Carolyn Braden's Illusion Hands: Pinterest Inspired

Can all grade levels (K-5) handle this project? Yes! I needed a good independent project for students to work on while I called them to art store last week. I made a hand out of all the steps needed to create this project with PowerPoint. (I made the project and took photos of each step). The students all loved it. Many took their art home to finish or finished at school in their home rooms. Some even did another one during free draw time. Students loved sharing their reasons as to why this 2-D drawing appears to be 3-D. Yet another great Pinterest inspiration.

Carolyn Braden's Kinders Fish Bowl Still Life: Pinterest Inspirations

Here are some of my Kinders Fish Bowl Still Life art. I was inspired by a project I saw on Pinterest. It was from artsonia.com. Like I always try to do with my projects, I took it even further. We studied overlapping, collage, pattern, still life, narrative art (they are writing a story to go with their projects), line, shape, color groups, mosaics and so much more. We made a connection to Romare Bearden's mosaics and to Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat. I loved how they turned out. This was first done in crayon and then we painted over it with watercolor paint. (Resist).

Carolyn Braden's 1st Grade: Completed African Masks

Here are some of my 1st graders completed Magical African Masks. They wrote a little story about their masks after gluing their mask to a "picture frame" they created. Very impressive 1st graders!

Carolyn Braden's 4th Grade: Native American Myth Shields

My 4th graders wrote their own myths after hearing some Native American myth examples. On their shield, they drew the main subject of their myth. They are painting their shields and will later add feathers.

Carolyn Braden's 2nd Grade: Pop Art Fruit Bowl Still Life

My 2nd graders are creating still life paintings. They chose to draw either a geometric abstract still life or a organic realistic still life. They outlined with crayon, making a thick, waxy resist line. They are painting using various watercolor techniques. Some got very creative and added hands reaching for the fruit and creating "tie dyed" backgrounds. They will be writing stories after they create their paintings. See my example below.

Carolyn Braden's Third Graders: African Landscape Silhouettes

Here are my 3rd graders African Landscapes. We tissue paper painted the background to be sunsets, then painted on the horizon lines, hills, animals and trees in shadow. They are turning out beautifully!

Carolyn Braden's 5th Grade Art: The History of the Horse in Art

These works of art are being created to be possible entries in several
local contests. Since you can't just say, "Okay kids, lets make art just for this contest!" you have to get creative. I created a PowerPoint to show the history of folk art and how the horse has been the subject matter in art works for many years. We looked at some Appalachian horse art and related it to some modern horse art by pop artist, Peter Max. No matter which art works are chosen to be contest entries, all the students are creating wonderfully creative art!