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A simple cube can be the inspiration for great works of art, such as those "Op Art" by Victor Vasarely. Starting from a cube, or by a series of cubes, I propose five ideas to be carried...

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50+ Amazing Geometric Design Patterns Geometric Design Patterns is a part of our furniture design inspiration series. Furniture design inspirational series is a weekly showcase of incredible furniture designs from all around the world. Design Inspiration >>> 60+ Wall Mirror Design Inspiration Note: THE ARCHITECT'S DIARY claims no credit for any images featured on this site [...]

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50+ Amazing Geometric Design Patterns - The Architects Diary

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50+ Amazing Geometric Design Patterns Geometric Design Patterns is a part of our furniture design inspiration series. Furniture design inspirational series is a weekly showcase of incredible furniture designs from all around the world. Design Inspiration >>> 60+ Wall Mirror Design Inspiration Note: THE ARCHITECT'S DIARY claims no credit for any images featured on this site [...]

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Op deze blog vind je werken van de leerlingen van het Sint Andreas Lyceum St.-Kruis Brugge. Alle werkjes werden gemaakt tijdens de lessen plastische opvoeding.

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We are off and running at Zamo!

As usual, I am starting the school year off with a collaborative project that is low stress and high impact. a little background- during the first week I meet with classes for 30 minute mini lessons. This allows me to review art room rules and procedures and to get students creating right away. Kids end up creating for about 20 minutes.

This lesson always emphasizes unity and variety in both art and our school community and beyond. I make a point of introducing textile artists, fabric designers, and quiltmakers with these lessons due to the modular nature of the designs and because I feel that they are often neglected in art education and the art world.

This year, I discovered the work of Tula Pink through instagram and her "TriDazzler" quilt jumped out at me from her feed. I love the repetition of the diamonds and triangles and how the colors repeat in a looser visual way. The main adjustment we made in our approach to Tula's quilt design, was that the center line of the diamond could be rotated either horizontally or vertically.

The prep for this project is pretty simple compared to some others that I have done (looking at you Libs Elliott project and the Latifah Saafir/Sylvia Sutters project;)

I precut a bunch of 6x6" squares that covered the spectrum of colors, plus any tints and shades of those I had available. I then cut a bunch of those squares in half.

Before each class comes in, I place a square & triangle at each seat. As classes move through, I progress through the collection of colors I have to create a loose gradient across the install. I don't have a formula to the progression, it's more of a feel when having colors enter and exit, and re-enter the overall arrangement.

Students glue the triangle onto their diamond.
Students rotate their diamond, so the center line is horizontal.
Students add lines from the top and bottom of the diamond to the center line. They need at least 2.
Students add any colors like like to their smaller triangles, leaving at least one piece the color of the paper on top and bottom.
Students put glue on the back of their diamond.
Students bring their piece to the larger paper quilt and place it on, making the decision to have the center line vertical or horizontal, repsonding to the diamonds already in place.

end of day 1.

end of day 2.

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We are off and running at Zamo! As usual, I am starting the school year off with a collaborative project that is low stress and high impac...

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By analyzing the various ways of representing space, we arrived to the study of perspective. In this collage, with students in the seventh grade, we first drawn a room in central perspective, following the geometrical rules of perspective construction. Then we designed a "space" landscape with colored pencils on a black sheet, to create the fantasy setting of our perspective. The image of the room in perspective was then cut out, pasted on the drawing and completed with a collage of objects and figures cut out from magazines and assembled in an imaginative way. Our room surreal, floating in the universe is ready!

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By analyzing the various ways of representing space, we arrived to the study of perspective. In this collage, with students in the seventh grade, we first drawn a room in central perspective, follo...

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In order to understand the light and shadow on a solid, we drew the shades on a group of objects with a pencil. In this still life some students of 8° grade have also experienced shading with crossed lines (cross-hatching), showing some skill!
The background was decorated with felt-tip pens, with an abstract design where everyone has expressed freely his style. This contrast between the still life and the abstract, dynamic background emphasizes the difference between the negative space (background) and positive space (still life).

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In order to understand the light and shadow on a solid, we drew the shades on a group of objects with a pencil. In this still life some students of 8° grade have also experienced shading with crossed lines (cross-hatching), showing some skill!The background was decorated with felt-tip pens, with an abstract design where everyone has expressed freely his style.

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Buy now Here are three worksheets with 3-D forms of various size and shape, ready to be shaded. The worksheets are useful for practice shading on different kinds of forms, both with flat and curved...

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Five printable worksheets that reproduce some famous works by Paul Klee with one thing in common: all five paintings evoke the LANDSCAPES using the LINE as a fundamental element of the composition. In these paintings we see cities, strange forests, roads, rough water or clouds, drawn with a thin stretch.

