Halloween Art

What's that saying? 

'It's better late than never'?

Today I thought I'd share with you TWO really easy artworks that I have taught to students in Years 3 and 6. These artworks are a great activity to complete around Halloween, however, they're so fantastic that they can be taught at any time!

The Haunted House

This one is so easy!

Students watch the following youtube clip 'How to draw a haunted house' which shows each step. After watching, students create these creepy houses using paper, black markers, a drawing compass (or something round to trace for the moon) and warm coloured pencils (red, orange, yellow).

They can change the design and add in bats to make it even scarier. My students loved drawing in the tomb stones!

I completed this lesson with Year 6, however, I feel that you could probably do this lesson with any age group. You will just have to prep them on how to use a marker correctly.

The Howling Wolf

I completed this artwork this year with Year 3. I showed students the following youtube video 'Drawing a Howling Wolf with Chalk Pastels'. After watching the video, I explained to students that we'd be creating our own version of the artwork. As I completed this with younger students, I printed out templates of the wolf which they stuck on once finished. However, feel free to get students to draw their own wolf.

I used black card (A4), chalk pastels, hairspray, a circle template (or you could use a drawing compass), a wolf template and glue.

The students loved creating their howling wolves. They're hanging up around the room and they look amazing!

As the end of the year approaches, I will be updating my blog with great end of year activities as well as some Christmas art ideas. Be sure to check back here every now and then or join my mailing list to get updates.

I have a Poll <--

Hi there everyone,

I've just created a poll (to the left) and it would be greatly appreciated if you could read it and click on all of the options that are appropriate for you.

Just wanted to know what you're all interested in and what you'd like to read in the future.

The poll will close the 31st of July 2016.

Thanks in advance! :)

Aboriginal-Inspired Artworks

Artwork One: Nature Installation Artworks

I taught this lesson a couple of years ago now, but it has left an imprint on my memory. It was such a fun unit to teach and the students LOVED IT.

We actually started off by studying Andy Goldsworthy the installation artist, while studying Aboriginal culture and history. Goldsworthy's artworks are stunning. He uses only things found in nature to create his artworks and then he films/photographs them as "nature itself" destroys the artwork. 

Students were encouraged to explain their own message through a nature installation. This could be easily adapted so that students are explaining a Dreamtime story or a moral. Students are given a certain amount of time and can only use things found laying around the playground. They could not pull anything off trees or destroy bushes and plants.

Like Goldsworthy, we photographed the artworks being destroyed by nature over time.

Artwork Two: Vivid Opera House Design

This is another fun art lesson and is very appropriate as Vivid Lights are currently on in Sydney's CBD.

For those who haven't heard of Vivid, it's a light show in Sydney that projects images on some of our iconic buildings and structures. It's absolutely beautiful. Every year, the Opera House gets covered in lights and there's usually an Aboriginal design in amongst other designs.

For this lesson, I merged the Vivid lights show with NAIDOC week. Students were encouraged to paint an Aboriginal design onto an Opera House template. We then cut it out and glued it onto a piece of paper that was coloured in oil pastels and then painted over in black paint. Students then etched fireworks into the background.

I can't take credit for this lesson idea... It actually came from my Brother and Sister-in-Law but I can highly recommend it. It's such an easy lesson that looks very impressive in the end.

Artwork Three: Bark Paintings

I actually organised this lesson for Years 3-6 to complete when celebrating NAIDOC week at my school.

Students were given brown paper which they ripped around the edges to give a bark-effect. Students then chose a Darug Totem (Aboriginal Countries have different totems which are special to them) and sketched it out on the brown paper. Using a cu-tip, students dot painted their animal and the surrounding. They were also given oil pastels to draw designs on their animals.

The final results are impressive.

