Value and repetition are two things we can easily create in art. We can find these things in nature and in living things that surround us in order to develop our concept. Using specific tools and techniques, a beautiful, yet simple work of art can be created using watercolors within a few, short lessons.

Block Printing has deep roots going back over 4,000 years. Most cultures have used some form of block printing to pattern fabric and paper. The earliest block printing was done in China on paper. Traditional block printing uses a wood block and is very labor intensive. Speedball’s Speedy-Carve Blocks and Linozip Cutters have made the process easy and safe.

Using Sharpie Fine Point Portrait Markers and Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils in a mixed media approach, students will study Portraits and their place in history. They will recognize Portraits as a form of communication and story telling that can depict mood, emotion and even stature in life.

VALUE simply means the degree of tone within the range of white to black, highlight to shadow. The compilation of these values from white to black is referred to as a GRAYSCALE. Silverpoint refers to a drawing style dating back to the Renaissance (Raphael, DaVinci, Durer) whereby artists would draw with a rod composed of an alloy of lead and tin on a prepared surface (and bread was used as an eraser).

In this lesson plan, brilliantly colored dahlias take a three-dimensional form with a simple paper sculptural technique. Students will use science observations and math calculations to create these radial designed pops of color using bright sheets of crisp Sax Colored Art Paper.

Patterns are a fundamental concept found in Art, Math, and Science. One of the most common and beautiful patterns found in nature are snowflakes. Math plays a key role in determining proportion, symmetry, and the shape of a pattern. Students will create pattern books using a pencil, ruler, cross-section paper and a black Pigma Micron Pen.

The color wheel shows the relationship between colors and is the basis for Color Theory. Color Theory is a combination of art and science that helps determine which colors look good together. Isaac Newton’s experiments with prisms in the mid 1600’s led to the discovery of visible colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Everyone knows about “tile work” or “mosaics”, but does everyone know of its beginnings? Dating back many centuries, the Byzantine Empire used these works on decorative walls, ceilings and floors. These tiled pieces could be simply designed to be geometrical or intricately created to represent a portrait or landscape.

In this unit students will create an alcohol ink illustration that highlights their identity in connection with their community, family, and/or cultural history. The symbolism and color palettes they choose will be linked to the information they gather from family interviews, research, folk tales, art history, oral histories and works of fiction and/or nonfiction related to their community and culture.

The nature of this project is of playful investigation and is more in line of keeping a “sketchbook” mentality, where observational skills and creativity will result in knowledge and reflection. Using Prismacolor’s Premier Dual Ended Artist Markers students will experiment with one color to discover the nature of the marks that can be made.

The Puzzling Emotions lesson plan is designed to facilitate Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). It encourages students to develop empathy, compassion, and understanding not only by looking within themselves, but also by exploring with others.

This lesson utilizes three hand-built clay forming techniques, slab, pinch, and coil, in the construction of a ceramic drinking vessel. The slab, pinch, and coil methods of construction date back almost 20,000 years with pottery shards recently found in caves in the south of China.

In this lesson students will learn how to use textured Jack Richeson Rubbing Plates and Shiva Oilstiks to create an all over design on fabric. The implied “texture” created is part of the elements and principles of design. Students will have the opportunity to research the use of texture as an art form. They will research the work of Max Ernst who used this extensively in creating art.

Since the 1960s, young people in America have sewn embroidered patches onto their clothing to express their identities and personalities. Embroidered clothing has historically united groups of people using symbolism. Students will research the art history and meanings of embroidered fashion in the United States since 1960.

Lines are important and foundational elements of art. Lines lead the eye around a composition and contribute to the implied meaning of an artwork. This lesson encourages students to experiment with line width, length, direction, depth and color to build assemblage artworks from strips of Crescent Board. Students can choose to use lines to express a feeling or emotion.

Finding words and actions can be challenging for students practicing the expression of kindness toward others. The Crayola Colors of Kindness® products are printed with thoughtful kindness phrases that students can read for inspiration and pass on to those around them. By designing Kindness Cards, stored in a decorated envelope, students are always ready to spread kindness at school, home and in the community.

Students will utilize Chroma Drawing Ink to create a layered landscape collage. The ink has intense color, dries fast, and has an acrylic base, is fade resistant and light fast! Students will use three papers of different textures and weights for the layers of the landscape achieving perspective in the project.

Masks have been used for centuries by many cultures for various celebrations and ritualistic purposes. This hands-on lesson offers the student an opportunity to take drawn faces (or self- portraits) into the 3rd Dimension with the construction of a life-size realistic or imaginary clay mask.