Art Advice Needed

My colleagues and I have been pondering ways to make the school more beautiful.  One suggestion was to paint the ceiling tiles in the school.  (You know, those ugly white ceiling tiles that can be easily taken down).  Well, I thought it was a wonderful idea, but now I am pondering the logistics.  I need some advice.  First, Has anyone done this in their school?  Second, If we did do this, What kind of paint should I use?.  Third, Will this break fire codes, and will the fire marshall make us take it down?  I would love to hear some ideas on this.

Washable tempera

I have gone most of this year with very few art supplies.  There were numerous problems, but basically the art order I had made this year got mixed up and I ended up either getting the wrong supplies, or not getting what I ordered at all.  After calling the company, I found out that it wasn't their fault, it was a mixup in the county's ordering system.  Anyway, to make a long story short, I ran out of drawing paper half way through the year, and am running extremely low on paints, glue, and pastels.  This means I have been begging for art supplies from everyone.  I have asked classroom teachers to send me any art supplies they are not using.  As a result, I have been given an interesting assortment of supplies.

One of the things that was generously donated was several gallons of washable tempera paint. Until recently, I had not used washable tempera in my art class.  I have always used Sax Versa Temp for my classroom.  I had not realized how spoiled I was.  Washable tempera is nothing like Versa Temp.  It is watered down, and sometimes dries transparent.  Students have to paint 2-3 coats to make their painting look nice.  I have been racking my brain for ways to make the washable tempera better.  Does any know of an additive that can be added to tempera paint to make it thicker?  I know that their are many acrylic mediums out there to change the consistency of acrylic paint, but I have never seen anything for tempera.  I would love to hear any suggestions.

Ships, 3rd Grade

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I try to integrate art into the core subjects as much as possible.  In fact, it is actually in my job description.  When I heard that my third graders were reading stories about voyages, I just had to do an art project on ships.  For this lesson, I let my students choose any kind of ship; pirate, viking, pilgrim, Greek, etc.  However, most of my students wanted to do pirate ships.

 Students began by creating a ship out of construction paper.  I also gave the students an option of creating a sea monster.  After the ship and monster was created, students painted their background.  For this, I gave my students blue and white paint.  Once the background was painted, students glued their ship to their paper.  Overall, this was a simple project, but the results are rather fun!

Musical Art, 5th Grade

 I did this project a few weeks ago with my third graders, but I loved it so much that I did it again with my fifth graders. These are our Jazz Paintings.  Students drew one large instrument, and then added designs to create motion.  Everything was then painted in tempera paint.  If you are looking for a good cross curricular lesson, this lesson ties into Science.  Students generally learn about sound and sound waves in science. My students learn about this near the end of the year, but talk to the classroom teacher and find out when they will be covering this topic.  It is always nice when art integrates into the other subjects.

These turned out wonderful!

Indian Elephants, 4th Grade

These Indian Elephants were inspired from several elephant lessons that I found online.  One was MaryMaking and the other was, Painted Paper.

 To begin this lesson, we talked about the importance of Elephants in the Indian culture.  I also showed my students images of decorated elephants from the Indian Elephant Festival, which is an annual event in India.

To draw our elephants, I showed my students step by step how to draw an elephant.  After this, my students used a Crayola washable marker to trace their elephant.  Once the elephant was traced, students used water and a paintbrush to do a simple wash over the elephant.  This turned the marker into a simple watercolor.  Next, students cut their elephants out and glued it to their paper.  Lastly, students used oil pastels and construction paper to decorate their elephants.

These turned out WONDERFUL!  I just love them!

Cakes, 2nd Grade

This lesson is a great way to introduce the artist Wayne Thiebaud.  For this lesson, I teach my students how to draw a cake with a piece taken out of it.  They love this, because they think it makes it look realistic.  We draw the cake first, and then color it with oil pastels.  After this, I have my students make a symmetrical cake stand out of construction paper.  We then glued both the cake and the cake stand to a large piece of black paper.

 I think my second graders did a nice job with this lesson!

Topiaries, 1st Grade

 I found this really cute topiary idea on the blog, Painted Paper.  Check out her blog for more detailed directions.  I had simplify her lesson a bit, in order to finish it in one 60 minute art lesson.

I think these are very cute! I love how my students attempted to put the shadow on the vase at the bottom.