Recently, the teachers at the author's school completed a group project with their eighth-graders in which they recreated a mural version of the famous painting by Pablo Picasso, "Guernica." This activity was aimed at: (1) studying the rise of Fascism in Spain and Germany during the Spanish Civil War prior to World War II; (2) learning…

This article describes an art activity on self-portraiture inspired by artist Tim Hawkinson. Hawkinson created a sculpture titled "Emoter" in which his face, moved by motors, twisted and contorted based on random signals from a TV. This art activity incorporates technology into the art room, brings the work of practicing artists alive, and is a…

In this article, the author describes a landscape project using Grant Wood's paintings as an example. As part of the project, the students are required to include a barn in their picture. This project is a great opportunity to study an Iowa artist who did landscape painting and to study perspective. This is also an excellent project for teaching…

In school, the author sat next to Sandor the sculptor--when he was still undiscovered. He could take a pencil and, while seemingly listening in class, completely reshape the pencil by biting it. To detail his best pieces, Sandor would highlight the dents and gnashes with colored pens. Little did Sandor realize that his early efforts would be an…

In this article, the author describes an art project inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell. The project called for designing both the outside and the inside of a cigar box according to the student's theme. Thus, students needed to consider the viewer's vantage point with the box both closed and open, general design elements, two-dimensional and…

In this article, the author describes an underwater scene composition for elementary-education majors. This project deals with watercolor with crayon or oil-pastel resist (medium); the beauty of nature represented by fish in the underwater scene (theme); texture and pattern (design elements); drawing simple forms (drawing skill); and composition…

The author has always loved teaching a lesson on self-portraits to her eighth-grade students. Portraits raise the bar and, when they are successful, convince the students that they really can draw. Each year they explore the basic concepts of portraiture, but use different media, sizes and styles. The author likes to interject art history and…

Animals have always been close to the heart of humankind. They appear in the earliest imagery as the very first subjects of art. Household pets are a fixture for many a family. This is true in art as well. In shifting the balance away from animals as pure symbols, the Impressionists identified them as members of the household. One of the most…

In this article, the author describes a lesson he created for his second-grade classes which was inspired by the children's book, "Why is Blue Dog Blue?", by George Rodrigue. In this lesson, the students make associations between places, food and events to determine the color of their dogs. (Contains 3 resources.)

This article describes a lesson in picture depth. The lesson involves tracing paper layers, object size and raising the horizon line per page layer. Students learn to look at and scan a photograph or print, break down the picture's qualities, and design elements and principles. Students also gain an increased appreciation for design and artist…

Claude Monet and the Impressionists were the forward thinkers and painters of their time. They used quick brushstrokes and a rapid pace to capture lively outdoor scenes. Inspired by the colors and shadows revealed by sunlight, the Impressionists typically worked outside, without many preliminary sketches or drafts. This was in direct contrast to…

Creating an appreciation of art history in her junior-high students has always been one of the author's greatest challenges as an art teacher. In this article, the author describes how her eighth-grade students re-created a famous work of art--piece by piece, like a puzzle or a stained-glass window--out of construction paper. (Contains 1 resource.)

This article presents an art project designed for upper-elementary students to (1) imagine visual differences in the sun's appearance during the four seasons; (2) develop ideas for visually translating their personal experiences regarding the seasons to their sun drawings; (3) create four distinctive seasonal suns using colors and imagery to…

An abstract art project can be challenging or not, depending on the objectives the teacher sets up. In this article, the author describes an abstract papier-mache project that is a success for all students, and is a versatile project easily manipulated to suit the classroom of any art teacher.

If there is a truly magic moment in art class, it must be when a student--of any age--attains a working knowledge of color's core principles. At that point, she or he becomes able to consistently create color harmony in any painting, regardless of the subject matter. From then on, that student gains greater confidence, can paint better pictures…