Project #4 - Eric Karl Story Collage

The story collage illustration was inspired by Eric Karl's children's books. My illustration is about Timmy the Turtle. Timmy is going on an underwater adventure. This was a very fun and easy activity to do in the classroom and could work well for an elementary class. On separate sheets of white paper, we were to create designs using various colors of paint. Mixing the paint added texture to our designs.

An extension activity using this lesson could be incorporated into almost any subject area. If children were reading a certain book for an English class, they could pick out a certain scene to illustrate. Another cool idea for this lesson would be creating environments in science class. Like I did in mine, students could choose to do an underwater environment. Other environments  could be the rain forest, desert or even the tundra. Students could then create animals that live in each of those environments.

Project #3 - Van Gogh Tissue Paper Landscape

 This project is a collage using tissue paper and gel medium. I created a landscape of a farm scene, including a barn, windmill and trees. This was inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night masterpiece. I used a 12 x 18 piece of construction paper for the background and also another piece for my objects. The tissue paper represents the wind of the night. I also used a silver permanent marker for the outline of the barn, grass, windmill and trees. Crayons were another medium used to add slight color to the objects.

An extension activity you could use this art project for is discussing different types of environments or even rural/urban communities during social studies class. You could discuss cities, farms, deserts, oceans or even forests; and the students could choose which type of environment they wanted to create.

I think the best way to implement art history into the classroom is for history class. Depending on what era and time period your class was studying, you could discuss famous painters and masterpieces of that time. The students could either choose to recreate one of the masterpieces, like we did for Starry Night, or they could do a presentation about the artist. The chapter discusses numerous ways to incorporate art history into the classroom, ideas are endless.

Project #2 - Elements & Principles of Art Pictures

Contrast - This picture represents contrast because of the dark bushes against the light snow. Contrast is opposing ideas, an example being light vs. dark.

Lines - This wooden fence is an example of lines. The separate boards provide a space in between  revealing lines.

Shape - There are two types of shape, geometric and organic. This picture of bricks represent geometric shapes. Geometric shapes consist of rectangles, circles, triangles or squares.

Movement - Movement is an object in action. This picture of a moving ceiling fan describes movement. The blurriness of the picture is an indicator it is in motion.

Space - Space refers to the environment around us. It can either be an open space or a closed in space. This picture represents the “open” road and having a wide area.

Project #1 - Footprint Project

           The footprint art project is a great way to get to know students, as well as letting the students get to know one another. Have the students trace one or both of their feet on a piece of construction paper and then cut them out. Then, let the students be creative, letting them pick and choose how they want to decorate it in order to describe themselves. They can put hobbies, interests, family, education and etc. They can also use whatever they choose to decorate it, such as: markers, colors, pictures, magazine clippings and etc. 
        Above is an example of my foot print and all the things inside it represent me. The music notes on the bottom left represent my love for listening to music and going to concerts. I put an ice cream cone and slice of pizza because I enjoy eating food, sweets and pizza especially. Next is a bike because I love the outdoors and going for rides with my friends. I also put a Nicholas Sparks book, because he is one of my favorite authors. Next, I put the NSU logo because that is where I attend college. The 4-leaf clover represents my heritage of Ireland. In the middle I put a picture of my family, since they are the most important people in my life. Finally, I put a ruler, stack of books, and an apple to represent my future of becoming an elementary education teacher.

An extension activity for this lesson could be for a language arts class. Students could write a brief paper about their footprint and what each picture represents.