Multi-Media Exploration in Elementary

I love taking my elementary students on an exploration of different media, subjects, and ideas.  These first 6 weeks have seen us blowing around blobs of paint with straws, drawing llamas, making yarn tassels, coloring foxes, embossing metal, and creating glowing night landscapes!  I often share a personal story or read a story to whet their imaginations, and we often warm up with a guided drawing in our sketchbooks.

My favorite project so far has been these fabulous foxes.  The kids used oil pastels to build up the layers of fur, then they smudged chalk pastels to make a magical background.  Instead of guiding them step by step as I sometimes do, I gave them a photograph of a fox and let them translate that into their own art.  I love each of their interpretations!

My classes always seem to enjoy foil embossing, and this year we explored a seasonal theme.  My Tuesday class made 4 small squares representing each season and mounted on a long panel.  My Wednesday classes did one large fall scene based on their idea of a perfect fall day.  Students draw their designs on paper first, then tape the paper to the back side of the foil and press the design into the foil.  I teach them several ways to create interesting texture.  

For Halloween week, we enjoyed glow parties in all the classes.  I dropped the blackout shades, turned on the black lights, and put on my glowiest costume...a "glow troll."  We used black and fluorescent paints to create these beautiful, VanGogh inspired landscapes.  Some of the kids wore costumes and we ended the class with a bowl of popcorn and candies.  Enjoy our slideshow!