Who knew the Berlin Zoo is full of interesting sculpture and design? I’m here in Berlin for spring break. Here are just a few of the gems I saw at this incredible zoo.
The giraffe house has Moorish arches, spires, and tile.
Berlin Zoo elephant gate entrance pagoda. Designed in 1899.
Wrought metal roosters on the hen house fence. I love the spiral eye.
The hen house looks like a real house! Designed around 1905.
The zoo has a big playground for kids. This crazy swing set is designed so the kids can’t collide in the center (but they will try!).
Our sixth grade finished the slab clay fish project. Although I provided a choice of just three templates, students were able to customize them through re-shaping, texture, and glaze. We ended up with a wide variety of fish.
These three rainbow fish started from the same template. Artists scratched lines into the wet clay to make stripes. Later they painted these defined areas. Students who did this technique ended up with neatly glazed fish. Caution: avoid scratching a line across the narrowest part of the tail – it will be more likely to break.
Want to make a rainbow fish? Make shallow lines in wet clay with a skewer. Glaze fired clay – try to stay inside the lines!
Here is a different rainbow fish. The artist used a different template, then created texture with tiny balls of clay and the eraser tip of pencil. The fish is trimmed with a thin clay coil, which the artist later glazed shiny black.
NICE WORK SIXTH GRADERS!!!
I wrote how to roll and cut the fish here and here. More glazing examples here. More examples next week!
This Laurel Burch-inspired cat art project covers complementary colors, pattern and negative space. Tempera cakes and construction paper crayons are all you need for this project – quick, easy and neat!
Second graders learn about the complementary colors, then draw and paint a cat in the style of Laurel Burch. Allow two 40-minute classes.
Laurel Burch was a self-taught jewelry designer and painter. She was extremely successful despite serious illness. The Laurel Burch website has every resource you could want, including a great biography video and ‘fantastic feline’ slide show. We took a close look at the cat illustrations, and noticed the simple shapes, lines and patterns.
The Complementary Colors
I displayed the color wheel and we discussed the complementary colors (see this post). The complementary colors are directly across from each other on the color wheel.
There are three complement pairs: red/green; purple/yellow; and orange/blue. When two complements are displayed together, the colors contrast and ‘pop’.
The Art Project
Materials:
white sulphite drawing paper, 9″ x 12″ (or other white paper strong enough for painting)
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Day 1: Draw and Paint the Cat
Choose a complementary color pair.
Draw the cat using a single construction paper crayon.
Add eyes and other facial features, but do not add pattern or other detail.
Paint the inside of the cat one of the complementary colors.
Paint the negative space (background) in the other complementary color.
Let dry.
Day 2: Decorate the Cat
Hand out examples of Laurel Burch cat illustrations and construction paper crayons.
Look at the patterns and other details on the cats and in the negative space (background).
Do a quick review of the complementary colors. Ask “What color is your cat? Find a crayon that is a complement of the cat color”.
Retrace the cat’s original lines with that crayon.
Use all the colors of construction paper crayons to color in the eyes, add designs and patterns. .
Optional: add a little sparkle with metallic crayons.
Second Grade Results:
I just love the way the complementary colors pop against each other. I also love how the opaque construction paper crayons pop atop the tempera paint!
I used tempera cakes and construction paper crayons because they were quick to set up and clean up. You could easily substitute regular tempera and oil pastels, or watercolor and regular crayons.
No matter what materials you use, this is a fun and successful project your students will really like.
We learn about the complementary colors in second grade. This year I noticed a lot of my students were wearing solid color clothing in the primary and secondary colors. I had the kids pose with their complementary color partner. This was a lot of fun, and a great kinestetic learning aid. Just think – they could arrange themselves into cool and warm color groups, analogous, etc. Wouldn’t that be fun to do outside on a beautiful day?
