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Mrs. Quam's Art Teacher Diary
​Art lessons, resources, images, and more for visual art and graphic design classes. 

6 Classroom Games that Relate to Art and Graphic Design

3/10/2020

1 Comment

 
I've recently been trying to incorporate more fun into my art classrooms. My goal is to get students excited to come to art and graphic design class. One thing I've found that brings joy-- and even some social and collaboration opportunities-- is using games. I don't typically play an art-related game for an entire hour, but the following are art-related games I've researched and many that I've tried out in my own high school classrooms. Many of these games could be modified for younger students too.

#1 Exquisite Corpse

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Don't let the morbid name scare you. It started as a Surrealist game in the 1920s and is similar to a Victorian-era parlor game called Consequences. Exquisite corpse is a great get-to-know-you activity for middle and high school students. It lets kids practice drawing skills too-- even if they feel like they aren't good at art. This one even gets my high school kids laughing like crazy.

Skills & Key concepts: Drawing, collaboration, imagination, character design, anatomy.
Time Required: About 10-15 minutes.
How to Play:
  1. Each student gets a paper. Have students write their name at the top right or left. 
  2. The paper can be portrait or landscape. Each student folds their papers into thirds of fourths horizontally across the paper. Then they open up their papers.
  3. ​Have students sit in random groups.
  4. Start by instructing students to start at the top part of the fold and draw a "head". I give students about 3 minutes to draw each body part. They can add color too.
  5. When time is up, I instruct students to fold their section towards the back so the next student can't see it. I do instruct students to continue some of the lines down slightly into the next section to help the next student out.
  6. Next, have students pass their papers to the right.
  7. The second section is the "abdomen". This could include the chest, stomach, and arms. After time is up, students pass their paper to the right.
  8. The third section is the "lower half" or just "waist and legs". I usually have to tell high school students to be school appropriate here-- no naked butts :)  After time is up, students pass their paper to the right.
  9. If doing four sections, the last section I call "Feet and ground". Students can add feet and a surface for the character to stand on.
  10. When finished, students pass their papers back to the original owner and open them up! Be ready for roars of laughter!
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#2 Pareidolia Scavenger Hunt

I have used this in graphic design classes when introducing our photography unit, but you could do this in any class.

How to Play:
After showing the short video below, I give students 10 minutes to pair up and find as many "faces" as they can made of inanimate objects. I tell them they may have to rotate their camera, zoom in, or crop areas to get the best effect. I let students roam the classroom, go outside if the weather is nice, and even the hallways, cafeteria, and gym if allowed. Students record their finds with a smartphone, classroom camera, or iPad. Students can upload photos to a google classroom post. After time is up, the team with the most (or funniest) pareidolia photos wins!
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​Check out this article for more info:
https://futurism.com/pareidolia-why-we-see-what-isnt-there
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Skills & Key concepts: Photography, composition, creativity, teamwork
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Time Required: About 10-15 minutes to take photos and 15-20 minutes to look at everybody's photos afterwards

#3 Sculpey Pictionary

Have I told you how much I love sculpey? It doesn't dry out in the air, I can leave it in a box for ages, far more forgiving than genuine clay, and it's awesome for kids who just need to fidget!

How to Play:
Sculpey Pictionary is fairly easy to understand. I give each group of kids a 2-minute timer (like the ones to the right) and a ball of Sculpey about the size of a small apple. I cut up strips of paper with different words and put them in a bucket for each group of kids. Students take turns drawing a word and they have to sculpt it using the Sculpey in under two minutes. If one of their group members guesses correctly, the sculptor (and the student that guessed it right) gets a point! We play several rounds and then the player with the most points from each group wins (usually some candy or pencils from my "prize" box).

Skills & Key concepts: Sculpting, clay, 3-D design, vocabulary
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Time Required: I typically do this for a full 50 minute class hour but you could probably do it in 20-30 minutes with smaller groups.
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These inexpensive 2-minute timers are a great resource to have in the classroom! They aren't noisy too!
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A 1 lb box of Sculpey is enough for about 6-8 groups. Divide the Sculpey up-- you may need to warm it up with your hands-- and let kids get creative!
Need a list of pictionary words? Here are 138 different words at different difficulty levels I created for my classes. Download them free by clicking here!
pictionary_words.pdf
File Size: 31 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

#4 Ink Blowing

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Skills & Key concepts: Creativity, line quality, imagination, collaboration

Time Required: I give students about 15-25 minutes to do this activity.
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Super simple. Super fun. All you need are some straws, heavier paper, India ink, newspapers, possibly markers, and some brushes/calligraphy pens.

