Art with Mrs. O'Neill

1st graders have been learning about Claude Monet and his Impressionist style paintings, as well as his lovely garden. Here are some great books to use to teach his work: Phillipe in Monets Garden, The Magical Garden of Claude Monet, & Linnea in Monets Garden. We practiced mixing tints, and using dabbing painting techniques.(as many art teachers may know this can be a challenging technique for students, because they are used to painting lines...) Our second class was spent adding collage. We took brown & green paper strips to create the bridge. Then used tissue paper to add flowers. The kids had a lot of fun. Here's my bulletin board display.

Second graders study Asian culture for our big art night in May. So, we are creating these beautiful Asian scrolls. First I show students examples of scrolls, then we practice Chinese brush painting techniques before creating the actual scroll. Finishing touches are added with light chalk, a strip of decorative paper on the top and bottom, and a piece of ribbon to hang. The kids love this one!

Third graders are drawing African elephants. We then outline them in water based marker and brush water over the drawing to spread the marker ink. This created an interested effect on the drawings.