APRIL 28 – MAY 2 :
Students will finish their 3D cardboard projects this week. If they have not yet primed (with gesso), that will be the first thing they do. Then acrylics are used to paint the entire work, so that it is viewable from all directions. Early finishers can help others, or catch up on any unfinished projects.

APRIL 14 – 18 • This week we will create an expressive ink drawing of an animal. Students that have time at the end of class will add oil pastel and/or watercolor to their works.

APRIL 7 – 11 • While older classes will continue with their portrait paintings, young grades and a few students will finish earlier. Signatures are demoed, and then there are fun artist games to do. Each game has a learning component.

MARCH 31 – APRIL 4 • Artists will continue to work on their portraits from last week. The focus should be on the technique, but also to re-work areas that are not looking the way they want them to. Early finishers have Artists’ Choice.

MARCH 24 – 28
An underpainting in bright orange helps students create an easy portrait using acrylics and their newly learned skin tone color journals.

March 17 – 21 • Students will warm up with face sketches and create a flesh tone Color Journal of 25 colors (only 16 for younger grades). Then there is a slideshow about the different color areas of the face and some exercises to practice making flesh tones work together. Young grades have some fun with alien faces too.

Jan 20 – 24 • Students will learn how cylinders, one of the 3 most basic 3D forms, is drawn accurately. They’ll see that even famous old masters struggled with it, while doing an exercise that helps them understand and apply a new way of looking at it. The second half of the lesson is spent filling sketchbook pages with practice drawings they get to choose reference for: from cartoons to realism, all using cylindrical objects.

JAN 6 – 10 • Students will see how balance affects composition by using a drawn object and moving location and sizes. They will finish a color practice composition using acrylic paint over a drawing on paper. There will be a preview of next week’s cylinder lesson, and we will tap into students’ recent experience in creating magazine covers as well.

DEC 16 – DEC 16 • Students will learn about design, illustration and lettering in a light-hearted magazine project. Older students use watercolors, and will not finish this week, but will continue with final line art outlines next week after the color has dried.

DEC 9 – DEC 13 • Students enjoy a fun and artistic project along with a holiday party. Used plastic water bottles are re-used to create a unique, environmentally friendly, hand-painted Christmas tree ornament. The tops of two bottles are cut off and the artists paint the inside using acrylic paints. The exterior looks like beautifuly colored glass, and when the two pieces are taped together, they make a nice classic ornament shape. Even the cap ring is used for a hanger.

DEC 2 – DEC 6 • Using color in shadows is essential to good artwork, and so is understanding how basic shapes like a cube are drawn. Since it’s the holiday season, we paint a red-wrapped, cube-shaped gift with a green ribbon and bow. Students learn the basics of cube shapes and accuracy, as well as mixing opposites, or compliments, to create shadow colors.

NOV 18 – 22 • Students learn how to mix colors and how they are affected by other pigments. Using a special page, they’ll mix and fill swatches for 16 colors (grades 3 – 5) or 25 colors (grades 6 – 12) in different variations of blues. The lesson continues with the Darks Color Journal using black, grays, and a few browns, in the same manner. The mixed colors use pigments from the ARTSquish program, and produce colors that artists often need to use when actually painting. Advanced students create an expressive acrylic painting on canvas from provided reference, that uses dark colors.

NOV 11 – 15 • Since the holiday season is almost here, it’s time to take a week for a personal project and also finish up anything that is still in progress from this fall. This may become a gift, or just a great piece for the portfolio. Young art students are always asking to, “do what I want to do!” This is their chance. The overwhelming choice of “everything in the world” is narrowed by 1) requiring reference and 2) the use of several handouts to help you teach that making decisions about what to do can be fun and easy.

NOV 4 – 8 Students will learn about the basic nature of shadows using familiar round shapes as an example. Then, they’ll apply this information to a drawing & watercolor painting of an animal using photo reference.

