Batik

Supplies: 100% cotton t-shirt square, paper, black marker, un-washable tempera paint, and washable Elmers glue (clear).

 I drew out my design on a piece of paper with black marker and then using Elmers glue I traced my design onto my t-shirt. (It helps if you iron the fabric so its flat.) When the Elmers glue was dry I then painted on my fabric the colors I wanted. When the paint was dry I used warm water and washed out all the glue rubbing it off with my fingers. Some of the dye came out, so be sure to put a nice amount on. Where the glue had been was left white. The process was super fun, and I like how the design and color remind me of spring.

Zentangle

 

Supplies: oil pastels, watercolor paper, 1/4 c. of black tempera, 1/4 c. Liquid dish soap, something to scratch with (popsicle stick, fork, paperclip, etc.), and a paint brush

Using oil pastels on top of watercolor paper and then covering the entire paper with tempera paint and soap made a scratchboard. Really coat it thick and expect to do several layers. I thought this was very fun and interesting. Kids would enjoy the concept of zentangle and the fact that it was colored would get them excited as well. I feel that this could be pretty much done with any age level, but I see 2nd and 3rd graders enjoying it the most probably. With 1st graders I would give them a smaller square of paper to work with, and with older students go with a larger piece. It was very messy, so If your doing it with younger grades in particular expect to vacuum at the end of the day.

Light Painting

 

Supplies: Flashlight, camera with slow shutter speed capabilities, and  tissue paper

 

Light Painting is using a camera and at least one flashlight. I found you could use colored tissue paper over the flashlight to create different colors in your light painting. The hardest part for me was figuring out my camera so that it took a long shutter speed and I had enough time to "paint" in the air with my flashlight or flashlights. I collaborated with others and it was really fun because it was much easier to have several colors or motions going on to create something unique.

100 Color Challenge

 

 

Supplies: Watercolor and Acrylic paint.

 

The top half is watercolor and the bottom half is acrylic. I collaborated with a partner to come up with at least 100 different colors. Watercolor was slightly trickier because to get different shades we had to water down our paint. After a few colors we really had to start thinking out of the box and try mixing new colors. This assignment is much more fun collaborating with a partner. 

Create Your Own Alien

Supplies: Oil pastel, marker, cardstock, scissors, pencil.

To create this alien I first took a piece of paper and folded it. On the fold line I wrote my name in cursive letters. I then cut around my name and unfolded the shape to reveal a unique alien form. I colored the alien and her background. I then decided why she was beautiful and what on her planet is considered beautiful. My alien is beautiful because of her bright pink eyes, and her big blue lips which is considered beautiful on her planet.

Georgia O'Keeffe inspired watercolor

Supplies: Watercolor paper, watercolor paint, and a pencil

This is a Georgia O'Keeffe inspired watercolor. I used pencil to sketch it out, and then I painted using only one color at a time usually. Occasionally I had several brushes and had a brush for each specific color. Watercolor is very hard for me and I struggle, but after experimenting with this I feel much more comfortable doing watercolors. I love the contrast in this piece as well as the complimentary colors red and green. They really add a lot to the piece and I'm very pleased with how it all turned out.

Mandala

 

 

Supplies: colored pencil, acrylic paint, watercolor paint, thin black marker, 

 

When I researched mandalas I began to piece together some ideas that I thought were pleasing to the eye but also represented me. I began to think of things that symbolize me and how I wanted to represent them in my mandala. I sketched out several designs and ideas to put in my mandala. I also experimented with a rough draft of my mandala to decide what colors and designs I liked best. My sketch was free handed, and I wanted it to be symmetrical, so I folded pieces of paper and cut out the shape I wanted. I then traced my paper shape so that I knew that the shape was symmetrical. I decided to have two sets of eyes, one green and one blue, because sometimes I have green eyes, while other times I have blue eyes. I am also a very visual person and learn best by watching someone else. On the outer edge of the eyes there are butterflies because butterflies fly from one thing to another and I am the same way, I like doing and learning a variety of different things and am open to trying new things. The pink tutu is because I am a ballet dancer. I chose peacock feathers because I love the colors, the look of them and the graceful shape. I chose the colors, blue, pink, purple, and teal because those are my favorite colors. The gold reminds me of things that are bright and happy, and I consider myself a positive person. I chose to use watercolor paint for the butterfly wings, the flowers and the tutu because I wanted to experiment with layering the colors. I used acrylic paint for the gold and white highlights because it is opaque, and I used colored pencil for the peacock feathers and eyes because I could make fine details.  I used a black micron marker to outline some of the mandala details