Deborah Rael-Buckley creates stunning figurative self-portraits in clay that layer "personal, cultural, historical, and biological imagery" in a narrative style. Her work provides an exciting challenge in three-dimensional self-portraits for eighth graders. In this article, the author suggests some exercises to get students brainstorming visual…

This article presents a lesson that allows students to make bird ornaments using a metal tooling as it can be textured, cut, and colored. In this lesson, students choose a bird and sketch it on a piece of paper. Once the sketches are complete, students copy their pictures on a second piece of paper by taping the sketch over a sheet of blank paper…

This article presents a lesson that allows third and fourth graders to forge the steel bodies of automobiles through repousse, the art of applying pressure to metal with a wooden point. In this lesson, the students draw cars paired with a landscape, making the road trip an adventure in drawing. Both parts of the lesson challenge students'…

In this article, the author describes a classroom lesson relating to still life and the artist, Ralph Goings. While students painted, they discussed about how Ralph Goings shows that everyday, household items can be visually appealing. To give everyday objects a new, unintended purpose is a powerful way to rediscover the world. In younger…