Oct 24 – 28
Students will learn how to paint with watercolor, using the drop-in method and our 4 watercolor insights. First they draw some autumn leaves, and after a demo, they will paint leaves using watercolors they’ve made from acrylic paints. Emphasis is on letting the watercolor work by itself and brush technique.

OCT 21 – 25 • For this week, we have a fun party break, and your artists get to show their skills doing a more traditional “craft” like project. This is always very popular, and our students often dress up and bring party food.

Oct 14 – 18 • Students will work on a series of very small works each using different combinations of media. There is opportunity for lots of freedom and self-expression, and artists learn to focus on one work at a time while doing many. The small size and having several works in a row, takes the pressure off of each work, so students really enjoy themselves and create some fantastic work as a result.

SEPTEMBER 30 – OCTOBER 4 • Students learn how pigments affect each other. There are 5 starting mixes, and they add to each mix 4 times to make a page with 25 different variations of yellows and oranges. Specific pigments are used from the ART INSTRUCTOR model, which produce colors that artists most often need to know how to mix.

September 19 – 23
Students will finish painting their landscapes with atmospheric perspective (depth) by working their way down the canvas, top to bottom, which is also distant to close.

SEPTEMBER 16 – 20 • Students will choose from a set of landscape photo references, and paint in acrylics on canvas. They’ll learn to show depth by using atmospheric perspective, working from farthest to closest, and top to bottom. Two color techniques are used: 1) mixing colors from other parts of the painting into each color for harmony, and 2) Color splitting. The lesson takes 2 weeks.

SEPTEMBER 9 – 13
Students will work on deconstructing a diagram of an image, working on it like a puzzle. Beginning with the Frame first, they learn how to work on the rectangular proportions, before moving to the second step, Big Shapes. Details are added last, completing the 3 Steps to Accuracy.

AUG 19 – 23 • Students will learn how to create ink work with a dipping ink pen & metal nib. Animal photos are provided for reference, and the interior will be filled with expressive patterns, commonly called zen tangles. Creations students (advanced) will move more quickly into choosing subjects and doing special artwork. Classroom rules are introduced.

MAY 6 – 10 • Combining a sketch, writing, thinking, and painting, all on one canvas, this technique appeals to everyone. Students will draw and sketch on the canvas with their colored pencil (other colors may be used if available, but we use a dark gray that mimics graphite.) Anything can be drawn or written, just like in the page of a journal or sketch book. Washes of color are added for a soft visual effect. This lesson will continue and be finished next week.

APRIL 8 – 12 • Students create a still life painting using an acrylic technique that begins with a mid-tone of a warm neutral color. Then they will paint the dark shadows throughout, before finishing with the light areas. It’s a fast and easy method that yields awesome results!

April 1 – 5 • Everyone gets a chance to use learned skills and freedom to choose what to do with an exciting “Treasure Hunt” for different elements of art. It’s also a great day for finishing existing works such as the complimented animals or palette knife paintings.

MARCH 25 – 29 • Continuing with painting, students will learn how to use the palette knife technique before working on a landscape. There are specific colors that must be mixed and used side by side. This helps artists see how expanding your colors to several variations enhances the final painting.

MAR 4 – 8 • There are many projects that have been in the works. Students will tackle each one until several are finished. If no projects are left, then it is time for self-expression with artists’ choice.

FEB 26 – MAR 1 • This week everyone will continue on their animal paintings using the complementary color schemes and mixing opposites for shadow colors. Paintings should be finished this week. There is a fun drawing in the round game for early finishers.

FEB 19 – 23 • Complementary colors are used for a 2-week project: a colorfully expressive animal painting in acrylics on canvas. Students will choose an animal, draw it, and will then use expressive complimentary colors to paint a bright and unusual work. The colors may be natural compliments, such as a brown (orange) animal and a blue sky, or unnatural compliments, such as a red and green zebra.

Feb 12 – 16 • This is one of two lessons about portraits. Today everyone will work on accuracy, while also learning how observation helps accuracy more than anything else. There is a memory drawing game and an oil pastel copy of a Van Gogh portrait.

