Art Fun Factory - Projects

Below you will find projects to keep you busy creating art. These are all optional, but a great way to stay busy practicing art skills, using your imaginations, and staying connected to art.

Nature Photography

The video below gives tips and instructions for taking interesting and artistic nature photos.

When we take nature photos, we can either think big or small. A "big" picture would show lots of ground, trees and sky, like a landscape. A "small" picture would show something close-up like a flower or a plant. Try taking some big and small nature photos.

This is a project that can be done in your yard, or even in the house. If your family is able to go to a park or natural setting however, you may be able to find more interesting things to take pictures of. Make sure if you leave the house you are being safe and that your family always knows where you are, or comes with you on your artistic photo adventure.

After you take lots of nature photos, share about 5 of your favorite photos with Mr. Posey, so we can put them in our Student Art Gallery.

Flowers in Different Styles

For our last nature art project, I would like us to use one of our nature photos from earlier this week as a source to create a painting or drawing. I will show you how you could do the a drawing or painting in different styles; realistic, impressionist, and expressive. Choose a photo, style and coloring material, and see if you can create a stylish flower drawing.

If you were not able to take your own flower photo, you can take one now, or look one up online.

Lotus Flower Drawings

Watch the video below to learn how to draw a lotus flower.

Flower Drawings

Watch the video below to learn how to draw different types of simple flowers, and learn how crayons and watercolor paint can be used together in a really cool way.

Nature Drawings

For our last nature art project we are going to make nature drawings with plants, trees and mountains.

This is a project that you can make as you watch the video. Remember, you can pause the video if you need more time.

Again, I used crayons and watercolors for the cool way that they work together.

Nature Art - Andy Goldsworthy's Earthworks

Nature Art - Rain Shadows

Another way to use art to connect with nature is to make a rain shadow. If there is no rain, you can also use artificial rain, like from the hose or from a spray bottle.

Nature Art - Maya Lin and Mud Shaping

The artist Maya Lin reshapes the Earth into artistic designs. We can do something similar by using mud like clay. This is a messy project, so I understand if you don't want to play in the mud, but I hope some of you give it a try.

Nature Art - Rock Balancing

Cartoon Self-Portraits

We made art about the people in our families. This week we are going to zoom in and make art about just one person, you! For art this week I would like you to create a self-portrait. A self-portrait is any piece of art that an artist makes which shows others who they are and what they look like.

The video below shows you how to draw a cartoon self-portrait. I made the video so that you can follow along. Please pause the video when you need more time on a step, and then press play when you are ready for the next part. Think about things that make you unique and special, like your hair style or the clothes that you like to wear.

Blended Sky Landscapes with Silhouette Subjects

This week’s home learning project uses a technique called a color fade, or color blending. This can be done with all types of art materials, but works best with colored pencils or watercolor paint. Pencil, crayons, and markers will also work. Using color blending is a very useful technique in art.

For this week’s lesson, we are going to use color blending to create a beautiful blended sky, and we will create the subjects as silhouettes, shapes that are filled in with solid black. Watch the video below to learn how to make a blended-sky landscape with silhouette subjects.

Color Blending Part 2 - 3D Objects

The blending techniques that we learned about this week are great for creating a beautiful blended sky, but the can be used for other things also. These techniques are also used on objects, when you are trying to make them look 3-Dimensional, or when they have natural color blending that you would like to show in your art. You could use any object, like a piece of fruit, a ball, or a toy. Set it up so the light is hitting it from one side, and try to use blending to draw the item as a 3-Dimensional object. Watch the video below to learn how to use blending to create 3-D looking objects in your art.

Family Drawings

Draw a picture of your family. This means anyone that lives with you in your home, but you can also include any family members that do not live in your home.

Make sure that you show details for each person, like the clothes they like to wear, their hairstyle, or any other items or objects that are important to that person. Watch the video below for more instructions and examples on how you can draw a picture of your family.

Black and White Abstract Photography

This week’s home learning project is going to use some technology. It also involves looking with your artist’s eye to find things that are visually interesting or artistic. I would like you to practice taking photographs that are artistic and abstract. Take lots of photos, and then choose 3 to 5 that are your favorites to submit. As you take your photos, I want you to think about:

1. Composition - The way that the objects or shapes are arranged in your frame.
2. Value and Contrast - Take photos that have some dark areas, some light areas, and some values in the middle.
3. Abstract - Take photos that show shapes, patterns, and designs of things around the house or outside in your yard. Please don’t take photos of people. Be safe.

You can use anything that takes photos (phone, ipad, camera). In most devices, there is a way to add a black and white filter. If you can’t figure out a way to make your photo black and white, email it to me and I will change it to black and white for you.

As an extra step, you can look at the pictures that you took and make a drawing of them using any art tools that you have available.

Watch the video below about taking abstract photographs around the house.

Abstract Photo Part 2 - Value Drawings

Our abstract photos are great pieces of art themselves, but they can also be used as a source image to create a drawing. Since we have been talking a lot about “value” (The range of dark and light in a piece of art) we are calling these “Value Drawings”. First you would choose a photo that you took that has lots of different values. Then use a pencil, colored pencil, or crayon, to create a drawing of the photo that shows all of the different shapes and values. Remember, to get a darker value, you press harder with the tool, and for a lighter value you don’t press so hard. Watch the video below about turning one of your photos into a Value Drawing.