How to Play:
1. Give students a few drops of India ink (or even watered down paint) on a thicker paper such as mixed media, watercolor, or tagboard paper. 90# or more works best. Put newspaper or scrap paper underneath to catch any ink drips.
2. Next, give students a plastic straw. I cut the straw in half to save on over-using the plastic. You could also use paper straws instead!
3. Now let students blow the drops of ink all over their paper by blowing through the straw. Students are not allowed to use their hands or brushes-- only their straw! I give students about 5 minutes to do this.
4. When students are done, instruct them to think about what they could make out of these ink blowings. OR to make it more challenging, I pair students up randomly to exchange their papers. Then they have to think about what they could make out of someone else's ink blowing.
5. Students then proceed to use India ink with brushes, markers and/or calligraphy pens to turn their ink blowing into something more recognizable or interesting. I often allow abstract patterns and shapes too.
​6. When all students are done, we hang them up in the hallway for a quick gallery walk/critique.

This is a great way for kids to take a brain break and develop some creativity!

#5 Street Art Online Game

This game is online based, but it's kind of addicting so I had to include it.
This game was created by Tate and is available along with other art-related games on their website.
Visit here: https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/games-quizzes/street-art to check it out! I like that they provide examples of work that kids around the world have created on their website. You can see some examples to the right!

Skills & Key concepts: Street art, digital art, expressionism, computer literacy

Time Required: This ranges from a 5-minute activity to even longer for more complex works.
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#6 Dice Drawing Game

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Skills & Key concepts: Drawing, line quality, observational drawing, Cubism

Time Required: This usually takes about a full 50 minute class hour-- especially if I have students add color with markers, colored pencils, or paint!
Unfortunately I have not found the original source for this game since there are so many versions out there!

However, this game is super fun and not difficult to do with a variety of ages and abilities. I have created a blank PDF table (download it at the left or use the link below!) with the dice and different facial features. I have students draw ideas for head shape, left eye shape, eyebrows, etc. They can also write the ideas in words too.

Next, we roll the dice! I like the big foam dice found at the Dollar Tree in packs of two. They are quiet! However, you can also use an online-based dice roller such as https://freeonlinedice.com/. 

There are lots of teachers out there who have created different versions of these games. A quick search on Teachers Pay Teachers will reveal many options! However, I find that letting kids choose the "parts" makes it even more fun! You could even let kids work together to create all of the parts and collaborate. Feel free to download the dice drawing template I created below. It is free!
dice_drawing_game.pdf
File Size: 284 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Color Schemes in graphic design class for logo design project

2/28/2020

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I recently discovered the awesome online app coolors.co and just had to make a quick post about how to use this amazing program to help students understand and choose color schemes for various projects. Students can even use this program on their phones or an ipad.
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So how does it work?
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Simply go to https://coolors.co/ and click on the blue button to start. For my graphic design classes, each student was provided with one specific hex code (the 6 digit number after the hashtag under each color). Students had to enter that hex code as one of their necessary colors. The rest of the colors were decided by each student. I had students lock their required color and then press the spacebar on their computers to generate random colors. If a student saw a color they wanted to keep, I had students lock that color and continue pressing the spacebar. For students that wanted more control, I allowed them to find and adjust the colors using the adjust feature (see below). Students can adjust hue, saturation, and brightness.
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Once students chose their final color schemes, I had them record the hex codes in their logo design packet. Interested in seeing my logo design packet? Click the link or image below to view and download. This .pdf is currently free for all teachers personal and classroom use. ​
2020_logo_design_packet1.pdf
File Size: 930 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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I have found using this packet to be very beneficial for students to slow down and think like a real graphic designer. In case you are curious, I give each student an assigned "company". This makes it more real-world too-- sometimes students get a company that really strikes a cord with them and others get something they think is boring. All of the companies I provide to students are made up and each student does a different design (no one has the same company assigned to them). But this emulates how it is to be a real graphic designer! Students are also put into small groups for the "pitch" stage. The other students in the group act like the "client" and give feedback on the 3 drawings eventually helping the designer decide which logo is strongest and what their final logo design will look like.

