All the Fish in the Sea - Multi Media

Following up on the success we had last week with our watercolor paintings of spring, today we began a multi media project called “All the Fish in the Sea”. This two class project involves: drawing, painting, printing and collage!

We began our morning with a quick lesson on drawing fish. The kids practiced in their sketchbooks. When they felt confident they could draw their fish, they moved on to exploring other under sea animals (jellyfish, starfish and narwhals (!) just to name a few. Then we moved on to making our printing plates. These are small, thin styrofoam boards. The kids drew their fish on the boards, making sure to press hard enough so that their lines made an indent in the foam.

Then we got out large sheets of white paper to create our undersea worlds. Beginning with oil pastels the kids added whatever details and shapes appealed to then. Many added bubbles and swirls. Some added undersea plant life and others added waves. Then we got out the watercolors and did our best to fill the whole page with the colors of water.

You can see the watercolor work below!

Next week will will have a messy class printing out fish. We will also use green tissue paper to create undersea plant life. When the fish are dry we will cut them out and glue them onto our pieces! Keep an eye out for this exciting work next week!

What spring looks like to me....

What an amazingly lovely spring (?) day!

The kids spent class working on drawing and then painting pictures of their visions of spring. We worked together on the drawings for a bit in the beginning of class, practicing drawing different flowers and chatting about our ideas and memories of spring. As the kids became absorbed in their work, they added so many interesting and beautiful little details:bees, snails, trees, clouds, rain, shining sun, birds and butterflies! Inspiration passed back and forth between the kids with ease. Here are a few drawing process pictures for you.

 And here are the final pieces! Beautiful colors and brushwork!

Fly, Eagles, Fly!

In honor of our Superbowl winning Philadelphia Eagles, we painted eagles in flight!

The kids followed along with step by step instructions to draw their birds in flight and then we took the time to carefully paint our eagles. Once the kids felt good about how they had drawn their eagles, many of them went on independently to add other details. Keep an eye out for trees, nests and eggs, all pure kid inspiration.  Here are a few photos of the eagles "in process".

Both the drawing and painting were challenging because of the fine motor control involved but the kids managed beautifully. These eagles show so much spirit and personality. And the kids certainly were enthusiastic about the Eagles big win!