With these worksheets you can cut out and assemble parts of different pictures to create our personal landscape inspired by Paul Klee. In the examples of the photos below, the pieces of pictures have been pasted on a colored cardboard to form a landscape, and then has been colored with felt-tip pens.

Below are the wonderful works carried out by the class 4th A (4th Grade) of the Primary School of Spilimbergo (Pordenone) in Italy. The teacher Sonja Brovadan is an affectionate follower of arteascuola. Thanks to Sonja and her pupils!

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Five printable worksheets that reproduce some famous works by Paul Klee with one thing in common: all five paintings evoke the LANDSCAPES using the LINE as a fundamental element of the composition....

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Three worksheets with bottles and vases of various sizes, ready to be decorated. The images can be used in many ways: Here are four different proposals with the same subject, from which you can find other ideas. The topics that can be treated are the still life, the position of shapes in the space, the light and shadow (form shadow and cast shadow), the chiaroscuro, mixed media, color theory, zentangles .... Here you can find three printable worksheets with bottles small and large: a horizontal sheet with six medium-sized vases and bottles, and two sheets, each with two large upright bottles of different shapes. The different sizes can fit children of different ages. Below are four proposals for use of worksheets:

1st suggestion: bottles with colored stripes, mounted on a white sheet with a black background. You can experience the chiaroscuro, thinking about the arrangement of shapes in space, and then draw the cast shadows on the white surface.

2nd suggestion: bottles with light and shade in pencil, on colored backgrounds that highlight the lights and shadows. Here you can work on the correct arrangement of objects, and the choice of colors. For example you can do the background with colored cardboards in complementary colors, warm or cool ... An alternative to carddboards may be to paint the background with tempera, as in the work that you can see here.

3rd suggestion: larger bottles placed vertically, colored with colored pencils and pasted on a collage background.

4th suggestion: Bottles in black and white, with their form shadows and cast shadows, drawn in pencil, on a background of zentangle drew with a black pen. Even here the variants could be many, the background may be colored rather than black, with zentangle colored on white ground, or with decorations made in white pencil on black cardboard.

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Buy now Three worksheets with bottles and vases of various sizes, ready to be decorated. The images can be used in many ways: Here are four different proposals with the same subject, from which you...

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I created this worksheet for students who like to draw a face, without having to draw the framework and proportions. You can work directly on the interpretation of the face, hairstyle, make-up, color and background. Along with the worksheet, I propose some variations to create and interpret the shape with different techniques and inspirations.

The worksheet, made according to this scheme, can be completed with the eyes, mouth, hair, shadows, dress, decorations, make-up etc ...

1. Face with zentangle background in colored marker: the face in black and white can be surrounded by a colorful background to zentangle, which enhance the light and shade of the face .

2. Themed face with a fantasy makeup: here we have an example with the "Queen of the time", but you can apply the idea on any character like fairies, witches, superhero, alien, allegorical figures or goddesses.

3. Face with details in collage: the face can be completed and decorated with details cut out from magazines. In this case it is also possible think of a themed character.

4. Face colored on a black background: the face can be simply colored, cut out and pasted on a black cardboard, as was done in the work done by the eighth grade that you can find HERE.

5. Face inspired by the work of the artist Erik Jones: as you can see in a previous post clicking here, we imitated the style of this contemporary artist. We have drawn the face with pencil and then we have surrounded our figure with fragments of colored tissue paper.

Now it's your turn! Waiting for your suggestions, and the work you achieved with your students, to share new ideas!

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Drawing a face: worksheet and five suggestions

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I created this worksheet for students who like to draw a face, without having to draw the framework and proportions. You can work directly on the interpretation of the face, hairstyle, make-up, col...

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This romantic nocturnal landscape created by 7th grade students, has been painted with tempera paint with a final touch in watercolor. Despite the sophisticated final result the process is very sim...

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Elementary art projects, Middle school art projects, Elementary art

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On a page of an old book you draw any object and choose some word in order to create a little poem... You'll be surprised to discover what is hidden in a page. Do you have three minutes?...

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A couple months ago, we talked about 28 Grand as it finishes construction in Capitol Park. A few observant commenters noted the large blank space on the side of the building, and considering Dan Gilbert's track record, it might be a perfect place for a mural.

You'll see that mural take shape over the next few weeks.

92-year-old Detroit artist Charles McGee has designed a 118' 6''x 50' 9'' mural titled "Unity" on the side of the 13-story 28 Grand. McGee states that his ambition for the mural is to reach new audiences, and that he has further plans for public installations in the future.

