Andy Warhol Portraits

Andy Warhol's repetitive style is fun to duplicate and the perfect example for students to create their own repetitive drawings using Sharpies on acetate.

1. Review some of Andy Warhol's portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, etc. Collect several photos of celebrities or of the student's themselves and copy in black and white. Let the student's choose one photo, and give them 3 sheets of acetate and a black Sharpie marker.
2. Ask the students place the acetate over their photos and trace the edges in black. When tracing is complete, the voids can be filled in with colored Sharpies. After one drawing is complete, the students are to make two more, using a variety of colors.
3. Trim the acetate if necessary. Using colorful card stock, cut three paper frames to fit the size of the art. Tape the acetate to the back of each frame. The panels can be posted flat to a wall, or taped together to make a z-fold card.
This sample was made by a 2nd grader.

Ceramic Cupcakes

I saw this project over at Artsonia.com a while back and it's been a huge hit. I use a kiln but you could air dry the clay and paint it with acrylics to get much of the same effect. I found silicone cupcake holders in the food dept at Michael's Arts & Crafts that make this process much easier.

1. Give each student one cupcake holder and enough clay to make a smooth ball about 2" in diameter. Then have them press the ball into the cupcake holder, first pressing in the center and then working the clay against the sides to form a bowl.
2. Have the students make another 2" ball and shape it into a small "pinch pot" for the cover.
3. Then, a small piece of clay is used to shape the cherry. Before attaching, the contact points of the cherry and the pinch pot top must be roughed up to assure solid contact. Smooth surfaces don't adhere well.
4. Either fire in a kiln or air dry and then cover with acrylic paint.

Laurel Burch Cat Heads

This cat project was inspired by a talented artist named Laurel Burch, who sadly passed away recently. She had a wonderful style of drawing abstract cats with large eyes that touched each other.

1. Distribute drawing paper to students, and ask them to make one dot (in pencil) in the middle, and another on either side as per the diagram. The 3 dots are connected to make the eyes. A triangle nose is added, nose lines and mouth. Lastly, the outside of the head is drawn around the head.
2. Give the students a black Sharpie marker to trace all their lines.
3. Distribute oil pastels and encourage the students to use unusual colors to fill in their cat and background.

“Wild Thing” Watercolor Monster

Maurice Sendak's book "Where the Wild Things Are" is a natural intro to this project.
1. I recommend using large (15" x 22") watercolor paper as it helps the students make generous shapes that are really vivid when later painted. Drawing paper will look pale and curl up - trust me I found out the hard way! Have the students mark with a pencil the center of the paper, and then draw a circle from that which fills the top half of the paper. Explain that the students will be drawing a monster of their creation, but it must have a large head like those shown in the Sendak book.
2. Next, they should draw a body under the head. Legs and arms are to be added, along with a silly face. Lastly, details such as clothing lines and circles are drawn. Give each student a permanent black marker and ask them to trace all the pencil lines.
3. Distribute watercolor paint that is made from tablets that have been dissolved in spill-proof cups. Ask the students to paint in all the shapes they have drawn, including the background. This monster was created last year by a 1st grader.

Homemade St. Patrick’s Day Card

I made this card with just a little watercolor paint and my favorite gold paint marker. The gold markers cost a few bucks, but are so much fun to use I think they are worth it.
1. I drew several clovers lightly in pencil, following the steps shown in my diagram, filling up the paper as much as possible.
2. Using a small watercolor brush, I painted the outline of each clovers leaf and filled them in with paint.
3. I then added more water to the paint and filled in the background with the lighter green, leaving a halo of white around each clover.
4. When the paint dried, I traced the stems and veins with my gold paint marker.