For more Aboriginal-Inspired artworks, games and activities... Check out my Pinterest Board: http://pin.it/KUjMPe-

Artwork Four: Aboriginal-inspired Stencil Handprints

I have been teaching this lesson to the whole of Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4) in our CAPA rotations time. It's been such a great lesson! I started by informing students about WHY Aboriginal people use stencil handprints and we looked at a variety of artworks that include stencil handprints. We then discussed different totems, symbols and traditions of the Darug people (we had an excursion only weeks before to Muru Mittigar which was perfect). Students already had knowledge about this, so they felt like experts. And then we got straight into making and creating.

I bought some spray bottles from a $2 Store in the 'Hair' section. I mixed paint with water so that we had a watery mixture and that's what students sprayed over their hand template.

A very quick and easy lesson that produces an effective piece of art.

I'm so happy that they're hung up and ready for NAIDOC week 2016.

Well I hope you found these ideas helpful and/or inspiring. I'd love to hear about any of your ATSI CAPA lessons and/or teaching ideas. Feel free to comment below or email me at rach.sellen@gmail.com

Visual Art

Over the past year, I have been instagramming some of my classroom ideas. I particularly love art so I thought I'd share some of the artworks I have taught to Stage 3. Sometimes it's hard to come up with the ideas... so hopefully this provides you with some inspiration!

Self-Portraits

My class created this artwork this year. It was an artwork that I got them to work on during the first week of school. Firstly they sketched out their portrait, then they transferred their ideas onto canvas and painted. The hardest part was mixing skin colour but as you can see below, they got the hang of it!

Operation Art - Tree

Last year my class created an artwork for the Operation Art competition. For those who don't know about this competition, students can enter an artwork into the competition and if their artwork is chosen, it is displayed at the Art Gallery of NSW. The competition supports Westmead Children's Hospital.

To create this artwork, students sketched a tree onto watercolour paper. Students then painted the background with watercolours. Once the painting was dry, students then painted the tree black and used a permanent marker to neaten up the edges.

One of my students' artwork was chosen to be shown at the Art Gallery.

Vincent Van Gogh

Last year, students in my class were studying Vincent Van Gogh. We then created this fabulous artwork using oil pastels and watered-down paint on art paper. The art lesson was very simple and very effective. Every student was proud of what they had achieved.

ANZAC/ Remembrance Day Cinquains 

In the lead up to ANZAC Day, students wrote cinquains about war. Cinquains are beautiful, short poems. They're simple to write and are very effective. We then published our poems onto a background of poppies. Students then stuck a poppy onto the front, made out of red paper. They made an absolutely stunning display.

Rainforest Animals

Last year we were studying the Rainforest for a HSIE unit. Students created this artwork by researching animals that live in the rainforest. They then printed off their favourite pictures, which were no bigger than a standard photograph (actually most were smaller). Students then sketched out their animal on black paper and once they were happy with it, they coloured it in using chalk pastels. 

Operation Art - Sunset

This was the Operation Art competition artwork that I made in 2012. This year I also had a students' artwork from my class chosen to be shown at the Art Gallery.

To make this artwork we used watercolour paints on watercolour paper. It's a very simple art lesson with a brilliant result.

Operation Art - Australian Landscape

This is yet another Operation Art competition submission. This was from 2011. We were reading 'Home to Mother' (the children's version of Rabbit Proof Fence) and tried to replicate the rabbit proof fence. For this artwork we used chalk pastels and chalk pastel pencils on pastel paper. It's a bit of a costly artwork but it is so beautiful!

This was the first year that I had my class work on an artwork for the Operation Art competition. In 2011 not only did I have a students' artwork shown at the Art Gallery of NSW, we were both invited to the launch and her artwork then went on tour with the other 20 odd artworks around NSW. I was very, very proud!

Gustav Klimt

We were studying Gustav Klimt and so we made our own interpretation of the Tree of Knowledge. Don't they look fantastic? We sketched out the trees on black paper, and then painted the tree using gold paint. Students then touched up their tree and added simple designs using metallic gel pens. It was a little bit fiddly when painting, but students quickly got the hang of it.

I've since taught this artwork again and again.