The mural will be painted by Golden Sign Co., whose work includes the mural at the Carhartt flagship store.

The Library Street Collective at 1505 Woodward will show a retrospective exhibit of McGee's work titled Charles McGee: Still Searching from June 1-July 1.

The Opening Reception for the exhibit and the mural unveiling event a block away will be June 1 from 6-8 p.m.

McGee has lived in Detroit since he was 10 and his works are on permanent display at the Detroit Institute of the Arts and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. His work has also been shown at the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and in touring exhibitions under the umbrellas of the Smithsonian and Corcoran Gallery of Art of Washington D.C.

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New mural designed by Charles McGee will rise at 28 Grand

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A 118-foot tall mural designed by artist Charles McGee will take shape on the side of 28 Grand, the new building of micro-apartments in Capitol Park. The Library Street Collective will host an exhibit of his work in June.

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Hands Past and Future: Art Therapy Activity.

I found this cute art therapy activity on Pinterest, from Emerly Arts, and decided to create my own version to share.

The exercise can be used during a time of transformation, or just to help make sense of your past vs present self.

Trace your hands and fill them with images that represent your past (left hand) and what your future hopes are (right hand.)

Here are my hands...

I found the activity very healing given the huge changes going on in my life; motherhood is a huge transformation that redefines who we are, and what we hope for the future. As you can see from above, some drastic changes in my life have/are taking place and I enjoyed expressing them in my journal.

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Hands Past and Future: Art Therapy Activity.

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I found this cute art therapy activity on Pinterest, from Emerly Arts, and decided to create my own version to share. The exercise can be used during a time of transformation, or just to help make ...

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Do you have a dishwasher sponge? Easy way to make an acrylic galaxy painting for beginners

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An interesting experience in using mixed media, has been tested in the classes of grade 8, where we have mixed so many different techniques in a single work. The first step was to paint some object...

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In this drawing activity students of Grade 8th worked on design and the function of object. We designed a sneaker starting using a template you can buy here below in order to create a personal and ...

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Top: J.T., anti-color wheel composition. Bottom: A painting in progress. Students used acrylics, oil pastels, or watercolors.

Instead, I incorporate these concepts into actual lessons that always include student expression. Because it's not "art" without expression, is it?

If I want to explore shading forms, I have students create a still life that includes some of these forms. If I want students to learn about the color wheel, I create an assignment that forces them to mix colors, like the Anti-Color Wheel project.

The Anti-Color Wheel
The framework for this project (and many projects) starts with a list. Students brainstorm and write nine things they feel are truly important to them, then they draw symbols for each item. I have them look at a variety of icons and emojis so they get the idea that these symbols should be simple, bold, and direct.

For this exploration, I have students trace their hands holding four different symbols and overlap their images. Students start with a sketch first, then create their final work on canvas. Each overlap creates a new space that can be colored in. If you decide to do three hands instead of four, you could limit students to primary colors. I use four hands so that one can be solid black and students can explore tints, tones, and shades. Students who finish early can add patterns with paint pens, similar to the work of Brazilian artist Romero Britto.

Adaptations
This exploration could be done with other subjects, including:

overlapping letters

overlapping symbols

overlapping traced images

any contour drawing with an X through it to divide the spaces

This lesson could also be done with different media, including:

canvas with acrylics or oils

oil pastels on paper with a blending

stick

watercolors on paper

A collection of twelve anti-color wheel compositions. Each overlapping hand holds a symbol of something that is important to the student. What symbols can you identify in students' work?

From Exercise to Art Experience
I've shown you how I approach the color wheel, but I encourage you to come up with an overlapping framework that works for you. Perhaps you run a TAB classroom; if so, students can come up with their own personalized overlapping image to explore color combinations. You set the parameters, be it primary colors, tints and shades, tones and patterns, or something else.

I share this with you to challenge you to look at your exercises and see if you can turn them into art experiences, too.
Eric Gibbons is an art teacher at Vernon Malone College and Career Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina, and co-editor of this issue of SchoolArts. lovsart@aol.com
NATIONAL STANDARD
Connecting: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.

RESOURCE
Support Video: bit.ly/AntiColor
View this article in the digital edition.

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So much so that many years ago, I made the decision that I would no longer do exercises in class like shading cones, making crosshatching practice bars, or color wheels.