FEB 5 – 9 • Students learn how to mix darker and muted shades with every tube-color on their palette. Using opposites, or complimentary colors on our printed work-page, they’ll use small amounts of colors in combinations that produce the most vibrant and realistic shadow colors and neutrals.

JAN 29 – FEB 2 • Students use clay to create various sculptures and then draw them. This exercise create connections in the brain between what we see, what we know, and what we touch, making it easier to draw accurately.

JANUARY 22 – 26 • Students will use a printed work-page to create a modified and expanded color wheel model. Our Color Star model applies the actual pigments that we use to the color wheel, and makes much more sense to artists than general color theory models. This is a great learning tool.

JANUARY 15- 19 • Students will learn how to push their ideas and think creatively. Several exercises are used to understand how to get outside the normal boundaries and use their imaginations along with their pencils. After idea thumbnails and sketches, an acrylic painting is begun.

JAN 8 – 12 • Students will create simple artwork in oil pastels using only colored lines. Then they’ll examine their efforts and learn the 6 design principles. Students will apply principles to modify their work and improve their overall design before finishing it.

DECEMBER 18 – JANUARY 3
Everyone loves to get art for the holidays, so we’ll create Christmas (or other holiday) gifts for friends and family. Small works on paper are fun and easy to create, and make personal connections that are remembered for many years. Students create a drawing for a small piece of line art and then create a duplicate, or mono-print, using the original as both artwork and a printing plate. Then they paint both to make each one unique.

DEC 11 – 15 • Our first 2 Color Journals of the year are Reds & Greens. These color journals are fun and easy for students, because they just follow the instructions to mix a lot of very useful versions of one basic color. They’re designed to help students understand the process of mixing and the effect that colors have on each other as opposed to just following formulas and using them as a limited palette. The colors can’t just be remixed following this as if it were a guide. The goal isn’t even to get a specific color, but to learn how pigments behave. The pages should be printed on cover stock so they can be saved in a binder for reference.

DEC 4 – 8 • Students will create a detailed drawing of an old weathered birdhouse. If possible, the birdhouses used should be real-life objects, but photos are provided. Steps for preparing, using the 3 steps to accuracy, making guide-lines, and pencil techniques are all practiced to create a finished work. A few fun short projects for early finishers are also included.

Nov 27 – December 1 • Students will all bring candy to create a huge candy “store” that everyone can “shop” at for their houses. A half-gallon paperboard milk carton is cut in half to make the house, which is glued to a small cardboard base. Icing and candy cover the entire house! Kids love creating this holiday tradition.

NOV 13 – 17 • Students will have a day of artist’s choice, where they can do whatever they want. Anyone who is not finished with the little patches watercolor should do that before they move into their artist’s choice. Total freedom can be hard to handle, so there are plans that help students stay on track and not become overwhelmed with options.

Nov 6 – 10 • Students will finish the little patches watercolor they began last week. As students finish, they’ll begin work in charcoal, warming up with quick sketches and using several photo references. Oil pastels are introduced to create a black and white mixed media.

OCT 30 – NOV 3 • Students will work for two weeks to create a square-shaped watercolor painting that is divided into a grid design. Each smaller area in the grid (rectangles and squares), becomes a tiny little painting, drawn and painted in watercolors. This will employ the small glaze technique, and makes it easy since there are no large areas to worry about. Each painting is made from patches: several patches of smaller paintings, and those paintings are smaller patches of color.

Oct 16 – 20 • Students learn or review the basic techniques involved in pencil shading using various textures and movement. Blocks and cubes are looked at, as an introduction to artist’s perspective and understanding of one of the 3 basic geometric forms.

OCT 2 – 6 • Students can begin by finishing the inaccurate painting from 2 weeks ago or creating another experimental work with acrylic paint. Pen and ink is used to copy the work and/or technique of another artist’s ink drawing that they choose. If time allows, early finishers can work with sticks dipped into ink for drawing gritty and dramatic line art of animals.