Pop Art Portraits

Pop artists thought that art should be something that everyone can relate to, and something that everyone can understand. They used common subject matter like soup cans, comic books, and famous people. They also worked in a flat, graphic style with large areas of solid bright color.

For this week's art project, I would like you to create a pop-art portrait of someone that you like. This person should be someone that a lot of people would recognize. Basically you can choose any person that is popular in some way. "popular art" = "pop art", get it? This can be a musician, sports player, YouTube star, actor, inventor, historical figure. You need to be able to find some photo choices of the person online.

If you can use a printer and have a sharpie, you can use the tracing method, shown in the demonstration video below. Print in black and white at a low quality setting to save ink. Basically you trace all of the main lines with a Sharpie, then use the back of the paper where the ink has soaked through as the line drawing. You could also trace by putting your paper on your computer screen. Once the portrait is traced, fill in the shapes with solid areas of color. You just made Pop Art! Brilliant!

Watch the video below to learn how to make a pop-art portrait.

The Random Character Game

We are going to play an art game called The Random Character Game. To play this game, you roll a 20-sided virtual dice 4 times, and the numbers will tell you what you need to draw.

The chart below shows the word that each number stands for. For example, if my first roll is a 6, I find the column That says "1st roll", and then find the word that lines up with the number 6, in this case it is the word "purple"". If my second roll is a 4, the chart shows me that that is "cat". So I know in my art I will be drawing a purple cat. If my 3rd roll is a 10, that word is "fuzzy". And if my 4th roll is 8, that word is "Ice Cream Cone". So my sentence to draw would be:

A purple cat with a fuzzy ice-cream cone

Then you try to draw what the words say. Get it? Roll 4 times for every drawing, and make as many characters as you would like.

Watch the video below to learn how to play The Random Character Game.

Click here to Roll a Virtual 20 Sided Dice

3D Letters in 1-Point Perspective

For this week's project, we are going to do some art that is more technical. 1-Point perspective is a drawing technique that makes objects look 3-Dimensional, like they are going off into the distance. Watch the video below to learn how to make a words using block letters, and then use 1-point perspective to make the letters look like they are coming from a single point. At that point, you can shade the letters to make them look more 3D.

3D Letters - Part 2

Watch the video below for another way to draw 3D letters and shapes.

Unique Characters in Dr. Seuss Landscapes

We are going to use our imaginations to think up some unique and interesting cartoon characters. The characters can be almost anything that you can think of, as long as they come from your own imagination. After you create your character, add hills and trees in the style of Dr. Seuss, using curved striped to make them look round and 3D. Watch the video below to learn how to make the art project for this week.

Dr. Seuss Art - Part 2 - Hot Air Balloons with Form

Watch the video below for another art project about showing 3D form in a drawing.

Guided Owl Drawings

This is a guided drawing lesson. That means that you can make your art while you follow along to the video. If it is going too fast, you can pause the video so you can catch up, and then press play when you are ready for the next step. Feel free to change the drawing too, you don't have to make it exactly like mine. Watch the video below to make a guided drawing of an owl.

Art About Horses

Create a piece of art with a horse as the subject. Your art can be realistic, or you can create a horse from your imagination which will show your unique style. For this project you can use any materials that you have available. Watch the video below for more information about making your horse-themed art, and for demonstrations on how to draw horses in different ways.

Art Inspired by "The Dot"

Create a piece of art inspired by the story "The Dot" . You can make one big fancy dot, art with lots of different dots, or turn your dot into a character. Watch the video below for instructions about this week's art project.

The Not-Dot

Watch the video below for an extra art project inspired by "The Dot".

Stippling Art

Watch the video below to learn to make art using the technique of "stippling".

Matisse Inspired Paper Cut-Outs

Create a Matisse inspired paper cut-out . You can use any kinds of paper that are OK to cut and glue. Cut and glue shapes to create a piece of art that is interesting, and everything looks like it was put where it is for a reason. Glue all of the shapes to a background paper. Think about "balance" and "overlapping" when you make your art piece. When you are done, you can sign it with your first name, take a digital photo, and drop it in the folder below.

Kanji Art

In China and Japan, people write words and ideas using Kanji. A kanji, or "character" is a written symbol that looks like a picture, which stands for a word or idea. For example "tiger" in kanji is 虎 . Use Google Translate to find the Kanji for something that you would like to draw.

CLICK HERE - to translate from English to Chinese Kanji

You can then use the Kanji symbol as part of your art, but also draw a picture of the thing that it represents. The kanji for tiger is 虎. You could copy that symbol large onto your paper (make it as fancy as you want) and then draw a picture of a tiger somewhere on your paper. You can use the internet to find a reference photo of the thing you are trying to draw, or just draw it from your imagination.

Van Gogh Inspired Nature Art

*video instructions coming soon

CLICK HERE - Art Video - Vincent Van Gogh - Art with Madi and Dada

Vincent Van Gogh created some of the most memorable, loved, and expressive paintings known today. He used his unique style of lots of little marks of paint to give life to objects, people, and places in his work. We covered this artist in 2nd grade when we made "Van Gogh Inspired Flower Paintings"

Art making activity: You can do this inside or outside. Find some plants and draw them using the drawing tool of your choice. They can also be fake plants, or even something different like fruit. It should be something natural. Start with the outlines of the biggest parts first, then add details and textures. When you have the outlines drawn, fill up the shapes with little marks of color that match the real plant's color. Voila! You are a Van Gogh! Tres bien!