Interested to see some of my graphic design 1 students logo designs utilizing their color schemes? Check out my gallery below.
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Mandala Color Wheel Lesson

7/2/2018

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I have just added a new lesson with a template made by yours truly! Introducing the mandala color wheel lesson! I have seen this done on a larger scale with students measuring, but I wanted to take some of the headache out of the lesson to make it run a little smoother for my Art 1 students. Hence, the printable template! The template is intended for acrylic paint, but you could also use watercolor, colored pencils, chalk pastel, etc. This is an excellent project to introduce students to the concept of color & the kiddos love making an intricate and original design!

Included in the Teachers Pay Teachers product listing is also a 19-minute demo video showing me create a mandala from start to finish using the template below.
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Screenshot of video included with the mandala color wheel lesson
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You can purchase the mandala color wheel template, video & powerpoint at my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
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Illustrator Selfie Project for Graphic Design 2

4/9/2018

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I started my graphic design 1 students on Adobe Photoshop CS6 standard version first. Eventually we started to move into Adobe Illustrator and this is a fun lesson to teach students the basics of Illustrator. Since Photoshop and Illustrator are very different programs, I informed my students ahead of time that this would be a another learning curve-- that some students might catch on quickly, while others might need more practice.

Last year, I won a $4000 grant to purchase tech for our graphic design program from the Centurylink Grant award program. I purchased 36 small Wacom drawing tablets for students to use and I instructed my graphic design 2 students to use them for this illustrator sefie project.

First, students took a selfie using their phone or one of my classroom cameras. I instructed students that their face had to be showing, but the artistic style, color, line quality, was up to them. I also told students they could change their selfie to an "alter-ego" which made for some very interesting changes to their actual look.

​This tutorial below by RiceGum on Youtube is both entertaining and informative & we watched the video as a class and then I posted it to the graphic design 2 google classroom for students to reference.
When I first taught this lesson, I was worried that it would be too "tracey" and boring for my more advanced students, but it ended up being really okay! Since I allowed students much creative freedom, they were able to really have fun with it. I even had a girl turn herself into a werewolf! After everyone was finished, I created a simple google slides slideshow of each student's selfie to share with the class and I plan on sharing them with future graphic design classes. It was fun having the students guess who each person was! Check out additional examples of graphic design 2 students illustrator selfies below:
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Reduction linoleum printmaking with art 2 high school students

1/18/2018

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Art 2 students created reduction prints using a 6"x6" block of safety cut linoleum. Students had to create an original drawing and plan for 3 colors + the color of the paper (most often white). Feel free to use my basic instructions with examples below! Reduction prints always seem far more complicated in theory than when you actually make it. One of the best ways to help students understand this is to have them practice on a very small piece of linoleum. Something simple like a flower is a good subject matter. See the process below.



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Step 1 - Carve away areas you want to be the color of the paper. In this case, the middle of the flower. Use the lightest color of ink first. In this case, yellow was used first.
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Step 2- Carve away the areas that you want to be your first ink color. In this case, the petals and middle of the flower were carved to preserve the yellow ink. Green ink was used next.
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Step 3 - Choose your last ink color (this should be your darkest color, often black). Carve away the areas you want to be your 2nd ink color (in this case green). Everything else that isn't carved will be black!
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Art History of the Week Burrito Book Bellringers, Minilessons, and more!

7/12/2017

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Make learning about art history more fun and engaging by having an art history of the week! Geared towards secondary level students such as high school and middle school, this download includes everything you need to teach a semester (or 18 weeks) worth of art history movements & styles. Each art history movement takes approximately 10-20 minutes to teach, depending on which video links you decide to use. Integrate art history mini lessons quickly and effectively without boring your students!

Use the Burrito book template so each student can make their own art history "sketchbook" and all you need are scissors! Not sure how to make a burrito book? The template comes with pre-marked dashed lines for cutting and instructions with images in the powerpoint slideshow. Each page of the burrito book is dedicated to a different art movement. Students must write down the time period, art movement name, a definition in their own words, how the elements/principles are used in the example artwork, 3 characteristics of that art movement, and 2 things they learned from the video. The image examples are glued to create interactive flaps that make studying the art movements even more fun. This entire product took over 30 hours of work to complete, so save yourself some time & use this one!
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View the art history of the week templates, powerpoint, & more in my TPT shop!