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This is a very spontaneous form of printmaking! Students used black ink and/or watercolor paint to dye a long piece of cotton twine. Laying the colored string in a looped pattern between two pieces…

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My Favorite Middle School Art Projects " Make a Mark Studios

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Make a Mark Studios " a blog for art teachers and art makers

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After a decade of teaching high school art, I've recently moved to teaching middle school art. It's a blast and there is truly NEVER a dull moment. Through some trial and error, I've learned that some projects are more engaging than others. Below are some of my favorite middle school art projects that have yielded engagement and great visual end products! The ideas below use a variety of art media and include a range of 2d and 3d art projects. I hope you enjoy! Feel free to comment below if you'd like to share some of your personal idea for successful middle school art projects.
#1- 3D Shadowbox Collages
Student goal: Use found collage images to create layers of depth inside a 3D foam core shadowbox. Click here for the full lesson of this 3d shadowbox collage project.

Created by Delaney A.

#2- Colored Light Self Portraits
Student goal: Use colored pencils on toned paper to draw a self portrait of yourself photographed with a colored light source (we used 3 light sources- red, blue and green bulbs).
#3- Vortex Drawings
Student goal: Use a media of your choice to draw a vortex that shows depth, rhythm and movement. Click here for a full lesson on how to draw a variety of vortexes.
#4- Alien Point of View Perspective Drawings
Student goal: Use paint stix, oil pastels, or colored pencils to render an exaggerated "alien's point of view" space drawing. Click here for free lesson a guided worksheet of this fun, alien perspective drawing.
#5- 1/2 Cartoon Face Digital Portraits
Student goal: With a photographed portrait, creatively divide the face in half and use digital drawing methods to stylize one side as a cartoon. Click here for free guided steps on how to do the 1/2 cartoon face portrait.

*This project was inspired by a viral challenge called #cartoonme. Lots of cool inspiration photos online!

#6- Plaster Masks
Student goal: Using plaster strips upon a cardboard armature, create a wearable 3d mask. **In my class, we connected this to Hispanic heritage month and created Sugar Skull and Alebrije masks. We used this free template to create the armature for the mask.
#7- Elements of Art Project
Student goal: Divide one subject into seven sections. In each section, illustrate each of the elements of art using a variety of materials. For more information on this lesson including step by step directions, click here.
#8- Monochromatic Posterized Portrait Paintings
Student goal: Using a portrait of your choice, create a monochromatic, posterized portrait. **We used this method (with the free webpased program Pixlr) to digitally posterize our photo references prior to drawing and painting them on canvas.
#9 Limited Color Scheme Landscapes
Student goal: Using a random color scheme of only 5 colors, create a composition of a landscape that shows a sense of space with foreground, mid ground and background. ** Click here to check out how I randomly assign students their 5 colors and their landscape setting. There is also a free guided video to show students how to begin this project.

#10 Surreal Collage Perspective Rooms
Student goal: Draw a room with accurate 1 point perspective techniques and add color to all sides of the room. Then, creatively incorporate surreal collage images into the room. Click here to check out my FREE guided step by step instructions on how to draw a 1 point perspective room interior.
#11- Agamographs
More info to come!
#12-Monster Dolls (inspired by kid drawings)
Student goal: Using a drawing of a monster from a young child for inspiration, create a hand sewn stuffed animal. Use a variety of materials including felt, cloth, yarn, buttons, and more!

#13- Wire Stocking Sculptures
Student goal: Using a block of wood as your base and a nylon stocking stretched over a manipulated wire hanger, create an interesting 3d form. Use acrylic paint to create a gradient of at least 3 colors.

This is a really popular project, if you are looking for step by step directions a quick google search of 'wire stocking sculptures' should get ya there!
#14- Dictionary Page Drawings
Student goal: Given a random dictionary page, find at last one word on the page to illustrate visually. Use a variety of art media to contrast your drawn image with the busy background. ** For more info on this lesson, check out this link here.
#15- Geometric Creatures
Student goal: On a watercolor wash background, draw a silhouette of a creature. Break your creature into polygonal shapes and add color with marker.
#16- Collaborative School Logo "Quilt" Drawings

#17- Faux Lined Paper Illusion Drawings
Student goal: On a white piece of paper, create a "faux" lined piece of paper with bending blue lines over a shaded pencil drawing. **My students used this awesome website by Julianna Kunstler to aid in our drawings. It was very helpful.
#19 Linoleum block printing
Student goal: Create high contrast prints using a hand carved linoleum block.

