Lesson At A Glance

A brief overview of each step. Buttons jump to each section for detailed information.

10 Min – Intro to watercolor and mixing paints

5 Min – Wash brushes and clean up paint

10 Min – Practice wiggly lines with oil pastel

20 Min – Make coloring book pages

12 Min – Outline flower paintings with dark pastel

3 Min -Everyone helps

SCROLL & TEACH
LESSONPLAN

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Encourage students to work with one piece of paper for a while. If someone uses the phrase, “free draw”, explain that artists’ choice is something only artists can do, while free-draw is something anyone can do. You want to use the phrase to elevate the students’ expectations of their work.

Everyone should take their time with the work and make a finished piece of art. Limiting the paper can also help kids focus on the work. If someone finishes in super-fast time, ask them what more they can do to the existing paper. Ask again several times – unless they appear overly frustrated; then you can allow them to move on to a new work.

While your students are working, get out a watercolor pan and a container of water. Dip your brush in the water and add a few drops to each color in the pan. Explain to the class that you are waking up the paint and getting it ready to use. Continue with more trays for the class to use later in step 3.

You can use an eye-dropper or spray bottle to go faster.

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Brushes should be nylon for springiness and durability. Round brushes are the most versatile.

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Review the demo video and demonstrate to your students, or you can simply display the video on a larger screen for them to watch.

Key Points from video:

• Show how to use a mixing plate and move the paints over from the getting plate or tray.
• Emphasize washing brushes when changing colors because you have to swirl the brush around on the watercolor cakes to get enough paint from them.
• Remind how you wet them with a little dab of water to wake them up before you’re ready to use them.
• Mess up a yellow by adding a dirty blue brush to it and getting green. Talk about how not washing brushes out, will make dirty, messy colors in your getting plate. But you DO want to mix up the colors on the mixing plate. That’s why we have both. One is for keeping original colors clean and the other is for inventing bazillions of new and amazing colors! Have watercolor paper for showing several color results from your mixing.
• Talk about how watercolor is the gentle paint. We use a technique that is very unusual with watercolors. The brush should not barely touch the paper, almost not touching it at all!

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Students set up their work area. Ask several people to go get water tubs filled, and others to find smocks. That way you have two or three groups in different areas so you don’t get backed up with lines. Help your kids manage their work area to keep a neat space that won’t interfere with their neighbors.

Students enjoy self-expression. Walk around and encourage everyone as much as you can by pointing out things you genuinely like about their work.

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Help students by showing them how to wash their brushes. Watercolor trays can be carefully dabbed with a paper towel if they are really wet. 

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Explain to your students what the word technique means. 

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Artists will make 2 line-art designs on copy paper for coloring. Use 8.5 x 11″ regular copy paper. Heavier weights work best.

The first is follow-along and the second is artists’ choice.

The first page will be a follow-along (show the pictures below with each step): Have students use a black marker – GENTLY. Paper should be in shower position (vertical), as opposed to bathtub (horizontal).

Use a paper cup to draw a circle about the size of a golf ball someplace on your paper that you think a circle should be. Pretend that this will be a solid white golf ball for now, so that you don’t draw any other lines inside it. It is their choice where this circle should go

Draw 5 lines from the very top of the paper to the very bottom. Do not draw inside the circle. Each one should be just a little bit wiggly, but not too much. Draw them slowly so you can control how you draw the lines. MAKE SURE to stop if your line touches the circle, and then start it up again on the other side, so it looks like the line went underneath the golf ball.

Draw 7 lines across the paper from one edge to the other. These lines can be like the first slightly wiggly lines, or you can make some or all of them very wavy. But go in slow-motion again. That allows you to decide where you are going with your lines. Again, any lines that touch your circle should stop and begin on the other side.

You should have several wiggly box-shapes from all of your crossed lines. Try drawing a line inside 5 or 6 of these box-like shapes you made.

You’ve made a coloring page!

If you have a copier, make everyone an extra copy so they have two pages to take home.

Let kids design their own idea for a second coloring page using more circles, and different kinds of wiggly lines. Emphasize going slowly and not making too many lines, so there are some large spaces to color later. You can let them keep going with enough lines so that these are more detailed than the first one.

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Give each student their painting.

Have students draw the outlines on their flower paintings using a black or any strong color of oil pastel or marker. You can choose if you want everyone to be more creative (if you have more time) and supply oil pastels, or you can be expedient and just provide black markers. 

Move around the room, asking permission to help and encouraging your students.

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Students set up their work area.

• Empty water containters
• Super-wash brushes if used
• Put art supplies away (sop up runny paint before disposing of palette paper)
• Wipe tables & toss trash
• Remove any smocks (last)
• Check for items on floors and tables

Try to get photos of your student’s artwork. Find a good spot for quick lighting without highlights or shadows from your hands and device. Ideally in-between two strong lights on each side.

Make sure you see the kids connect with parents and tell them about the class if you can!

Week 5: Stars & Butterflies

September 2 – 6

Students will compare wiggly and straight lines, and create 2 oil pastel and watercolor resist paintings: one with white pastel and one with dark pastels.

Week 6: Donut Holes

September 9 – 13

Students will learn about shapes that are made up of air, and are in-between other shapes, and how it helps to draw things if you look at these shapes in addition to solid shapes.