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Famous Artist Cube Summative Assessment for Art 1 Students

6/3/2017

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These cubes were made by my high school Art 1 students. Students signed up for a visual artist to research & create their own famous artist cube. I had students trace a cube template I made onto poster board and then encouraged them to "think outside the box" (Pun definitely intended). The results were pretty amazing! Each student then presented their creation to the class and we talked about our researched artists.
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Visual Journal or Sketchbook Prompts

3/30/2016

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This semester, I got an idea from a fellow art teacher that I just love! The idea is that you take old hardcover books and upcycle them into sketchbooks! I had the library donate about 75 books to my classroom that had worn covers or torn pages. I asked each student to select a book and "upcycle" it in a way that they liked! I let my high school students use paint, oil pastels, markers, colored pencils-- pretty much any media of their choice. I got out my paper scrap and scrapbook paper buckets and let them go crazy...it has been so much fun!

The nice part about this project is that it is ongoing, allows students a range of creativity and choice in their creations, and eventually each student will have a full and interesting visual journal to keep. Many of my students are taking this project very seriously. I plan on taking photos of each student's visual journal at the end of the semester and I will post photos soon!

I created a set of prompts for each of my class. They have the entire semester to complete the prompts. I included the list of prompts below for your use. 

Art & Design Visual Journal Prompts

visual_journal_assignments_art.docx
File Size: 14 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

Draw/Paint II Visual Journal Prompts

visual_journal_assignments_art.docx
File Size: 14 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

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Top 3 Reasons to Have Mini Conferences with your High School Students

3/25/2016

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Since 3rd quarter is just about done, I decided to try something new with my art students. I just finished having what I call "Mini conferences" with my high school students, and I had to write a blog post to report my findings! Basically, I spent two days meeting with each of my high school students one on one during class. Half the class was on the first day, half the class was on the second day. I focused on talking about the following with each student:
  • Grades, participation, & academic progress
  • How they feel about the class & their art skills
  • What I can do to improve as a teacher or the curriculum as a whole

Overall I spent only 3-5 minutes with each student, which doesn't seem like a huge amount of time, but the amount I learned during this process is more than worth it! There are a few reasons why I will do this again, and I outline them below:

1. Get Feedback from Your Students

This was something I was not expecting, but was beyond value to me! While talking with each student privately, they provided me with a ton of feedback to improve my teaching and curriculum. When I asked students how they felt about the class, most students said "Good". When I asked them about the pace of the class, I had several students say they felt that it was going too fast. Many students said they'd like to spend more time on their paintings. If I had never asked them this, I would have kept trucking along! I also asked students how they felt about the projects. Many students shared their own ideas for projects they would like to try. They gave me so many ideas, I just wish I had them for the entire year so we could do them all!

2. Identify Strengths and Weaknesses

While discussing grades, I also talked with students about their strengths and weaknesses. Even if a student has 100% in my class, I know they are not perfect. For example, I have a student who has exceptional skill and a high level of perfectionism. Her artwork is college-level work, but her artist statement writing is below average. When discussing this with her, I discovered that she has always struggled with writing and just doesn't know where to start when writing an artist statement. She said she really struggled with getting her thoughts onto paper. We talked about this for a bit, so I offered a piece of differentiated instruction: I would walk her through the questions for the artist statement verbally, then she would orally respond with her answers and I would take notes for her on her responses. Next, I had her re-write my notes as a 2-paragraph artist statement. This seemed to really help her through the process and she still demonstrated her learning (which is the goal, right?) Identifying strengths and weaknesses with students helps them understand where they need to improve and grow, but it also helps me understand where I need to start with a lesson. It helps me differentiate depending on student skill level and readiness.

3. Help them Stay on Track

I don't know about you, but I have a few students who would rather sit on their phones all day looking at themselves than work on their projects. For these students, I found the mini conferences to be extremely valuable. First, I showed them what work they were missing. One girl literally had no idea she was missing 3 assignments. Turns out, she forgot to turn 2 of them in. She immediately went to her drawer, got the 2 assignments out and turned them in. I didn't take points away. She had done the assignments and demonstrated her learning. Next, we talked about participation. I showed students the total number of points they had received and why they lost points (on their phones, not working during class, etc.). I think this was a real eye opener for some students. While the points don't negatively affect their grade, I keep track during class as a way to collect data. If a student is not doing what they are supposed to do, I take a point away, and attempt to redirect them. While I love my cell phone, I explained to students that when they're just on their phones the entire time, they are not able to focus and also miss important things like announcements, lessons, and the real world around them. I ended the conference by telling them that I care about their success in my class, whether they like art or not, and that my job was to help them succeed. I can't tell you how many of my struggling art students went right to work afterwards!
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Social Issue Printmaking Project

1/25/2016

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This project was quite extensive, but one of my favorite projects I have ever taught! We spent a day having a class discussion about the work of Shepard Fairey and the way Shepard Fairey uses visual art as a way to draw attention to a particular social issue such as pollution, inequality, and greed. We also talked about the works of Banksy and Ricardo Levins Morales (Minneapolis-based activist artist). We listened to a Podcast interview of Ricardo and his work. Listen to the podcast of Ricardo Levins Morales on MPR here.

