Square 1 Art Fundraiser: 4th Grade "Picasotec" Suns

Inspired by a project I saw on Pinterest, I introduced the Aztec Sun Stone and compared it to some Picasso portraits. Fourth grade students viewed a PowerPoint I created and set to work. They learned about contrast, shades, tints, geometric and organic shapes and more. This student showed her creativity by using gradiated color. 

Carolyn Braden's 1st Grade: Painted Landscapes

Yet another project inspired by Pinterest; Landscapes. I decided to have my first graders use paint media. They were given the primary colors and black, white, brown and green. If they wanted a tint or shade of a color, they had to use their mixing palette. They also had to make purple, orange or gray if they wanted to use them. They had a choice of creating organic or geometric mountains. They learned about foreground, middle ground and background and many other vocabulary words with this project. We will have presentations next week. I think they did a fabulous job!

Pinterest Idea Come To Life: 1st Grade Landscapes

After seeing this oil pastel landscape on Pinterest, I adapted it to fit my students learning needs. The students were able to create geometric or organic mountains. They drew them today and will paint during the next class. They will be making their own tints and shades, mixing primary colors to get secondary colors and creating texture like Vincent Van Gogh.
My 1st graders are such talented students!

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).