Art

Digital Portfolio

Have students make their own Google Site to build an art portfolio.  It is a great tool for reflection and demonstration of learning.  Here is an example portfolio for you to look at and below is a video with instructions on how to create a portfolio on Google Sites.

20 Color Pixel Art using Google Sheets

Have students create pixel art using google sheets with this already created template.  Simply, make a copy and then assign through Google Classroom.  Be sure to click "Make a Copy for Each Student" prior to hitting the "Assign" button.

Mondrian Art with Google Sheets

Mondrian Art is an abstract form of art that uses a creative layout of squares and rectangles, often filled in with primary colors. Because Mondrian Art is composed of lots of different sized rectangles and squares, it is the perfect style to be created with digital tools... specifically with Google Sheets!  Here is an explanation of how to set up the sheet.  Here is a sheet template that already exists!

Self Portraits with Google Drawings

In short the idea goes like this: 

• Create a Google Drawing and insert a photo of yourself.

• Next use the "Polyline" tool and the "Curve" tool to make colored shapes for all of the different portions of your picture.

• When done, you can then delete your original underlying photo and you will be left with a digital "clipart-style" image of yourself.

Mosaics with Google Drawings

Similar to the self-portrait activity above, another creative way to make art with Google Drawings is this mosaic project. Rather than trying to make a "realistic" version of yourself, in this activity you transform a source image with colored shapes like mosaic tiles or stained glass. Here's the basic steps: 

• Create a Google Drawing and set the background to black.

• Then insert the photo you want to transform.

• Next use any of the "Shape" tools or the "Polyline" tool to cover the image with quadrilaterals, triangles, or other shapes that fit your desired style.

• Leave some room between the shapes so the background can show through later.

• Color in the shapes to match the portion of the image they are covering (again you can go with the default colors provided in Drawings, or you can use a color picker extension such as ColorZilla or Eye Dropper and then set a custom fill color).

• When done, delete the original image so that you just have your colors tiles on the black background for you completed mosaic art.

Google's Arts and Culture

With Google Arts & Culture students can get closer to works of art and historical artifacts than they ever could in a museum. The digital items were scanned or photographed by Google using an ultra-high resolution camera so you can see every brush stroke, letter, or detail. Some of the collections even feature 360-degree videos and photos to immerse you in the experience. There is also a mobile app version to play with!

BrainPop

BrainPop is a unique and awesome resource to creatively teach students about a variety of topics.  In this section, I have linked it directly to the Art topics that are offered through BrainPop.  Mid-Buchanan offers the premium version of BrainPOP to all teachers.  Use your Clever account to access BrainPOP and browse through all of their amazing content!