Last week, our young artists had a blast creating these rocket-themed masterpieces while exploring line, pattern, and color blending! This project inspired by @Ms.tice_is_nice (Alyssa Tice), combines bold drawing with vibrant color s for a result that really pops.
Students focused on:
We talked about how lines can show movement and energy, just like a rocket zooming through space!
Last week, Kindergarten was finishing their rainbows, inspired by the art teacher, Hillary Green.
(You can find her on Instagram at @Mrsgreenartbaby.)
In this lesson, our young artists explored how to turn a simple flower into a bold, eye-catching masterpiece—just like Georgia O'Keeffe! Known for her large-scale flower paintings, O’Keeffe taught us that when we zoom in close, even ordinary things can become extraordinary.
We started by lightly sketching a large flower that fills the entire page. Instead of drawing a tiny flower in the middle, we stretched our petals all the way to the edges—just like O’Keeffe did. This helped make our artwork feel big and bold.
Next, we traced our lines with Sharpie to make the shapes stand out clearly. Then came the fun part—oil pastel blending!
Students used 3 different colors to fill in their petals. They were to choose a dark, medium, and a light color to blend together!
For the background, they can choose whatever color they want, but they need to choose a darker and lighter version of that color.
We talked about warm and cool colors, analogous colors, and complementary colors.
This week in the art room 2nd grade created these adorable Bears in Sweaters, from PrimaryPicassos on Instagram, and the students absolutely loved it! This project was a great way to combine drawing, pattern design, and watercolor painting while practicing careful craftsmanship.
Step 1: Drawing the Bear- Click here for the drawing tutorial on YouTube
Students began by lightly sketching their bear with pencil. We focused on simple shapes—circles and ovals—to build the bear’s head and ears. Then we added the cozy oversized sweater that fills most of the page. The sweater was divided into several horizontal sections so students could create a different pattern in each area.
Step 2: Pattern Design
Next came the fun part—patterns! Each section of the sweater was filled with a repeating design. We talked about how patterns repeat and how artists can vary shapes to make their work more interesting. Students used hearts, stars, X’s and O’s, triangles, dots, and more to create unique sweater designs.
Step 3: Tracing with Sharpie
Once the drawings were complete, students carefully traced their pencil lines with Sharpie. This step helps the artwork stand out and keeps the lines strong when we add paint.
Step 4: Watercolor Painting
Finally, we brought our bears to life with watercolor paint! Students practiced controlling the amount of water on their brush while filling in their patterns and backgrounds with bright colors. The watercolor gives the sweaters a soft, cozy look.
What We Practiced
Drawing with simple shapes
Creating repeating patterns
Careful outlining with marker
Watercolor painting techniques
Craftsmanship and creativity
Every bear turned out completely unique, and the patterned sweaters made them extra fun to look at. It’s always exciting to see how students take the same idea and turn it into their own creative masterpiece!
Art is sweeter when we learn, experiment, and create together. 🐻✨
