Art Curriculum- Week 27- Salt Sculpture

Week 27- Salt Sculpture

Category: Abstract Expressionism

Project from Fun at Home With Kids.

What you will need:

-salt

-water

-eye droppers

-watercolors

-wide/low bowls or plates with a raised border

Time: 30 minutes (minus prep time)

Prep: Mix 3 cups of salt with 3 teaspoons of water. Mix until the salt is damp. It should be plenty of water, if the salt stays dry add a 1/4 teaspoon of water.

Pour and push the salt into your containers. Plastic works better, but glass is fine too. I used little bowls.

Let them sit 12-24 hours. Then turn the containers over and the salt should slip out. I thumped a few of mine.

When the salt is damp it's very fragile and crumbly, but once it dries it's fairly firm.

Activity: Each child got their own salt sculpture in a plate with a border (to keep the loose salt and watercolors contained). We put one eye dropper to each color and we passed the colors around. Brushes are too rough on the salt which is why eye droppers are preferred.

 

Overall: easy prep and very cool to see the vibrant colors. Use caution when moving the salt as long as it's still damp. One of them crumbled when I tried to lift it.

(logging 1 1/2 hours for prep and execution)

Related blog posts:

-Watercolor Trees
-

Art Curriculum- Week 20- Stained Glass Trees in Watercolor

Week 20- Stained Glass Trees in Watercolor

Movement: Abstract Expressionism

A project that goes hand in hand with this one is our painting that uses a wet on wet technique to make splatter painted trees in watercolors. To view it click here.

This project was ultimately taught to 3 different groups. Kindergarten-3rd + 4th-6th + our ordinary group of 6 kids (all of whom take the other 2 classes only split up to fit their age groups).

What you will need:

-multipurpose paper
-watercolors
-sharpie
-brushes
-paint palettes

Time: 1 hour

Prep:

The tree is based on a picture I saw on pinterest that I expanded on a bit... So design for the tree is not mine. Each of the trees had to be drawn/traced on by hand and then gone over with sharpie because the paper was too big to fit in the printer.

The hearts are designed by my sister, Sarah, for the younger class.

Execution:

• Each child gets a brush, a paint palette (or shares depending on how many you have), a cup of water, and a blank sheet of paper with 8 sections on it.
• First we practiced with the blank sheet. I had them always try to lay down the lightest color first before adding the darker color (for example, yellow and then blue). Once we were comfortable with laying down color in a neat fashion had practice making the colors run and blend with each other we moved on to the Tree.
  
• For my older class of 4-6th graders I could let them go at it themselves. Filling in each panel with separate color schemes. Some of them were really creative and ended up with cool patterns.
  
• For the the younger ones, I don't think some of them quite got the part about "keeping the panels separate so that they don't run into each other and make mud) but the colors are still fun and vibrant!

older class 4th-6th grade

Remember to lay down your paint quickly and don't overwork your colors!

Enjoy!

Related blog posts:

-Expressions in Color

(logging 3 hours for prep and execution - includes teach 2 separate groups)

Trees of Orange... Gold... and Blue? - Easy Watercolor Project

One of the girls' trees!

Trees of Orange... Gold... and Blue? - Easy Watercolor Project

A bonus project for the art curriculum this week!

This is a simple project to prep for, I gathered and planned most of it this morning right before putting it into action.

The final result is so charming it's suitable for all ages: colorful and fun for younglings; sophisticated and lovely for any modern decor.

What you need:

-watercolors (it doesn't need to be expensive, we have large bottles of brilliantly colored kids watercolors)
-multipurpose paper
-brushes (cheap, but not plastic, plastic doesn't hold water)
-spray bottle
-paint palettes or bowls/cups to hold the paint

We did two pieces. The first one was just to get the technique down and play with colors.

We all used the same 3 colors: blue, red, orange. You can use whatever (and however many) colors you desire.

Time: 45 minutes for Both pieces

• Thoroughly soak your brush in the first color
• Hover the brush over the paper and use your finger on your other hand to tap and splatter the paint - don't be shy when splattering! Cover the page with blobs and splatters of all different sizes!
• Rinse your brush and move on to the next color and repeat with all the different colors.

• Now the super fun part! Take the spray bottle and spritz those colors! Take it slow at first, it'll depend on the amount of paint on your paper and how thickly you spray the water as to how the colors will run and retain their vibrancy. When it comes to adding water to watercolors, less is more.
  
• For fun, we added salt to our first masterpieces. The more salt you add, the less bold your colors will be. However it creates some fantastic texture.

Left half "After Spritzing"
Right half "After Salt"

• The second piece we made trees. I drew light, rough ovals on the paper as a guide for the kids. We used the same colors: blue, red, orange. And we were only allowed to splatter within the oval as best we could.
• Spritz with water!
• We manage to direct the dribbles by tilting and bending the paper so we ended up with tree trunks!
  

Overall: Fun. Easy. Prepare for speckled faces and arms from the splattering. I suggest a good layer of newspaper on the table to help with easy cleanup and spills. :)

Related art projects:

-Perspective With Watercolors
-Watercolor Winter Scene
-Expressions in Color

(logging 1 1/2 hours for prep and execution)

Art Curriculum- Week 17/18- Expressions in Color

Art Curriculum- Expressionism + Abstract Expressionism

Movements: Expressionism/Abstract Expressionism (who knew?!)

Last week we did 2 paintings, one on expressionism and one on abstract expressionism. We smashed 2 projects into one week because the past 8 days I've been on vacation in Italy (maybe I'll have a blog post coming about that too... *hint hint*)

Expressionism: a style of painting, music, or drama in which the artist or writer seeks to express emotional experience rather than impressions of the external world.