SEPT 25 – 29 • Because accuracy is not always the goal, and students need to break free from boundaries, we’ll take a fun break from the structured lessons, and enjoy the freedom of self-expression. We also learn about the Most Important Spot, (or emphasis).

SEP 18 – 22 • Students discover (or rediscover) the good, bad, and beautiful qualities of India ink. They create a black and white ink drawing, while also reviewing the 3 Steps to Accuracy, and learning about Air Shapes.

SEP 11 – 15 • Students will be introduced to, and have a chance to use, The 3 steps to accuracy method, which is based on the way professional artists analyze what they see so that they can reproduce it accurately in artwork. There is also a paint-mixing game, and some time to finish landscapes if needed.

SEP 4 – 8 • Students will continue working on their red underpainting landscape in acrylics until finished.

AUG 28 – SEP 1 • Students will begin the first of two lessons, where they create a landscape in acrylic paints, using the classic red underpainting technique.

AUG 21 – 25 • Students will learn and work with alike colors (analogous), and practice simple brush techniques using arcylic paints. A colorful background and bold line-based designs are used for their first painting of the year. The rules are reviewed and explained in more detail.

APRIL 28 – MAY 2 • Last week’s face sculptures have been drying all week. The first half of the lesson this week, is painting the sculptures with acrylic paints. The second half is artists’ choice with dreams: using the acrylics in an expressive painting of a happy dream.

MARCH 6 – 10 • Artists get to create a face sculpture out of air-dry clay or salt dough that will be painted next week. They’re free to have fun with ideas to make the face anything, even an animal face. Before they work on the sculptures, young artist create a fun face warmup and then make practice faces in modeling clay. Older students finish their portrait and then move to the sculpture.

NOV 12 – 16 • Because this is a continuation of last week’s artists’ choice, the lessonplan is brief. Students should enjoy the creative process!

MAY 2 – 6 • Students will use pages and clippings from magazines to create collage images that tell a story about themselves. They are also given the choice to work on a detailed pencil drawing with freedom to choose their subject matter.

February 21 – 25 • Warmup today begins with cartoon faces. Then artists will draw a pencil self portrait using mirrors to observe themselves. First, though, there is a lesson about shadows, reflected light, and practice drawings with soft edges using an egg.

FEBRUARY 7 – 11 • Students will learn about the structure of the face before sculpting a small version of it in re-usable modeling clay (not to keep). After they’ve made their own 3D model, they draw it. This connects two sensory experiences of the same thing in the brain: the tactile knowledge of the subject in 3D, and drawing it in 2D. The result is better drawing abilities.

OCT 18 – 22 • Students will use the simple form of a cube to learn the basics of artists’ perspective, which have been reduced to three innovative, concrete, and simple concepts. Several visual tricks and analogies help the lesson be informative, understandable, and interesting.

Students will learn about the skeletal system and how it affects the way an artist draws the human form. There is also a fun game as well as a robot project that helps them understand the proportions of the human figure.

An entire class devoted to learning the basics of cartooning. Students develop a character and learn how to make different facial expressions using symbols that convey extra meaning or action. A finished ink and watercolor cartoon is created in the second half of the session.

A Bunch O’ Boxes project completes the school year program. Everyone must work together as a team and combine a few boxes into a 3D sculpture and/or installation that has a theme and incorporates everyone’s efforts and style into one final work. Classes are divided into teams of 5 or less so that everyone can work at once. Boxes are covered in white paper and painted for display all summer or for an art show. It’s also a fun day for an end of year party!

MONTH • WEEK • This is a real lesson that you can use for free to check out the Art Instructor. Students will learn how to push their ideas and think creatively. Several exercises are used, along with dialog, to understand how to get outside the normal boundaries and use their imaginations along with their pencils. After idea thumbnails and sketches, an acrylic painting is begun.