Sponge Print Flowers

This was a lovely project which my students really enjoyed.
I began by handing out a picture of a Viking vase which they coloured in using metallic markers. Most of my students are unable to draw or use scissors so this was a nice way for them to create a personalised vase for their flowers. I encouraged them to spend plenty of time concentrating on their colouring. I then gave out paint and sponges cut into flower-petal shapes. I had put bunches of red, yellow and purple tulips on the tables so these were the colours of paint which I handed out. I gave the students lots of large sheets of paper and let them practice printing for a while. I demonstrated how to create different types of flower using the sponges. Once they had got the hang of the printing, we glued the vases onto a fresh sheet of paper and then printed our bunches of flowers. I got them to use green oil pastels for the stems as I anticipated that the pictures could become quite messy if green paint was introduced.
Everyone was very proud of their artwork!

Chinese Dragons

In this workshop we celebrated Chinese New Year by making some fierce dragon masks. I began by handing out some photocopies of a dragon mask and some metallic markers. Everyone had to colour in two masks. The students spent lots of time on these. Once they had finished, I asked the carers to cut the eyes and nose out of one of the masks. I showed them how to make little zig-zags from scraps of paper which we glued onto the backs of the eyes and noses. These were then glued onto the other mask to make a goggly 3D effect. The mask was then glued onto a paper plate for strength. I gave out some strips of red and orange tissue so that students could make some flames to come out of the dragon's mouth and finally we made a spiky fringe from scraps of painted paper.

Leaping Fish Watercolour and Torn Paper

This project was inspired by this artwork by Deborah Angyo Gorman:

Students began by using a wet-on-wet watercolour technique to create a background. I then gave them all a drawing of a fish which I had prepared in advance. They (or their carers) cut it out and they then began covering it in torn foil paper.
This activity was nice and simple to explain and the students became very absorbed in gluing down the paper.
Only drawback is that the reflective foil makes the pictures hard to photograph!

City at Night Collage

For this workshop I tried my own version of the City at Night art lesson I've seen on http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/  and other blogs. I decided to start with a circular background for a change and got the students to draw round a record to create a perfectly-sized circle (try doing that with an MP3 - ha!) which they cut out with help from their carers. Next, I showed them how to use pastels to make a moon and lots of stars. I had pre-cut loads of rectangles in different sizes and colours so they could choose which ones they wanted for their skyscrapers and glue them on at the base of the circle. I had also cut out lots of bright yellow squares for the windows. I explained that they didn't have to cover the whole skyscraper with windows because not everyone would have their lights on! They all seemed to understand and enjoyed positioning the windows. As a finishing touch I gave them a cut-out of a cartoon yellow taxi (much to the delight of one car-obsessed student) which they could glue on to the bottom.

Aboriginal Dot Painting

I know that most art teachers out there have finished for the summer but for a community artist like me the classes just keep on going!
My most recent endeavour was an Australian-themed dot painting workshop. I have used dot painting in classes before but this was the first time I incorporated a hand print into the design (thanks to Kristin Thomas at For the Love of Art ).
I set the scene by putting on a CD of didgeridoo music (it was Didgeralia by David Hudson) and handing out some colouring sheets of x-ray animal drawings.
I then asked them to draw around one of their hands on a sheet of grey paper (black would probably have been better but we didn't have any!). All the students who attend this particular class have a carer with them so I gave them a choice: either the carer could draw around the student's hand or vice versa.
I then demonstrated how to create dots around the outline of the hand using cotton buds (Q-tips) dipped in paint. They could then go ahead and fill-in the rest of the hand. At this point, each student had access to either hot colours or cold colours, not both.
Once they had done this I asked them to draw a simple pattern of lines around the hand. Some students managed this themselves and others needed their carer to do this bit for them. I then swapped the paint pallets around and got them to fill in the background. They all needed lots of motivating to keep going with the dots as they wanted to stop after doing a few in each colour. It was also very tempting for them to use the cotton bud like a paintbrush and make lines instead of dots but I gently discouraged that (unless they were REALLY enjoying it!) A little bit of one-on-one help with each student helped them to get the hang of it. As a finishing touch, they chose one of the x-ray animals they had coloured and glued it on to their picture.
Here are links to the book I copied the x-ray animals from and to the fab CD which all the students enjoyed:

Collage Birds

I did this workshop with my regular group of adults with learning difficulties. None of the group can really draw or copy an image, so I prepared for the class by drawing some VERY simple, cartoonish birds with a marker pen on quite large sheets of paper. All the birds were different and I let everyone choose the one they liked best. (I had 6 participants in this workshop.)
Next I got them to make some patterned paper by drawing and scribbling on coloured paper with oil pastels. I then got them to cut or tear their patterned paper into squares which they had to share with the rest of the group so that everyone had a variety of colours. I also gave out some squares of nice shiny paper (recycled wrapping paper and gift bags). Then they set to work glueing the pieces of paper on to their bird. All of the participants had a carer with them so they helped make sure that the glue went in the right place ie ON the bird not around it!
I didn't have any 'googly eyes' with me that day so I just drew some eyes and cut them out for them.
After they had stuck everything on I went back over some of the lines I had drawn with the marker pen just to neaten the whole thing up a bit. This was a nice workshop which everyone seemed to find quite absorbing. Everyone tends to take their work home with them after my classes but if you have space for a display it would be nice to cut the birds out and place them along a branch or phone line.