#20-Oil Pastel Dragon Eyes
Student goal: Use oil pastels to create a colorful drawing of dragon eye. Imply the texture of the scales through use of blending gradients. **Note- I am definitely not the teacher who created this idea, it's pretty popular and oh-so-fun! I would love to credit whoever originally got this going, so let me know! My students used t his resource by Art by Ro to help us draw the dragon eyes.
#21- Line Drawing Landscapes-in-a-shape
Student goal: Create a landscape in a shape that shows a sense of depth. Explore a variety of line drawing techniques such as hatching and stippling to add texture and value. **Note, this lesson comes from this post from Cassie Stephens who was inspired by an artist named Jen Aranyi.
#22- ANYTHING op art!
Student goal: Choose from a choice board (I gave them lots of choices!), create an original op art drawing! **If you are interested in a fun op art drawing from Make a Mark Studios, check it out here! 🙂
#23 Art History Reproductions
Student goal: Analyzing the brushstrokes, colors, and composition, recreate a famous artwork. **We created ours on our ceiling tiles as our 8th grade legacy works. C lick here for tips we learned along the way for painting on ceiling tiles.
#24 Non Objective Abstract Art
Student goal: Use sharpie to draw a non objective abstract artwork with a variety of lines and shapes. Using oil pastels, color in the composition fully.

Created by Colt

#25 3D Creature Heads
Student goal: Use recyclables to build an armature of a 3d fictional creature head of your own imagination. Use paper mache or plaster strips to finalize your head. For full lesson on how to do this, check out my blog post here-

Created by Madilyn G.

#26 Glowing Light Bulb Drawing
Student goal: Use colored pencils on black paper to create the illusion of a glowing light bulb. For step by step guided tutorial and video, check out my full post here.

#27 Watercolor Mosaic
Student goal: Create a mosaic using cut tiles from a painted watercolor background. Explore either random polygonal tile shapes or a geometric repeated shape. For full lesson, check out my blog post here.

#28 2 point perspective graffiti wall
Student goal: Create a personalized graffiti tag on an illustrated 2 point perspective brick wall. For a FREE full guided drawing lesson of how to do this, check out my blog post here.

Thanks for checking out this blog post! Please follow Make a Mark Studios on Facebook to keep up with the latest posts! Thanks in advance!
-Stephanie Villiotis, creator of Make a Mark Studios

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My Favorite Middle School Art Projects " Make a Mark Studios

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After a decade of teaching high school art, I've recently moved to teaching middle school art. It's a blast and there is truly NEVER a dull moment. Through some trial and error, I've learned that some projects are more engaging than others.

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Make a Mark Studios " a blog for art teachers and art makers

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I still have a vivid memory of first being introduced to perspective drawing in my high school art class. It felt like art magic as I learned how to turn a 2d plane into a 3d space. Perspective drawing is like a cool blend of art and math. There are rigid rules to make an accurate perspective drawing. I'm sure you have heard them.... *in strict teacher voice* ...all lines converge to the vanishing point, lines are perpendicular to the horizon line, etc.

However, here is a fun perspective drawing activity that "toys" with the rigidity of perspective drawing. This post explores created an exaggerated "alien's point of view" of Earth. This blog post includes:
Interested in full introduction into one point perspective? Video tutorial: I've also created a FREE worksheet would make a great one to two day sub lesson, which we all need sometimes! If you download this free resource, please follow me on Facebook. Thank you in advance. Check out my blog post here. Step by step:

Adding color to your alien's point of view perspective drawing

You can really get creative with how you add color to your drawing. I personally decided to scan mine and then add color digitally. Here is my final product:

Copyright Stephanie Villiotis. Make a Mark Studios. 2021.

Feeling reading to explore two point perspective and foreshortening? <- check out these blog posts!
Other options include coloring with markers, colored pencil, oil pastels, or more. You can also approach this drawing on black toned paper to create a spacey background and then build your light and color on top with a material of your choice.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! I'd love to see your inspired creations. Send me your work or tag me on Instagram. Your work may be selected to as one of Make a Mark Studio's featured artists 🙂 Feel free to send me any feedback belo w!

-Stephanie Villiotis

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How to Draw an Alien's Point of View Perspective Drawing with FREE worksheet " Make a Mark Studios

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Step by step tutorial of how to draw a fun perspective drawing from an "alien's point of view."

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Make a Mark Studios " a blog for art teachers and art makers

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Welcome! This blog post features a guided perspective drawing to create a 2 point perspective graffiti brick wall. For this activity, you will need a piece of white paper, pencil, eraser, and ruler. This drawing can be finalized in many ways- such as using sharpie, colored pencils, paint and more! Get creative and think about how you can put your own unique details, personalized graffiti name and font, and creative atmospheric background! Have fun!

*Hey educators! Scroll below to purchase an instructional presentation of this guided drawing.*

*IMPORTANT* As you create this guided perspective drawing, be sure to keep all pencil lines very light. You will be doing some erasing as you go.
Step 3- Connect the top of the middle line to the left and right vanishing point.

Then, connect the bottom of the middle line to the left and right vanishing point.

This will make a large diamond shape.

