Art Attack!

I am not artistic in the least. I do enjoy scrapbooking and creating cute things with products other people make, but I cannot create art with a pencil and paper. After my daughter had an art class over the summer and I saw what she created, I vowed that I would teach an actual art lesson once a week. I began reading a book I had on my shelf called Drawing with Children here . A former co-worker who previously retired left me his entire art binder filled with the Monart described in the book. That was a start! We learned that artwork consists of a series of lines, dots, circles, and curves. I really felt like I was learning along with the students. A few weeks into the school year, a new student came to my class. And as luck would have it, her mother was an art teacher! She agreed to come to my class and teach art once a week. So far she has guided us through  directed drawings of Gary the Snail, an owl, a caricature of her daughter, and a turkey with the class. My students are so fortunate to have an actual artist teaching them! And of course I am creating and taking notes right along with them.

Here are a few pictures:

The picture below was from a lesson a co-worker gave me. I have always been amazed at the beautiful chalk portraits she always creates with her students, so she shared the instructions with me. I couldn't believe I could actually create a masterpiece myself! They hang proudly along my window. I love them! I pinned an art lesson here that reminds me of these portraits, except with mine you gently rub on art chalk then blend it with tissue paper and spray with hairspray. 

What is your approach to teaching art? Do you build in an art lesson a week into your plans, or do you try to fit it in during core subjects? I would love to find some new ideas!