Hidden Safari

For this activity we looked at paintings by Henri Rousseau and were asked to try to find different animals hidden in the jungle background. After we had done this short activity, we watched the intro of the Lion King to see more examples of safari animals. We then got into the lesson itself. We cut out our glasses shape from construction paper, then glued our red transparent material over our glasses. Following this, we did a short practice session of drawing different parts of animals and the jungle upside down (copying from examples). This made us focus more on the line we're actually seeing, rather than what we thought it was supposed to look like. After this practice, we picked a safari animal for our bigger project. We drew the animal lightly in a cool color (light blue), then drew repeating patterns in warm colors (red, orange, yellow, and pink) over our animal, effectively "camouflaging" them like the animals in Henri Rousseau's painting. After our animal was covered so that we couldn't see it anymore, we put on our red glasses which brought out the blue animal underneath. Following completion of our actual project, we mounted the paper on a bigger piece of construction paper, along with a note card that gave three clues as to what our animal was.
I think this is a good lesson for students to help teach many different elements of design; how to use contour lines, warm vs. cool colors, and pattern were all addressed in this lesson. The lesson also is fun for students because of the "hidden" safari animal that can only be seen with the special glasses.

The animal "hiding" in my own project.

I think a good extension activity for this project would be to draw two different depictions of the same scene, almost like a time lapse, rather than the safari animal. For example, you could use the blue pencil to draw a blooming flower, then in warm colors draw a brighter, much more vibrant scene depicting a flower bud about to bloom. You could also relate this to a short lesson about the weather; have students draw a rainy scene in the blue pencil, then draw a sunny scene over the top to hide it until you put on the glasses. Having students tell you about how rainy days or sunny days happen in conjunction with presenting their projects could help them remember how the weather works.

Vincent Van Gogh Inspired Skylines

In class we looked at the art style of Vincent Van Gogh in conjunction with skylines that contrast with the bright sky. We glued tissue paper on dark construction paper to create swirl-like designs in homage to Van Gogh's art style. We followed this up by cutting out dark skylines to lay over our skies. I did buildings, but the skylines could be anything, such as trees or a farm. We then used pastels to color swirl designs throughout our sky, further emulating Van Gogh. We also could draw over the buildings to show lights, which I used for my windows. I think this project is a good way for kids to get familiar with different materials. Personally I never got to work with tissue paper much in my K-12 art classes, and I think it's a good medium to get kids to better understand colors. Overlaying different tissue papers can create different colors. 

An extension activity that could be used in conjunction with this project is to do a smaller version of the original project, then use the acquired skills to complete a much bigger group project. Students could work together to apply the different colored tissue papers, perhaps even using it as means to learn the color spectrum order. Students could apply the tissue paper in the Roy G Biv order across the sky, then each add their own cut out building. The project would be finished with the pastel swirls over the whole thing. Through this bigger project, students could work on working in a big group to solve the problem of fitting everyone's building in one space, as well as figuring out the order of the rainbow as a class.

Elements and Principles of Design for 2nd Grade

Element: Line
Line is a form that connects at least two different points in a picture. Lines have a direction and length.
This is a closeup of the laces on my boots, the crossing laces being the lines.

Element: Texture
Texture is how something feels when you touch it. It can be soft and smooth, hard and rough, or anywhere in between. In pictures, you can tell that something feels a certain way, even though you aren't actually touching it.
This is a closeup of bark on a tree, the rough surface creating a texture.

Element: Space
Space is the main object of a picture and its relation to its background. Space helps you determine if something is close up, or far away.
This is a picture of the NSU water tower, taken from below. The water tower appears to get smaller as your eyes move up the picture, because things look smaller when they're further away from you.

Element: Color
Color is how bright or dark a color is, as well as how one color looks compared to all the other colors in the picture. There are warm and cool colors.
This is a closeup of a door decoration our RA made. The bright colors are attention-grabbing and pop out at the viewer.

Principle: Movement
Movement can show that something in a picture is moving, even though it is only a picture.
This is a picture I took while riding in a car down 6th Avenue. The blurred street lights and car lights indicate movement.