so I can add them to the Virtual Art Show to show off! Here are some works-in-progress:

Check out my Twitter and Instagram for more frequent updates on the painting process!

Flags and Faces!

The last couple of weeks have been extremely busy in the art room! Last week I hung up the class flags, pictured below. Each of the flag designs and layouts were discussed and voted on by each class, making each flag totally unique. My classes first semester all wanted rectangular flags, so I was pleased to see that Green class voted for a pizza-shaped flag and Purple class voted for a Christmas tree.

At the end of last week, artists were given a tiny part of a picture they had to recreate through a value technique of their choice, including hatching, scribbling, names/words, and cross-hatching. I didn't tell my students who the portraits were of because it allows them to focus on their individual piece and the tones it displays rather than the face as a whole. Students started by drawing a grid to map out the different features and tones and then filled it in with Sharpie. It was a nice, quick project to finish out testing week and the students were excited to see who the faces were once I had them assembled last Tuesday.