Students were first asked to brainstorm different social issues. At first, some students really struggled thinking of ideas. For the kids who struggled, I asked them what they liked. For example, a student said he liked music. I asked him if he knew of any problems in the music industry. He immediately said "Piracy", "Inequality", "Sexism" and "People need to support local music more".  These are all great examples of social issues that tie into a student interest. Some examples of social issues chosen by students for this project include marriage equality, racial equality, saving and protecting animals, recycling, protecting the environment, religious equality, self esteem, perfectionism, anti-bullying, and greed.

One issue I did run into was I had one student who wanted to do a design based around legalizing marijuana. Even though I personally didn't find this offensive, I knew it would be an issue since I teach at a public school! Drugs are bad...mmmk? So I had to explain to the student that while I am all for freedom of expression, that I would appreciate it if he chose a different, more school appropriate topic. I dislike the idea of censorship in my classroom, but there's got to be a line drawn somewhere, right?

Next, students were given the challenge of illustrating that social issue. The goal was to create a design that clearly illustrated the chosen social issue. Some students did better at this than others. Each student had to show me their design plan in order to get their linoleum. Students used a 6B ebony pencil to outline their design plan, flip the plan on top of the linoleum, and burnish the design onto the linoleum. This helped students keep their words & letters backwards when carving without having to worry about writing the letters and words backwards.

Finally, students started carving their designs! View my demo video below for complete instructions.

Students were asked to create 6 different prints and choose 3 for display. After they finished preparing their prints for exhibit, they were asked to write an artist statement. Two of the guiding questions for their artist statement was "How can art change the world?" and "What is visual art's relationship to society?". Some of the responses I got were truly inspiring. Overall, I loved this project and how it engaged all of my students!

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Zentangle or Tangle Tiles

12/31/2015

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 My high school students just recently finished their Zentangle or Tangle tile project. We talked about the differences between geometric and organic patterns. Students were asked to divide their 12"x12" drawing paper up into at least 12 different sections with each section having a different pattern. Students used sharpies with different widths to create their patterns and designs. Students were also asked to create an equal balance of darker patterns and lighter patterns. I allowed students the option of adding color.

My students with anxiety and depression really seemed to benefit from this project. My room was so quiet when they were working on this! Not to mention, my room was less of a mess! I played relaxing piano and classical music while they worked...which surprisingly most kids enjoyed. Some students said this was their favorite project of the semester!
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Wayne Thiebaud Oil Pastel Paintings

11/20/2015

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My Draw/Paint I high school students did an awesome job on this project! Though I usually like students to have a more open-ended art assignment, this one seemed to work well for all students.

For this assignment, I introduced students to the work of Wayne Thiebaud (Tee-Bow). We discussed how he used colors in interesting ways and applied the paint thickly to the canvas like frosting. His work has a 3-dimensional quality that makes it addicting to look at! I then had students experiment with oil pastel and mixing colors of oil pastel using the 3 primary colors.

Finally, I had students choose a color copy of a Wayne Thiebaud work that they liked. The nice thing about Thiebaud's work is that it offers an enticing selection for students to choose from. My students had to draw the work based on the color copy with pencil first. Some students chose to draw using the grid method they had learned in the previous lesson.

Next, they used oil pastel to add color. I encouraged students to apply the oil pastel very thickly to recreate the 3-dimensional quality of Thiebaud's work. This project was a lot of fun, because it helped even below average students feel successful at art. This project took approximately 2 weeks (10 50-minute class times) for students to finish.

Halfway through the project I brought in cupcakes for all my students because they complained that Thiebaud's work made them hungry. What's better than making art and eating cupcakes!?
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    Mrs. Quam

    I am a 7th year high school art teacher  in Rochester, MN. I have taught middle school for 2 years and high school for almost 5 years. I truly enjoy working with students on a daily basis. I also enjoy teaching real-world skills such as problem solving, using technology, and the power of teamwork and collaboration. My joy is sharing my passion for art with others!

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