Collaboration: Hearts and Hands Mural

A fellow art teacher on an art teachers Facebook group was my inspiration to create this hand emoji themed mural. (FELLOW TEACHER on Facebook! If you see my post, please reach out to me, I'd love to give you credit for this project!) I enjoy creating collaboration projects as first lessons of the year in the art room. The small size of each students contribution allows for choice. Every student feels successful, I get a chance to assess their skills, and it breaks the ice in the classroom as we all get to know each other. Not to mention we have a beautiful piece of art to hang in the hallway.

One of our finished murals.

I began by searching for a stock photo that I thought would make the best final mural image. Here's the one I chose below. I then printed it out, and placed it on a light box with graph paper over it to plot out the tiled grid. I drew the hand shapes in pencil, and sectioned off the image in red, giving each panel a letter designation. 

I made each square of the graph paper equal to a 3" tile that each of my students would contribute. The paper size for each panel was 18"x18", except for the right most panels, they were 18" x 24". The final size of the mural was 8' wide by 6 'tall.

Plotting out the design.

We discussed the elements of art and my students were given guidelines for their assignment. They had to create at least three tiles to add to the mural, with minimal white space, utilizing the elements of art, and their subject matter had to be appropriate for school display. We used colored Sharpies for our designs, and I provided half sheets of copy paper so they could color all the way to the edges of their tiles without marking up the tables too much.

Creating tile drawings.

As they worked on their tile designs I prepped paper panels, each labeled with a letter of the alphabet. Then I created numbered grids, X marks for spaces that needed tiles, and a corresponding panel beneath them. 

As the children began to finish their designs, I made several stations each with a panel, glue sponge, and pencil. They were allowed to glue their tiles anywhere that a square had an X marked across it. Wherever they glued their tile, they had to also write their name and class in the corresponding tile below (this helped me with grading, as their names on the back of their tiles got glued down). So in the example, if a student glued their tile to spot #15, they then needed to sign their name and class on the #15 in the smaller panel below. Oh, and see that half-filled diagonal square in the right column? To accommodate the finished image we needed some diagonal designs too. I saved them for extra credit/early finishers. No need to cut the tile in half, just design a half tile drawing, and glue down like a full one. The colored-in areas just needed to match up.

Students add their tiles to the mural.

It was fun to watch how they chose the places to add their tiles to the murals. Some wanted to spread them out by gluing at different stations, some wanted them all together, some chose favorite numbers and so on.

 

Mural details.

To assemble the mural, I graded their work and removed the lower panels for each piece (hold onto them if you plan to let the kids cut up the mural to retrieve their tiles after it has been exhibited). Then I just assembled in alphabetical order! I taped panels together on the back with masking tape, into vertical strips, and then hung them adjacent to each other to display the mural in full. It's easier to transport and to hang than fastening the entire mural together as one piece. I saved the final reveal for the kids too, so they tried to guess what kind of image our tiles would make each time we worked. Here is the finished piece we made at my second school.
 

The fact that this collaboration culminates with a positive message to share with the school community is the perfect ending to this unit. I hope you try out a tiled collaboration with your kids. Maybe you'll choose a different kind of image to make into a mural. I'd love to see, so share if you do!

Book Review: Sharpie Art Workshop for Kids

Do you use Sharpies in the art room? They can be a great component of so many art projects, from informal doodles, to elaborate long-term drawing projects. A friend and fellow blogger, the amazing art teacher Kathy Barbro at Art Projects for Kids has just released a wonderful book titled Sharpie Art Workshop for Kids, in which she shares a multitude of art lesson ideas using these awesome markers!

The featured projects could serve as a great jumping-off point for a more experienced art teacher, or a great beginning for someone who home schools, or just wants to get more creative time in with their kids. Kathy begins with the basics of color theory, the elements of art, and things to have in a well stocked art room. She takes advantage of the fact that Sharpies can be used on many surfaces, and creates projects on canvas, cardboard, tin cans, CD cases and more. She also draws inspiration from animals, world cultures, and art history.

You can find this amazing item wherever cool art books are sold, like here at Amazon! Make sure you take a peek inside to see projects, supplies, and templates. This is a great addition to the art room library.

Thanks Kathy for sharing a copy for me to review here at Positive Space! Congratulations on being published.

Manga Club Final Projects

The most recent session of Manga Club was a blast! We studied the kawaii style and for a change of pace, we created a 3-D project using model magic and recycled vegetable trays to create our own kawaii bento boxes. All of the students finished a one page manga this time around as well. Usually when we do a one-page assignment, I have copies made so each student has one copy of each work. Then for last class we read each others stories, critique and color the black and white designs for fun.
Great work everyone!

Paper Chain Monsters

I was inspired by Fem Manuals and their paper chains, and just by chance one of my students asked how to make paper dolls during her free choice time. I took it as a sign and created monster shapes for a Halloween theme.
First graders learned how to create an accordion fold and then chose one of four templates to trace onto their papers. They learned how to not trace the entire image, so parts of it will be the connections of the chain. The cutting was a challenge but all managed with a little perseverance. The they used crayons and/or markers to create their designs. The final touches were the addition of pom poms, yarn, sequins, and googly eyes.

 

The Spinning Motor Drawings

More random acts of art are occurring here at my place after lessons are done! My husband an daughter rigged up a small spinning motor (a garage sale find) with a bunch of my recycled containers saved for art classes, and made themselves a spinning drum. Then all they had to do was attach some paper, break out the markers, and go!

Their experiments included straight and wavy lines, different color groupings, and masking areas before beginning their drawings. Sharpies were the marker of choice. We have quite a collection! Here are a few in the spinning motor series. Enjoy!