Self-Portraits with Paul Klee color blocks

Two fifth grade classes looked at few of Paul Klee's paintings done with block colors and a self-portrait. We talked about the paintings a bit and how Klee used color to express himself, his emotions and ideas. We also examined this project as illustrated on the following two web sites:

Two links where I found this project:
--http://thetalkingwallsmurals.blogspot.com/2013/01/paul-klee-inspired-self-portrait-lesson.html
--http://www.teachkidsart.net/self-portrait-workshop-paul-klee/

Five links to sample Paul Klee works:
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee#mediaviewer/File:Paul_Klee_1911.jpg
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee#mediaviewer/File:Red_Balloon.JPG
--http://arteascuola.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/08-00571.jpg
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee#mediaviewer/File:Paul_Klee,_In_den_Häusern_von_St._Germain.jpg
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee#mediaviewer/File:Senecio2.JPG

Self-portrait lesson:
I drew a large face divided into halves and fourths, talked about how each eye is 1/5 of the width of your face, the nose is 1/5 wide, sides of mouth end below pupils, ears are same length as between eyes and bottom of nose, etc.
Similar, but more realistic, to this link:
http://kiokreations.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/How-to-draw-face.jpg

How to:
Then I showed them how to draw a face with the correct proportions and let them use their small whiteboards and erasable markers to practice face shape, features and proportions, while I drew on the large whiteboard.  Then we moved to watercolor paper and pencils and mirrors, to sketch themselves with simple lines.  Students traced their pencil lines with a black Sharpie, then choose 12 pre-cut tissue paper squares to place in a grid on their drawing.  The teachers and I misted the artwork with water from spray bottles.  Students used paintbrushes to smooth the paper down and spread the water evenly.  They could remove the tissue paper within a couple minutes, or leave the tissue paper to dry, at which point it falls off or is easily loosened.  Done!  I purchased Spectra tissue paper that is supposed to allow the colors to "bleed" in a watercolor effect, and cut the squares with a sliding paper cutter.

Materials:  watercolor paper, pencils, mirrors, Sharpies, tissue paper that "bleeds."
Time:  1+ hour, but could be adjusted depending on time available.  Could do less instruction time on Paul Klee and/or on how to draw a face. 

Escher-Like Drawings

Drawing like M. C. Escher is difficult. For this lesson we provided each student with a copy of Step #1 which includes starting points. 

Using a ruler and pencil, they moved on to Step #2 by adding the lines shown in red. 

Step #1

Step #2

Similarly, in Step #3 they added lines shown in red. They were encouraged to consider how to make the image look 3-D using shading to create depth.

Step #4

Step #3

This drawing illustrate the Escher-style of impossible construction (the above figure cannot have both square and round pillars).




The example below is an Escher-like hexagon.

Step #1

Step #2

Step #3

Drawings by Loren M. Milliman

Chalk Pastel Planets

The 5th graders were learning about planetary bodies so we incorporated a space theme into this project. We used black paper and chalk pastels. 

Students were instructed to use light and shadows (the sun as the light source) to create the illusion of a 3rd dimension. 

Because chalk pastels will easily smudge, it helps to cover the final project with hairspray which acts as a fixative. (We recommend good ventilation for this part.)

Welcome to our first art docent blog!

I'm trying blogger out to see if it might work for our needs and allow multiple art docents to publish projects and categorize them by grade and media. If I had a project to post, I could describe the process here and add photos like this.  I can also categorize using multiple labels that can be listed in the menu (on the left-hand side in this format).  We can change the look and many things about this blog template.

If we use a lesson from another website, we will need to credit them and post a link.
Let me know if you think this might work?

"Creole Dancer" by Henri Matisse.

A link with a good photo of Matisse using scissors:

http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/multiplicity/2014/03/matisses-cut-outs-sothebys-london.html