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Art Projects for Kids that have been classroom-tested by an art teacher. Colorful photo examples, along with brief directions, are posted daily.
Recent Posts Tagged With oil pastel
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Tinted and Shaded Valentine Heart
Layering oil pastels to successfully make smooth transitions takes practice. This picture was first colored in just red and blue, and the tinted highlights and gray shadows added afterwards.1. I started with a square paper, drew a large heart in the ...
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Wild Side/Calm Side Self-Portraits
This lesson starts with a discussion about how lines and colors can show emotion. One of my favorite books to read first is "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" which shows a lot of emotion with simple line drawings.1. Give the students a head and sh...
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Many-Colored Hands
I’ve found that students new to oil pastels often need to be guided to use them to their full potential, namely layering them. This project can be a good practice as they will be able to see that brown pastel colored over gold, for example, makes a...
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How to Draw a Lion
I saw this basic idea for drawing a lion in an Ed Emberley book. I think his books have been around for awhile, but the step-by-step drawing ideas are timeless.1. I used a letter-size paper and coffee cup to trace the overlapping circles as shown in ...
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Abstract Shape Drawing
I’m finding that almost anything looks good when drawn on black paper, and colored heavily with oil pastels. This is more of an exercise, but can look like a cool abstract drawing when complete.1. Give each student a sheet of black construction pap...
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How to Draw a Nutcracker
This is a breakdown of the same Nutcracker image I posted a few days ago, this time using oil pastels on black construction paper. I tried the steps shown in my diagram just today and had really good results, and lots of proud smiles to go with them....
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How to Draw a Winter Tree
Winter brings bare trees, and the to chance study and draw them without any worries about leaves. I’ve posted my favorite method of drawing "Y Trees” before (click here) but this time it’s with a winter theme.1. I drew a large “Y” just usin...
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How to Draw Thanksgiving Pumpkins
Students can learn how to make circles look like spheres when they practice drawing pumpkins. I’ve broken my drawing into steps, and am happy to tip everyone in on a great new coloring product, Crayola Twistables Slick Stix. I’m not getting any e...
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Close Crop Snowman
Drawing closeup and cropping out what is unnecessary can make just about any artwork more interesting. The tendency is for students to draw small with lots of extra space. If you are trying for dynamic images for special uses like greeting cards, thi...
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Symbols of the Season Drawing
There are seasonal symbols that work not only for Halloween, but fall and Thanksgiving as well. I’m planning to have students divide their paper into a grid, and draw and color symbols that will proportionally fit each rectangle.1. I find that I te...
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Cezanne Meets Matisse
Paul Cezanne was a French artist whom Matisse and others considered the father of post-Impressionism. This mural honors both artists by combining Cezanne’s subject matter with Matisse’s vivid color palette.This mural has 24 pages to color and is ...
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Back To School Portraits – Modigliani Style
Amedeo Modigliani was famous for his elongated and elegant portraits, painted in Paris back in the early 1900s. Heads and necks were long and narrow, giving his subjects a very graceful look.1. Starting with a 7" x 12" paper, I made light pencil mark...
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Sunflowers, Up Close & Personal
Vincent Van Gogh is probably most famous for sunflower paintings. This project shows how pictures can become more interesting when some shapes “break” the frame and actually appear to go off the paper.1. After viewing Van Gogh’s sunflower print...
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Abstract Tree Silhouette
This abstract tree makes a really bold image and also offers a lesson is using positive and negative space.1. Starting with a square piece of paper, the students are to draw a tree trunk and lots of branches. I have a previous post titled “How to D...
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Kandinsky “Heavy Red” Mural
Kandinsky used color in a highly sophisticated way associating hue with pitch and saturation with volume of sound. He even claimed that when he saw color he heard music. This mural is based on his painting titled “Heavy Red”. My mural has 36 pag...
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Canada Flag Mural
“Canada Day” is coming up on July 1st, so I’m offering a Canadian Flag Mural for my friends up north.This mural has 28 pages to color and measures 54" x 34" when complete. I can email my printable pdf file with instructions for just $5. (Click ...
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Father’s Day Scratch Art
This scratch art project was a huge hit today. Also a mess with bits of scratched pastel everywhere, but so worth it when I heard students say “this is cool!”1. I recently found the perfect Dad font called “Marcelle Script” and “Marcelle Sw...
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Alphabet Template
I often need to make large signage for school projects, but couldn’t find a font that gave me what I needed. I wanted the largest, fattest possible letters I could print on to a letter size paper, so I ended up making my own. My Alphabet template c...
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Paul Gauguin Mural
Paul Gauguin’s bold, colorful and design oriented paintings significantly influenced Modern art. This mural of his “Street in Tahiti by Paul Gauguin” painting has a new feature – color callouts listed on every page, so this sample may be repr...
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Blue Planet Mural
In order to make my former Earth Day mural more flexible for other coloring activities, I am now offering it with just a solid background (no type noting the 2009 date). The finished size still measures 44" x 44" and it now has 30 pages to color. I ...
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American Flag Mural
With Memorial Day in two weeks, I’m offering my American Flag Mural.This mural has 32 pages to color and is almost 5 feet wide when complete. I can email my printable pdf file with instructions for just $5. (Click “Add to Cart” below the Flag t...
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Whale Mural
My Whale Mural is ideal for Kinder–2nd grade students.This mural consists of 24 pages and is almost 5 feet wide when complete. I can email my pdf template with instructions for just $5. (Click “Add to Cart” below the Whale thumbnail to access ...
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American Gothic Mural
“American Gothic” by Grant Wood is one of the world's most recognized and parodied pieces of art. My mural can be colored to match the original, or you can get creative by using the included blank faces for your own spoofing ideas.The template co...
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T-Rex Mural
Kids just love dinosaurs. My T-Rex mural consists of 36-pages and stands over 5 feet tall. This project can be colored in it’s basic form, or shaded by following the built-in shadows. I can email my pdf template with instructions for just $5. (Clic...
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Earth Day Art Mural Project
In honor of Earth Day I am offering this 36-page group mural. The finished size measures 44" x 44". This project can be colored realistically as shown, or you can take artistic license with enhanced colors or the addition of features such as stars, o...
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Still Life Flower Mural – Group Project
This still life artist, Bosschaert, is not exactly a household name, but I love the floral paintings he made way back in the 1600’s. I’ve created a large mural template which could follow the colors of the original painting, or just get colored r...
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Bird Painting
This cute bird painting is another example of Folk Art, which is primarily made by untrained artists. In this lesson I encouraged students to paint with a very rough and sketchy style. Lesson 1: Give the students large pieces of brown wrapping paper,...
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How to Draw a Hen and Chicks
I’m always looking for simple drawing ideas that are then easy to shade. This one works and makes a pretty spring time picture too.1. On a 9" x 12" piece of paper, the students are to a large circle for the hen body and then a small one for it’s...
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Van Gogh Iris Mural
Van Gogh’s “Irises” painting has lots of color and texture which can pretty easily be imitated with oil pastels. I’ve created a large mural template that has the basic shapes of this painting, but leaves room for creative interpretation. I ...
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Giraffe Mural – Group Project
This giraffe stands almost 6 feet tall when complete, and makes a really colorful addition to any room or hall. He (or she!) is my second in a series of group project murals that come in a user-friendly pdf format. This template with instruction can ...
