Karen Kamenetzky Step by Step

There are so many steps to this project and although we changed the steps with each of the 4 classes, this is how I would do it if I were to do it again.  Start by water painting a 12 by 9 paper, any color exept brown or black.  They used one color.  I had them paint with the color till you almost couldn't see it, creating areas of different values.  Next, they chose a color that was close on the color wheel and outlined those areas.

I then had them repeat this same technique, with different colors on two more sheets.

After these were dry, on day two, they drew a shape to cut out.  I always encourage to draw on the back, if you make a mistake, erase, no one will ever know!!

Cut out the shape.  I showed the kids how to pinch the shape and make a hole.  Then they can use the hole to get in and cut the rest of the shape.  Some students chose to have more than one hole, but I would limit this to 1-3.  It takes them a good bit of time to cut out and back.

The students picked out a color to back the hole.  I also showed them tracing the glue around the hole.  (It always surprises me how many kids want to try and recreate the shape with glue!  Then they are shocked the glue is everywhere but where it needs to be.)

Here is the shape backed with construction paper.

On one of the other painted papers I had the students make repeating shapes, no small shapes, only medium to large; ovals, circles, rectangles, squares, etc...  I also talked to them about soft edges, just rounding out the edges of their pointed shapes.  They outlined these shapes with sharpie and added a concentric shape inside.

Then they added a metallic cooper or gold (I only had silver at home) for some shine.

We also let them make an organic/freeform shape with gold/cooper.  These were also detailed with sharpie.



These are scraps that I had left over from another project (it's o.k. to be a little bit of a pack rat when you are an art teacher, right?!?)  We used these for smaller details.  I also had the kids save there extras and pass around to other friends that could use the paper.

 I showed them some time saving tips, fold your paper when you are cutting multiples of the same shape.

In the picture above this one, I start laying out the pieces.  Once I got things arranged where I wanted them, I decided I needed just a few more details.  So I used scraps to fill in where I needed some detail.

Once I have it all laid out, it is glued down. On some of the art work the kids used silver sharpie for detail, especially if they were done early.  This project was rather long, it took our third graders between 5-6 visits to complete.  But our patience paid off and our take on microbiology, with inspiration from Karen Kamenetzky turned out really great.  I hope you find this tutorial helpful and it inspires you to try it out.

Aboriginal Paintings and White Out Pens

The aboriginal paintings below were done by third graders.  The dotting method was done by using the end of a smaller tipped paint brush, not the bristle part but the handle.  I noticed that even with a pencil eraser, the kids could manage to make the dots look enormous.  On this project my teaching partner introduced an idea to me that I had never though of, or even heard of for that matter.   The white parts of the picture is actually a white out pen.  The upside is more control over the design than typical painting method.  Paint pens would be another option, but it could get really expensive, supplying over 100 kids with paint pens.  Now the white out pens are still expensive, but you can save a bit of money over using the paint pens.  I found that the fine tip white paint pens at the lowest price was $2.00.  The white out pens were around $1.50.  I'm sure if you buy bulk the savings would be more, but this was just a search on google.

Alternative paint brush

One of the things I like to stress with my students is that you don't need to go to the store and spend tons of money on brushes and paper.  Being at a title 1 school for so long, I knew that families sometimes struggled to just have necessities, much less art supplies for home.  One of my goals has always been to encourage creativity at home.  That is why I like to incorporate cardboard and other recycled items to my art class.  Even my own daughter loves to create work with recycled items.  She's always trying out ways to use this or that from our recycle bins.
A big bonus to using cardboard instead of paint brushes in the classroom, especially on large paper, is cleanup time.  It cuts out rinsing, soaking, soaping, drying all those brushes.  As soon as the kids are done, they throw the cardboard in the trash. We all know how messy painting can be, so cut down on clean up time is always a bonus especially when you don't have the time between classes!!

You can use tempera and or acrylic paint, both do well.

Select your paper and use pressed cardboard as your scraper.  You can cut up old cereal boxes and such for the cardboard.  I keep these cardboard pieces handy for paint "emergencies" in the art room.

I usually start with a little more paint with the first color.

Scrape till paint is completely absorbed into the paper.

After the first color, I start cutting down on the amount of paint I use, the dabs of paint get smaller and fewer.

Make sure your cardboard is held perpendicular to the paper.   Of course, you all know this, but reinforce those words with your kids, the other teachers and principles will appreciate you for that.  

The best part....paint and toss!!

You have a fun, colorful painting, you reused an item that was headed for the dump, your clean up time cut down, and you finished the first part of a fun art project.

This is the painted paper we used with the heart project, painted with the scrapping method, posted Fall of 2013.

Finished product from that paper.

Keyhole Landscapes

These keyhole landscapes were an extra credit piece for students that were caught up with all their work.  The ages range from 3rd to 5th grade. These were all done in 1, 50 minute class period.  Some of them aren't all the way finished, they could of used just a little bit more time.  All of these students are highly motivated art students, so this turned out to be a good project while the other students were having a catch up day.  I have seen different variations of keyhole paintings, and wanted to try it out on a smaller scale before doing this as a grade level project.  I think there are a lot of ways it could be adapted.  I can't wait to play with this one a little more!

Pinkcock the Valentines Box

This was a fun creative break from our normal homework packet.  Savanna had to make a Valentine's box.  After looking at lots of cute ideas on pinterest, she decided she wanted to do something more original. The great part of looking things up on pinterest, even if you don't use any of the ideas, it gets your creative thoughts going. She decided she wanted to do a peacock.  Her teacher had several categories they could choose from, two of which were animal themed and Valentine themed.  She couldn't decide between the two, so we decided to make it a pinkcock instead of a peacock.  The parts of the pinkcock were all recycled items, painted and embellished with oil pastels, and glitter.  And google eyes make anything look cute!

 

This is my favorite picture, it makes me smile!!