Step 4- Draw a vertical line on the left and right side that. Your vertical line should be perpendicular to the horizon line, meaning it meets at a 90 degree angle.

Make marks along the middle line that divide it up to at least 4 even sections.

Step 6- Begin drawing your brick lines. Start at the top drawing vertical lines (also perpendicular with the horizon line). Bricks closer to the middle of the center line will be more spaced it, and lines will get closer together as you move towards the vanishing point.

Skip every other line and draw lines in the same placement.

Step 11- Add some sections to the sidewalk. The left side lines will angle towards the right vanishing point, and the right side lines will angle towards the left vanishing point.

These lines will get closer together as they move towards the vanishing point.

This 2 point perspective graffiti street scene can be finalized in so many creative ways. Check out this example of a daytime scene.

Educators and artists, click below for the option to purchase this instructional presentation of a guided 2 point perspective room interior drawing with these 20 visual steps and directions. Once purchased, the presentation will be emailed to you promptly. This is also available on my TpT- click here!

Thanks for checking out this blog post. I would love to see your creation if you use these steps to make your 2 point perspective graffiti wall. Feel free to tag me on Instagram and possibly get featured in this site! Also, please follow Make a Mark Studios on Facebook to keep up with the latest posts! Thanks in advance!
-Stephanie Villiotis, creator of Make a Mark Studios

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How to draw a 2 point perspective graffiti brick wall " Make a Mark Studios

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Welcome! This blog post features a guided perspective drawing to create a 2 point perspective graffiti brick wall. For this activity, you will need a piece of white paper, pencil, eraser, and ruler. This drawing can be finalized in many ways--- such as using sharpie, colored pencils, paint and more!

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Make a Mark Studios " a blog for art teachers and art makers

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After nearly a decade of teaching secondary students, I've had a lot of time to test out a variety of 2d art projects. Let's face it: as teachers, sometimes we plan and plan and plan. We are so excited to deliver the project, and then... it flops. Students are uninterested and the final products aren't nearly as awesome as you envisioned. It's a teacher's worst nightmare.

I've been there. So I'm here to share some of my favorite projects that yielded really cool results out of my creative learners, and best of all- engaged them!

#1- Letter Project
Student goal: Create an original composition that depicts at least 5 things from 1 letter of the alphabet (i.e. A- Angry Ants Attacking African Antelopes)

#2- Out of Proportion
Student goal: Create an original composition that makes one subject either too SMALL or too LARGE compared to the rest of its environment

Created by Christelle L.

#3- Design a Font
Student goal: Create an original themed font and organize them in a balanced manner on one page showing A-Z.

#4- Limited Color Scheme

Student goal: Create an original digital drawing that utilizes a limited color scheme of only 5 colors.
#5- Diptych/Triptych
Student goal: Create a diptych (2-panel) or triptych (3-panel) artwork that explore an image that flows from panel to panel.
#6- Spirit Animal Self Portrait
Student goal: Create a self portrait that blends your body with your choice of a spirit animal.
#7 Dissected Still Life Object
Student goal: Choose an object, dissect it, and draw it from at least 5 different points of view.

#8 Nature Collage
Student goal: Create a layered tissue paper collage with geometric shapes, then use mixed media to render nature observation drawings on top.

Created by Karina

#9 Distorted Portraits
Student goal: Draw a distorted portrait of yourself or someone you know. Distortion techniques include stretch, shrink, swirl, mirror, and more!
#10 Silhouette Narratives
Student goal: Create a narrative illustration using black cut paper on white background to render silhouetted imagery. This project is highly inspired by the awesome, Kara Walker.
#11- Beyond the human eye
Student goal: Create a composition of something that is unseen by the human eye, either something REALLY close up (microscopic) or REALLY far away (think, outer space).
#12- Mixed Media Word Challenge
Student goal: Students are given a random word. Then students have to create a mixed media composition that fulfills the following criteria (1) utilizes at least 5 different art materials, (2) includes the actual word, and (3) renders at least one visual object.
#13- Surrealism Metamorphosis
Student goal: Create an original blend of two things juxtaposed into one subject, and render realistically. Strive for a consistent light source!
#14- Word-inspired Imagery
Student goal: Choose a song lyric and/or quote and create an original composition that brings the words into visual imagery. Creatively consider how to incorporate the words into your work of art.
#15- Dictionary Drawing
Student goal: Given a random page torn from the dictionary, choose 1 (minimum) word to depict on the page.
#16- Crayon fauvist compositions
Student goal: Create an original composition inspired by the Fauvist movement using only crayon.
#17- Symmetrical Inkblots
Student goal: Create a symmetrical ink blot using liquid watercolors. Then, draw on top of the inkblot to render symmetrical imagery inspired by the unique shapes. Click here for entire blog post on how to do this project.

