Teaching Kids About the Figure: Fine Art Lesson 1- The Head.

This Lesson was Taught to Ages 3 through 6

Teaching kids about the figure is definitely an ongoing project as there is so much to explore.  I wanted my students to recognize that there are countless ways to approach the figure, from realistic to abstract to expressive, etc.  After showing the children various types of figure drawings, paintings, and sculptures done by a number of artists, we began focusing in on the head.  I showed them portrait paintings by people like Vango and Picasso to get a look at some abstract and expressive approaches, and I pointed out how they don't necessarily always use skin tone colors.  We covered symbolism a little bit and that there could be intentions behind intense colors used in many of the faces we saw.  We got into the whole discussion about how different colors can express a certain mood, and that perhaps some of the "blue faces" we were seeing meant that the artist was trying to convey a message of sadness and that the red ones by some artists seemed "hot" or "angry," and so forth.

After the lesson, the kids were given copies of faces that I had drawn up for them to explore different approaches to shading and coloring in a face.  I find that offering them drawings to color in gives them a chance to pay more attention to the face structure, before giving a lesson on drawing the face, but there is no right or wrong here.  Anyway, many of my students preferred the more abstract or expressive approach, where I drew obvious shapes to simplify the features on the head.  Some wanted to try something more "realistic" by adding shading with pencils and shading tools that we recently had a lesson on.  Nearly all of them loved the idea of coloring the faces in with intense colors to represent a mood.  This exercise ended up being a great outlet for the kids to express themselves.

There are countless lessons to be had on the figure, and we will certainly be coming back to this topic soon.  In the meantime, we are getting ready for an art show coming up at our school in April.  Stop by again in mid April, as we will definitely have photos up from the show.  

Please contact me personally for more information on the Little Wonders:

Angelique Bowman

Little Wonders Art Teacher

Lesson on Interior Design for Kids: Introduction to Floor Plans

Lesson taught to children ages 3 through 6

No child is ever too young to start designing and there is no reason they can't start thinking about the world of design surrounding them. And as we know, kids have great imaginations and can come up with the craziest and neatest ideas (that may seem a little far fetched and unrealistic, but hey, it could happen!). This is definitely one of those lessons that challenge kids to think out-of-the-box.

About the Lesson

I prepared a lesson first by gathering books, floor plans, and magazines on interior design & decorating. After talking to my students about these things, the children explored the books and magazines to get ideas, and we also discussed the symbolism used in floor plans.  Afterward, my students chose from a variety of floor plans that I had gathered to start thinking about how they would want to decorate the interiors of the buildings.  Many of them enjoyed moving around cut-outs of symbols for objects like tables, couches, bath tubs, etc., and then gluing them down in the desired areas.  Others also enjoyed just drawing their own symbols, creating outdoor gardens, backyards, and more.  We will definitely have to do an extension of this lesson since the kids had so much fun and creativity to put forth.  

For more information on lessons, comment or contact me directly.  Hope you enjoyed!

~Angelique

Fine Art Introduction to Perspective Drawing for Kids

I recently taught my students, ages 3 through 6, their first lesson on perspective.  We definitely didn't get into point perspective just yet as there are some basics we needed to cover first.  I started off the lesson by sharing a number of perspective paintings and drawings by various artists.  I pointed out similarities between each artwork to teach the kids learn new vocabulary such as foreground, background, and horizon line.  Once my students began to understand and recognize these terms,they were able to explore this idea on paper with crayons and watercolor paints. 

The kids each spent two sessions on this project and really seemed to have a lot of fun with it.  They also came up with some pretty clever titles that will be posted soon with their artwork on the website.  In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask away!

~Angelique Bowman

Fine Art Lessons on Pastels, Ages 2 through 6 and Up

Recently at the Little Wonders of Wonderland Studio, both the toddler class and the ages 3-6 group have had lessons on pastels.  They learned after a lesson that typically pastels have a higher quality and amount of pigment than their typical sidewalk chalk, which make the colors much more vibrant.  After watching some demonstrations and learning about blending, the kids especially enjoyed using a paper towel to wipe or blend colors to add a softer texture. We will be selling prints of their finished art on the website after they have had a couple more sessions.

Fold a paper towel and use a corner to blend sections of your pastel drawing

Usually we have a demonstration during a brief circle time, and then the kids go and find a seat at a table where the material is already set out for them.
~Angelique Bowman