Tinted and Shaded Valentine Heart

Layering oil pastels to make smooth gradations takes practice. This project will let students do just that.

1. Starting with a square paper, students draw a large heart in the middle, and then use a ruler to draw at least four lines completely across the paper.

2. Using smooth oil pastels, like my favorite Portfolio® brand, students color in the heart and background with just one color each. Because of the transparent nature of my pastels, I could still my pencil lines when I was finished.

3. Students use a gray pastel to color a shadow over half of each blue background section. On the opposite side, a white pastel is used to make a tint on the remaining side. This process was repeated randomly to all the background sections, and then to all the red sections.

Jim Dine Shiny Valentine

Jim Dine, an American Pop artist, used a lot of common images in his art, but is best known for his heart paintings. His creative style is one students can really appreciate as he liked to experiment with colors.  
1. A sturdy backing is needed for the aluminum foil drawing. Old matte board is good, but any smooth chip board would do. Cut the board into 5" x 7" rectangles.

2. Distribute a board, glue stick and many colored Sharpie markers. Tear or cut a rectangle of aluminum foil about 7" x 9" for each student. The students cover one side of the board in glue, and then center and wrap the foil around it with the shiniest side out.
3. Students draw one large heart in the middle of the card, and then 3 or 4 straight lines from edge to edge that dissect the card. All the sections that are made from this are to be colored in with different Sharpie markers.

Mini Valentine’s Day Mural Set

This mini mural set includes three different Valentine layouts, full of large and simple doodle shapes that will be fun for students of all ages to color. You can even tape them together first to eliminate any matching color issues. Click HERE to view the blank templates and finished dimensions.

You can purchase my pdf file with instructions for just $5. Click the “Add to Cart” button below to make payment via Paypal and receive download instructions.

Hearts & Trees

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright told his students, “Limits are an artist’s best friend.” That’s because they force us to find answers we might not otherwise have discovered.
1. The goal for this students is to make a really simple, bold image, so some restrictions are put in place. Ask the students to draw a picture with only one tree, one simple hill, and hearts that may be any size, and any place on the picture. No sun, no clouds, no flowers – just a tree on a hill with as few or many hearts as they wish.
2. After the drawing is complete, the students use a black Sharpie to trace all the lines.
3. Lastly, they colored in all the shapes with oil pastels, any color they want, any combination. I was amazed at the variety the kids came up with; no two were even closely alike.

Tinted Valentine Hearts

First graders need practice mixing secondary colors, but I just can’t get too excited over making color wheels on paper plates. Instead I had them focus on just mixing purple (plus a little white) in honor of Valentine’s Day.

1. I made an 11" x 17" size template of printed hearts which you can download HERE. Print at 77% for an 8.5" x 11" size template.

2. Students received printed paper, a paper plate of red, blue and white tempera paint, a brush and a cup of water. They were to see how many new colors they could mix, and then fill in the hearts as they wish.

CA Visual Arts Standard: 

2.2 Mix secondary colors from primary colors and describe the process.

Wayne Thiebaud Cupcakes

Wayne Theibaud is famous for his paintings of cafeteria style food. He used lots of repetition, so having students create multiple cupcakes was a good way to imitate his style.
1. I gave each student a 3.5" square piece of paper and pencil and had them draw a simple cupcake. Then I gave them a 3.5" square of carbon paper and showed them how to trace and make a copy. If they traced their first drawing onto the middle of a 9" x 12" paper, and then one on the left and one on the right, the drawing had a good chance of being balanced.
2. A table line was added, all the lines were traced with a black marker.
3. The cupcakes were colored in with any colors the students chose.

Custom Light Switch Plates

I saw this project in an Arts & Activities magazine. When your fridge and walls are already filled with your child's art, have them paint your switch plates!
1. Your local hardware or home improvement store carries plastic switch plates for every need and they're quite inexpensive.
2. Provide the students with lots of acrylic paint and a switch plate and maybe some ideas of subject matter. Small motor skills are needed so they should think of detailed images to make the most of their “canvas”. Be sure to have lots of thin paint brushes too so that painting tiny details is possible.
3. After the plate is painted, spray with a sealer to protect from scratching.