#18- The classic mandala!
Student goal: Create a radially balanced mandala that includes a central focal point in the middle.

#19- Scratchboard Creatures
Student goal: Create a realistic scratchboard etching of a creature of your choice incorporating line techniques such as stippling, hatching and cross hatching. For helpful tips on how to do this project, check out my blog post here on how to work with scratch art.
#20- Skull Still Life
Student goal: Observing a still life arrangement, render a creative composition of skulls using white and black charcoal on toned paper.
Teachers! Halloween time is the BEST to find very inexpensive skull decorations! #21- A few of my favorite things still life
Student goal: Create an original still life depicting at least 5 of your favorite things. Choose objects that define who you are!
#22- Shattered Value Drawings
Student goal: Using at least 20 organic or geometric shapes, create a shattered value drawing. Within each shape, create a dark to light gradient. Consider how the gradient direction can change within each shape.
#23 Zentangle Creatures
Student goal: Draw the contours of a creature of your choice, then break up the interior into at least 15 sections. Draw a different, intricate zen pattern in each section.
#24- Circular Op Art
Student goal: Create an op art drawing including at least 8 "shaded worms" within a circle.
#25- Memory Project
Student goal: Create a portrait of one of the young students from the Memory Project. For more information about the Memory Project, click here. It's an awesome organization that takes photos of kids around the world for artist to draw. They coordinate everything and deliver the portraits to the kids!

I'm super proud of the work my students have created over the years. They never cease to amaze me with their commitment, talent and skill. Thanks for checking out this blog post! Feel free to comment and share your feedback!
Want to keep up with the latest from Make a Mark Studios? Follow me on Facebook!

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25 Awesome 2D Art Projects for Secondary Artists " Make a Mark Studios

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After nearly a decade of teaching secondary students, I've had a lot of time to test out a variety of 2d art projects. Let's face it: as teachers, sometimes we plan and plan and plan. We are so excited to deliver the project, and then... it flops.

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Make a Mark Studios " a blog for art teachers and art makers

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One of my favorite topics to teach in my art class, no matter what the age or skill level, is divergent thinking.
What is divergent thinking? One of my favorite videos to introduce divergent thinking to my students is the lecture by Ken Robinson.
Divergent thinking is the a bility to come up with multiple solutions to one idea/prompt. This skill is the opposite of convergent thinking, which would be one solution to a problem (2 + 2 = 4).

Divergent thinking is such an awesome skill for individuals to foster. By teaching divergent thinking, we can help students to deepen their brainstorming process and awaken parts of the brain that may be sleeping. Did you know that research has shown that adults perform WORSE on divergent thinking prompts than children? Many of my students would always say that they feel the school system focuses more on passing high stakes tests than fostering any type of creativity. While that is heartbreaking in some ways, it's not definitive.
So what can we do as teachers to help foster divergent thinking skills in our classroom?
Here are four quick, easy, and fun games that you can play with your students to help to foster divergent thinking skills that your students will LOVE.
#1- Open ended prompts
This is one of my favorites! Ken Robinson's prompt example was "how many uses can you think of for a paperclip?" Here is how it works:

1. Get students into groups of 4-5. Collaboration is key to divergent thinking. The more brains, the better!

2. Add some competition! This will help your students get engaged, especially the ultra competitive types. Tell them that the group with the MOST solutions will win. I gave bonus points to the winning group.

3. Set a timer. I usually did about 10 minutes of total brainstorming.

4. Give them the prompt and let the divergent thinking happen!

Some of my favorite prompts:

You have to get from Earth to the moon in one day. You cannot use a spaceship. How will you get there?

How many uses can you think of for a flower pot? *warning- you will immediately get students saying they will use it a potty*

You have to build a city on the bottom of the ocean. What is your city made out of?

#2- Finish the shape drawing activity
This one is pretty straightforward. You draw a shape on the board and instruct students to complete the shape. Another version of this is the 'circle challenge' which I've seen circulating. Here is an example showing the prompt shape in the middle, surrounded by the many divergent solutions transforming the original shape into something new.

#3-Collaborative story
For this activity you will get students into partners or small groups. One piece of paper will be pass among the team. Each person will write one word and pass it to the next. The possibilities and pathways this story can diverge are endless. Some of the "rules" I give with this activity is that the sentences can be bizarre, wacky and weird but they must be coherent and school-appropriate.

