Curated OER
Shaded Bottles
Learners draw, and then paint three-dimensional bottles to practice shading which shows shape and perspective. The step-by-step process for creating dimensional still life art is outlined, which makes teaching art an attainable task. Oil...
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Pixel Drawings
Middle and high schoolers re-create a magazine photo or other picture and make it into a drawing using pixels. This fun art project should be a hit with your charges! The materials needed to implement the lesson should be easy to get,...
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Weave Drawing - Pencils
Young scholars create a work of art based on a theme showing skill in pencil shading. They create a work of art showing value contrast to center of interest. They use math concepts to enlarge a composition using a grid.
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Mixing Complimentary Colors, Tints, and Shades
Students explore primary, secondary, and complimentary colors. They mix tempera paints to create secondary colors, tints, and shades, and design and paint a color grid demonstrating color theory.
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Pastel Drawing like Vincent Van Gogh
Learners discuss the elements of art and design found in a series of flower paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. They explore art, shading, and color as they create mirrored representations of the master's art, using oil pastel.
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Relief Drawing
High schoolers choose an interesting view for an art relief project. They outline their composition, and shade their relief using charcoal pencil. The results are fabulous! One nice thing about this art project is that the materials...
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Light and Shadow
Students compare and draw items with shading based on where a light source is in relation to the object.
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Contour Drawing
Students create a contour drawing of a hand creating an illusion of depth. After a brief demonstration of contour drawing, students practice by creating pictures of various objects. The final project consists of creating a contour...
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3-D Ribbon Letters - Pencil Shading
Students examine the art of Edward Ruscha and make a three-dimensional model of a single word. They explore shading and value, and create a drawing of the model. They render ribbon strip letters in varied values to show 3-D quality.
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Colored Pencil Repoussé
Artists employ a basic metalworking technique by embossing lines and textures into a soft metal. They look for examples of embossed metals in historical and contemporary examples. This fascinating process has been used by many cultures...
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The Great Barracuda
Students explore oceanography by researching the great barracuda. In this animal life lesson plan, students read several vocabulary terms dealing with ocean life and examine a drawing of a barracuda. Students examine the many...
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Hand-scapes
Students draw hands from life. They combine realistic hand drawing in fantasy "scape". They utilize elements of design demonstrating composition and value shading.
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Modern Mona
Students use contour drawings of the Mona Lisa. Students turn the drawings upside down and cover 3/4 of the drawing with a sheet of construction paper. They "erase from their minds" what the drawing is, and complete the quarter section...
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Play on Words Design
Learners create a design of an image that combines two words to create an unusual visualization. They improve their drawing skills by completing a detailed, colored pencil rendering of the "Play on Words" they design. Using technology...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Chiaroscuro Apple
I absolutely love this idea. Kids explore the chiaroscuro technique as they draw, then bite, then write about an apple. They discuss chiaroscuro, depth, shade, perspective, and texture. Then they draw their apples, write a descriptive...
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Super Bucks
Students examine paper currency for its artistic value. They design their own piece of currency based on the artistic methods used in the design of real money.
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Family Tree
A unique twist on a family tree project is a fun alternative to the traditional family tree drawing. This 3D family tree would make a great display for back to school night or open house. Presenting all the important people in their...
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Picasso Portraits
Explore Pablo Picasso. For this art history and face drawing lesson plan, read a brief biography of Pablo Picasso. Draw a self portrait following guided instruction by the teacher. Paint a self-portrait and practice adding white and...
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Quilting
Students use a monochromatic palate, select shades and tints for a selected hue, or select complimentary or analogous colors for a quilt design. They design quilt squares using basic geometric shapes, repetition, balance, and proportion.
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Albatross Eye Shadow
Young scholars practice shading techniques to mimic the exquisite shading of the Albatross eye (eye shadow). Extension for students skilled in computer art included.
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Kaleidoscope
Eighth graders create a kaleidoscope drawing. They show the basic art rules (shading, highlighting, coloring, etc.) They increase their design and drawing skills, improve hand eye coordination and develop an understanding of mirror images.
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Funny Face Self Portraits
Students gain appreciation for the drawings by Leonardo da Vinci. They show human emotion by drawing facial features in correct proportion - studying ratio of eye width to the rest of the facial features. They create values by varying...
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American Pride
Students combine a variety of symbols to communicate ideas or information into a colored pencil drawing surrounding the theme, American Pride.
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It's All In How You Look At It
Students work collaboratively to create artistic renderings of digital photographs using a color value scale and grid techniques in this late-elementary school lesson based upon Ted Rose's book Discovering Drawing. The lesson includes a...