Cubism Cats

Big thanks to Marcia Beckett and her "Art is Basic" blog for posting
this Cubist Cat lesson.

My 3rd graders enjoyed it lots!
During the first class, I gave a directed drawing lesson for the cat.  After drawing in pencil, students traced w/ black marker.
Then in second lesson students added shapes by making lines with a ruler.  Then they colored in the shapes.

Blue & Rose Period

Image via Wikipedia

For this lesson we talked about Picasso's Blue and Rose Periods. Then we talked about color values.
The students were given old calendars w/ animals, chose an animal, then traced it onto white paper. In order to trace the pictures, students taped the calendar page up to the window to create a "lightbox" effect. This makes tracing much easier.

Students then chose either a blue or red palette for their animal. Working light to dark.

Lastly, the students painted a simple background.

After tracing their animals, students created light, medium and dark blue or red to be used for painting their animal.

If you like this lesson because of its emphasis on painting "values", check out my $6 downloadable PDF lesson on "The Great Wave". It comes with step by step intstructions, color picture samples, and a blue value chart to share with your students.

Picasso Quote

Pablo Picasso, Child with a Dove, 1901

There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun. Pablo Picasso (Spain 1881-1973)

Picasso and Guitars

Pablo Picasso (Spain 1881-1973)
Picasso had a thing for guitars, as some of his "guitar art" below illustrates.

Kids have a thing for guitars too!

Here's a lesson where the students draw a guitar, draw intersecting lines, then color the spaces. Simple lesson, but always fun and colorful.

Special thanks to Mr. Lang, via Mr. Tedone, for sharing this lesson idea.

Start with a dot in the center of the page, to help students position their drawing.

Draw one horizontal oval below the dot. Draw lightly because these ovals will be erased later.

Draw a second oval below the first. Make it wider than the first one.

Draw the body of the guitar, using the ovals to guide your shape.

Erase both ovals.

Draw circle for hole in the guitar.

Draw neck of guitar.

Draw head on top of neck.

Draw some lines across the page. The fewer the lines, the less time needed to color the picture. More lines, means more time needed to color. Note - Drawing the guitar and 3 intersecting lines, then coloring it will take approx. 50 minutes.

Color or paint each shape in the picture.

Kermit King Elementary Artists

Kermit King Elementary Artists