#4- Collaborative drawing game. Draw. Pass. Collaborate. Repeat.
This is a great activity to transfer divergent thinking skills into drawing output. For this each student is given a paper and colored pencil of their choice. Students each draw for 1 minute then pass it. Next, they'll add onto their peers drawing quickly. I encourage students to draw within 10 seconds of receiving the paper (to avoid over thinking it), draw simple shapes if nothing comes to mind, and draw the entire time until I say pass. By the time they get their original paperback, they're amazed to see what it's evolved into.

I have students give the final work an art gallery name. You know, something really pretentious. They love this 🙂

#5- Random object drawing challenge

For this drawing challenge, you will need:

A bunch of random small objects around your classroom (scissors, fabric, paintbrush, clips, cups, tape rolls, etc)

White boards & dry erase markers -OR- paper and pencil

Students were given random objects and had to creatively drawn in and around the object. The random objects take on a whole new life in these spontaneous drawings and really challenge students to think outside the box. I paired students up to encourage collaboration

I hope you found something useful here that you can use in your own classroom. Feel free to comment below if you have any feedback or feel inspired to share. Thanks for reading! Go out and make your mark!
-Stephanie Villiotis, art teacher and creator of Make a Mark Studios

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Fun Games to Foster Divergent Thinking Skills in Your Class " Make a Mark Studios

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One of my favorite topics to teach in my art class, no matter what the age or skill level, is divergent thinking. What is divergent thinking? One of my favorite videos to introduce divergent thinking to my students is the lecture by Ken Robinson.

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Make a Mark Studios " a blog for art teachers and art makers

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Welcome! This blog post features a guided tutorial of how to create a landscape painting using a unique art medium: coffee! This activity helps artists to build skills using the elements of art SPACE & VALUE, deepen knowledge of ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE, and explore how to use natural ingredients to blend your own color pigments. In this tutorial, artists are guided to create a misty forest with a featured silhouette; however, artists can create endless possibilities of creative solutions to this activity.
*Materials: Hey educators! Scroll below to purchase this ready-for-class instructional Step 1: lesson.*

Instant coffee powder

Paint brush

Palette

Watercolor or wet medium art paper

Water

Painter's tape

Pencil

Step 2:
Tape down your watercolor paper to avoid warping when you add wet medium.

Very lightly use a pencil to draw a a glowing light source: moon. The inside of the tape can serve as a great template if you'd like a full moon.

Very lightly use pencil to draw a horizon line near the middle of the paper.

Blend the coffee with water to mix a light brown pigment. Paint the sky a light value and then paint the ground a bit darker.

You may want to include a bit of a lighter value on the ground where the moon would create highlights.

Step 5:

Mix a darker value of brown for the third row of trees. These trees will be the darkest, largest, most detailed, and closest to the bottom of the paper.
Thanks for checking out this blog post. I would love to see your creation if you use these steps to make a landscape painting using coffee. Feel free to tag me on Instagram and possibly get featured in this site! Also, please follow Make a Mark Studios on Facebook to keep up with the latest posts! Thanks in advance!
It may be helpful to build multiple layers to create the darkest value.

* Hey teachers!* Click here for my TpT shop if you're interested in this lesson, which features a full slideshow presentation, specific grading rubric.

-Stephanie Villiotis, creator of Make a Mark Studios

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How to create a landscape painting with coffee " Make a Mark Studios

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Welcome! This blog post features a guided tutorial of how to create a landscape painting using a unique art medium: coffee! This activity helps artists to build skills using the elements of art SPACE & VALUE, deepen knowledge of ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE, and explore how to use natural ingredients to blend your own color pigments.

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Thanks to Jacquelien from Kids Artists for this idea.

Also the work of English Op Artist Bridget Riley (1931-). Image: Bridget Riley, 'Descending' 1965.

As a change from my usual Op Art inspired lesson I gave this grade 5/6 class a cube net upon which they had to draw optical illusions on the six sides of the cube. Some chose to do each side the same, others did each side differently. They outlined and coloured these in mostly black and white designs although some chose to use colour.

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Thanks to Jacquelien from Kids Artists for this idea . Also the work of English Op Artist Bridget Riley (1931-). Image: Bridget...

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Jane Quinn King on Instagram: "The 8th graders just finished a unit to create explosion books (aka squash books). They started by creating neurographic line drawings using sharpie markers. They then painted with watercolor. These paintings were cut into 4-in squares and used to create our books. Ursina @amslerartroom has a great tutorial on YouTube! If you're interested in making these books check it out. 
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#artteachersofinstagram #artlessons #artteachersofig #artclass #artteacher #middleschoolart #middleschool #8thgradeart #squashbook #explosionbook #neurographicart"

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15K likes, 106 comments - king.oftheartroom on September 18, 2023: "The 8th graders just finished a unit to create explosion books (aka squash books). They started b..."

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