Jasper John's Fish

For this lesson, we learned about Jasper John and his artworks and methods. We were given a fish that we had to cut out and then we had to paint that fish but we could not use a paint brush; instead we were given four objects to use instead of a paint brush and those objects were: an apple, a carrot, celery, and a spoon. We had to use two techniques, painting and stamping. We had to paint the head, tail, and fins with the objects. For the body we had to create scales by stamping with the objects. We had to use multiple colors and at least three of the four objects on our fish. This was a fun activity that students would enjoy because they are painting without a paint brush.

An extension activity that could be done with this project is another art project. You could have students create a background for their fish while using the stamping and painting method but this time using objects that students come up with in class. They could create an ocean, a fish tank, a river, a pond or wherever they want their fish to live for their background while still using objects to paint and/or stamp.

Van Gogh's Sunflower

For this lesson, we learned about Van Gogh and his sunflower painting. He actually created four sunflower paintings to decorate the walls of his friends bedroom. Each painting had a different background. We were told to create a vase however we wanted for our sunflowers. We created the vase with crayons and colored them in. Then we drew our sunflowers and painted the petals yellow after painting the petals yellow, we had to draw the stems on the sunflower and have them go into the vase. Finally, we had to use brown to create a checkerboard pattern in the center of the sunflower and glue sunflower seeds around the center of the sunflower.

An extension activity students could do is more with art. Students could create a background for their sunflowers. They could create things such as a table, a window, a desk, and then cut out the sunflower painting and put it on their background.

Monet's Bridge

For this lesson, we learned about Claude Monet and his painting "Bridge over a Pond of Water Lillies." We then had to create our own version of this painting. We started off by using bright colored crayons to create the bridge, the clouds, and the lily pads and flowers in the water. Then we took our watercolors and painted over the whole paper using either purple or blue. The watercolors didn't color over the crayons, so our drawings still showed up.

 An extension activity that could be done with this is with science where students are learning about some of the most famous bridges and shown those bridge designs. You could teach them and show them about the bridges before this and have them try to re-create a famous bridge with this painting or the students could create their own famous bridge and name it.

Van Gogh Collage

For this project, we had to create a collage based on Vincent Van Gogh's painting of "The Starry Night." We learned about Vincent Van Gogh and some of his work. Then we had to create a collage. For this, we started off by gluing on tissue paper that we cut out in random designs to show movement like Van Gogh has in his Starry Night painting. We then had to create a landscape and glue that on over the tissue paper. I created a house in the countryside for my landscape. We then used oil pastels for more detail and also to add more movement as well. This was a fun project based off of a real painting that we could take and create as our own. It is cool because it is based off a famous painting but is unique and creative because we got to create it how we want instead of having everyone try to recreate the painting.

For an extension activity with this project, the students would write a paragraph about their landscape and why they chose that landscape. This is an extension activity because it is associated with language arts since they are writing about their artwork.

Hidden Safari

For this project, we had to create a safari animal and then hide that animal so it can only be seen through special glasses. We created the safari animal with a cool color, I used blue, and you draw the animal lightly. Then you take three warm colors, I used red, orange, and yellow, and with each color you make a design over the animal to cover and hide it. After you draw your animal and hide it, you glue it onto a piece of construction paper, where you write three clues about your safari animal to help others guess what it is before they look at it through the special glasses. We created the special glasses with a red film that helps you see through the warm color designs over the animal to see the hidden animal. This is a really fun activity that students would enjoy.

An extension activity students could do with this hidden safari art project is where students need to research about their safari animal and write a paper about the animal including things such as where it lives, what it eats, the life span of the animal, and a few interesting facts about their animal.