What you will need:

-brushes (we used the cheap foam sponge brushes)
-watercolor paints
-multimedia paper

I allowed each child to pick their own colors. A limit of three. We made our backgrounds (which we tried to give a vaguely checkered pattern), then I instructed them on making their swirly trees.

I think they all turned out beautifully.

I don't know why it refuses to post right side up!

Abstract Expressionism: a development of abstract art that originated in New York in the 1940s and 1950s and aimed at subjective emotional expression with particular emphasis on the creative spontaneous act (e.g., action painting). Leading figures were Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.

(See how I emphasized spontaneous there?)

What you will need:

-tempera paints
-multipurpose paper
-brushes (any kind/any sizes)
-a timer (optional)

This one was a challenge for the kids! We always focus on making the smooth and tidy strokes, planning and gliding along. This required the kids to be spontaneous and limited how much they could do.

This one is fast, so you could do multiple pieces and experiment in different ways.

First you plop 2-3 colors on every child's paper in random splotches or patterns. Because they each have their favorite color they pick EVERY SINGLE TIME I deliberately gave them colors they never use or don't like! That already made them uneasy.

We gave them 30 seconds.

That was too long, a lot of the kids work turned to mush. I suggest (depending on your age group) 10-15 seconds.

Finished trial of the first.

The second time everyone got the same colors. And we didn't time it, instead we went one brush stroke at a time. For the younger ones this was a bit difficult and they required a lot of guidance. Each child could brush up/down/diagonal/big/small. But they could ONLY do one stroke.

It was interesting to watch.

The finished results of the second trial.

Overall: Both projects were quick and fun. However if your kids are younger, they could find it challenging. Abstract art is hard to grasp.

Related blog posts:

-Cubism Portraits
-Watercolor Winter Scene

(logging 2 1/2 hours for prep and execution of both projects)

Art Curriculum- Week 12- Watercolor Winter Scene

Week 12- Watercolor Winter Scene (+salt)

Our last project focused on making adorable little snowmen out of socks! To view it click here.

Category: Winter

What you will need:

-multi purpose paper (you want something with a little texture to soak up the watercolors)
-blue watercolors
-masking/painters tape
-salt
-brushes (we used the cheap foam brushes, easy to buy in bulk and various sizes)
-black marker

Time: 30 minutes. This is a very simple project. It took me 15 minutes to create an example. Time will depend on your group's level. I also taught this same lesson to a a group of over 20 kids (all around 9-11), and it took an hour.

Preparation:

• I drew 5 lines to mark for the kids where they would place the tape (1).
  
  
• I taped the papers to the newspapers. If you have a smooth surface it's helpful to tape directly to the table. However I didn't want to take the chances of our nice tablecloth getting stained with blue paint (2). ;) The tape around the edge will keep the paper from slipping and give the finished produce a clean, professional border.

• They got to put their own tape. I gave each kid one piece at a time.
  
  
• Lay down a quick coat of water.
  
  
• Brush on the blue. I gave some of them dark blue, other light blue for variety. This part you need to do quickly, you don't want it to dry out (3).
  
  
• Sprinkle the salt on!
  
  
• Rub off the salt when it's dry, then you can peel the tape forming the trees (you can use a hairdryer to speed up the drying process)
  
  
• Use a black marker to draw in the lines on the trees. Point out and demonstrate how you can make your lines go from side to side, thick and thin.
  
  
• Peel off the tape and you're done (4)!

In the fourth picture there are branches. This is if you want to be more detailed with the project. I cut smaller pieces of tape at an angle and taped them in.

The Finished Pieces!

Related Posts:

-Week 8- Van Gogh's Fields
-Week 7- Monet's Bridge

(logging 1 1/2 hour for prep and execution)

Art Curriculum- Week 2- 1 Point Perspective

Reference Picture

Week 2- 1 Point Perspective

Last week's lesson involved basic gridding. If you want to view it you can click here.

This week's lesson was 1 Point Perspective.

Artistic Movement: Renaissance

The project was good practice for watercolor painting with different methods and listening to instructions.

What you'll need:
-watercolors
-plain art paper of some kind (it doesn't have to be fancy but for water colors you want paper other than regular copy paper so that the watercolors have some texture to soak into)

Time: 40 minutes approx.

The original painting (pictured above) is something I found on Pinterest. I used it as a reference and quickly drew 7 rough copies of it using a sharpie.

I kept it basic, explained how when things are far away they get smaller and smaller whereas when things are closer they get bigger. I used a paint bottle on hand and I zoomed in back and forth in front of them.

This was another piece that I did step by step with the kids. I gave them one color at a time and we moved in stripes down the page. Blue-Orange-Yellow-Purple-etc.

For the red and orange ground I had them "messily" color within the lines with red leaving wide spaces. Then I gave them the orange and had them fill in all the white spots. I wanted there to be a bit of color mixing going on without creating mud.

The road we used black paint but I had them practice using lots of water with their brushes while taking tiny dabs of paint to achieve a lighter gray.

Overall: Easy and fun project. Simple cleanup (watercolors don't stain) and the kids love painting so it was a great learning experience.

In Addition: Something you might want to point out and explain is that cooler colors (blue, deep purple, etc) make things look farther away, while warmer colors (red, yellow, etc) make things appear closer. ;)

Related Posts:

Art Curriculum- Week 1- Gridding
Creating an Art Curriculum

(logging in 1 hour for prep and execution)