Djembe Drums Are Complete!

 Students finalized their papier-mache Djembe drums by adding a balloon as a drumhead. In class yesterday, students followed along to a few drumming tutorials in order to practice playing their drums.

 I have updated the virtual art show to showcase all 30 groups! Here are a few sneak peeks: 

Next up, students are working on creating a collaborative portrait. Before Thanksgiving, students followed along to a shading technique tutorial to learn different ways to shade artwork.

 

Today and tomorrow, students are practicing another important skill: grid drawing! Next week, students will combine both of these techniques in order to draw their portion(s) of a face. Once all the pieces have been completed, I'll assemble the faces and the models will be revealed! Stay tuned for more progress on this project.

Djembe Drums

Students have been BUSY in the art room recently, creating their very own Papier-mâché Djembe drums, a miniature version of a traditional African instrument. Students began with an armature created by two cups taped together, and added layers of Papier-mâché with newspaper and art paste. 

Students did a great job building strong structures, finalized with a layer of paper towels to create a blank canvas to paint on.

 Today students are working on designing the painting for the drums, planning for a cohesive design to show that they are a part of a team. 

This week students will be using acrylic paint to add their designs. Stay tuned for pictures of completed Djembe drums!

Previously, students created Scratch Art Calaveras in honor of Día de los Muertos. First students created their own scratch art paper by filling it with crayon designs and covering it with black tempera paint. Once the paint was dried, students used a wooden skewer to etch their design, creating a patterned sugar skull. Here is a selection that is featured in my classroom, but check out the Virtual Art Show for close-ups of more drawings!