I have developed an art journal for kids that is based on creating artwork in a 6″x 9″ format. I have combined and updated two past recycled books to create a new jumbo version, packed with 25 projects, tailored to this specific page size. PURCHASE RECYCLE EBOOK PDF FILE INCLUDES 25 Art Journal Projects, including many templates Binder cover art, … Read More
This Modigliani self portrait project seems to work surprisingly well every time I try it. Something about the distortion frees students up from getting overly fussy with their drawing. MATERIALS • Black construction paper, 18″ x 24″ • Oil pastels • (See below for a marker version drawn on 7″ x 12″ drawing paper) DIRECTIONS 1. Cut the paper to … Read More
My kids really enjoyed mixing paint colors by using just yellow, red, orange and white. • Egg Template jpg (Drag to desktop) MATERIALS Multimedia paper, printed with egg template Tempera Paint Oil Pastels DIRECTIONS SESSION ONE: I made an egg template page and gave one to each student along with white, yellow, red and orange tempera paint. They were instructed … Read More
If you are looking for Van Gogh children’s art activities, no need to look any further. My new value pack contains all three of my most popular Van Gogh templates, each in two sizes, for a total of six murals. Buy this set once and you will have all kinds of mural options for years to come. MATERIALS • Van … Read More
I brought out my old stash of oil pastels and showed students how to make scratch art designs for Valentine’s Day. Messy, but really beautiful! This is what you save that old broken batch of pastels for. Choose a simple shape for students to draw, layer with color, and then scratch away. The fun part is that if they don’t … Read More
This “Draw a Rose” tutorial has long been one of my most popular. I like how it has enough detail to make the flower look dimensional, but not so much to make it difficult for young artists. I hope it encourages a few more handmade cards, and a few less run-of-the mill, pre-made ones. • View and Download Rose Tutorial … Read More
This exaggerated cow face drawing was inspired by a funny painting I found in a home decor catalog. I think I first posted this about seven years ago, before I decided to make PDF tutorials a regular option to download. Enjoy everyone, this has long been a favorite project of mine for 4th and 5th graders. • Cow Face Drawing … Read More
Black history month art projects are a great way to learn about some amazing people who had to forge their own way in the world. Lois Mailou Jones (1905 – 1998) had an impressive career, but do you know how she got started? She had been working as a textile designer and often sold her bold fabric creations to department … Read More
Here’s a thank you to hard-working teachers and parents everywhere, a free Christmas Wreath coloring project. May it add a little extra cheer to your home or classroom. PDF FILE INCLUDES: • 4 Coloring Pages (8.5″ x 11″) • Coloring Guide • Single Page Version FINISHED DIMENSIONS: 15″ x 15″ RECOMMENDED MEDIA: Portfolio Oil Pastels, 24 pack • Download Christmas Wreath PDF … Read More
If you need Christmas drawing ideas for kids, this one is works for many different religions. It’s made of simple shapes that are easy for all to draw. I recommend drawing the candle and tracing all the lines several times with a black pastel so they are really thick. When you color in the shapes at the end, you will … Read More
Thanks so much to Baechtel Grove Middle School in Willits, CA for sharing their work-in-progress Harvest banners. They look amazing! I recently made this new Harvest Banner template for my PDF shop after seeing how popular my hand drawn post was. I know that not everyone can sketch out giant ears of Indian corn, or even has time to, so … Read More
Now you can make your own Indian corn harvest banners for home, school or festivals with my latest PDF mural template. Buy it once and create as many giant ears of Indian corn that you could every possibly need. My sample has pretty realistic colors, but you could go abstract too with bright random colors. The simple corn shape will … Read More
A new Haunted House mural has just gone up in my store, just in time for Halloween. I added some fun scary details to this one, but feel free to add more of you own (ghosts, owls, etc.). Color each of the 25 pages, tape them together, and you end up with a 36″ x 48″ mural. • Purchase Happy … Read More
If you draw a landscape with layers, your art with naturally have more depth to it. Follow this formula to make a simple winter drawing that creates all three layers in a very simple format. MATERIALS • Layered Landscape PDF Tutorial • Multimedia Paper • Pencil • Oil Pastels, I prefer the Portfolio brand DIRECTIONS 1. Each student draws three … Read More
An overlapping lesson with Matisse-like shapes makes a colorful drawing exercise. Matisse didn’t start painting until he was about 20 years old, but then would paint morning, noon and night for pretty much the rest of his life. He eventually became a key figure in the world of modern art. MATERIALS • Sample Matisse Shapes • Chip board • Drawing … Read More
I knew there was a way to mix scratch art and earthworm studies. Just make your own scratch art paper with oil pastels and you can fill your page with all the lovely lines that go with these creatures. MATERIALS • Heavy paper, 6″ x 9″ • Oil pastels, I recommend the Portfolio brand • Scratcher stick DIRECTIONS 1. I … Read More
Two circles get this simple cat drawing off to a good start. If you begin by tracing a roll of masking tape, kinders especially will be more likely to draw a cat that is nice and large and fills their paper. Circles are one of the harder shapes for them to draw, and I’ve found that a roll of masking … Read More
This amazing Van Gogh Iris mural comes from Coral Schober in Ontario, Canada. She’s a volunteer Art Image Teacher at the Kortright Hills Public school, and made this Van Gogh Iris Mural with Mr. Keunen’s 4th grade class. Aren’t the colors amazing? MATERIALS • Van Gogh Iris Mural template • Card stock paper • Paper cutter • Oil Pastels (I … Read More
My Amedeo Modigliani for kids art lesson shows students how to distort a portrait, much in the way that he elongated necks and faces. Something about this process seems to free students up from getting overly fussy with their drawings. The best medium for this? Thick pastels on black paper to imitating Modigliani’s rich dark paintings. • View and download Modigliani … Read More
Wayne Thiebaud is an American artist best known for his paintings of cakes in light pastel shades. I exaggerated the colors and frostings a bit in this homage, and hope it adds for some extra fun. MATERIALS • PDF Theibaud template, from APFK PDF Shop • Printer • Cardstock paper • Paper cutter • Portfolio pastels • Masking tape • … Read More
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