Circle City

 

You need: 

1. white drawing sheet
2. compass
3. ruler
4. pencil
5. markers
6. colored sheet
7. glue

Explain the one-point perspective: objects that are further away appear smaller. If we draw a street towards the horizon, it narrows and trees get smaller. 

In one-point perspective you draw all lines parallel to the viewing direction to one point. You literally put a dot on the horizon. 

What to do? 

• Draw a circle of 20 cm in diameter using the compass. Mark the hole in the center with a dot.  
• Draw lines form the edges of the circle to the dot in the middle, using ruler and pencil. 
• Draw buildings in different heights using the lines.  Draw doors and windows. 
• Color with markers. Outline everything with a fine black marker. 
• Cut the circle and stick it on a colored sheet. 

Art work made by students of grade 4. 

Dutch canal houses: indian ink and soft pastels

You need: 

1. drawing sheets
2. pencil
3. ruler
4. indian ink
5. dip pen
6. soft pastels

Dutch canal houses are famous for their facades: stepped gable, neck gable, bell gable, clock gable or spout gable. Show pictures of those five gables and discuss them. Show photographs from canal houses and discuss the other features of canal houses: the stairs, symmetry, windows, ornaments, shutters. 

Students draw a line on their sheet about 5 cm from below. This is the canal. At the end you can glue all drawings together to get a long street full of canal houses. Sketch the houses lightly with a grey pencil. Indicate the places of windows, stairs, doors and shutters. Draw small boats in the canal. Draw the houses with indian ink and color them with soft pastels.

by students of grade  6

Happy new year!

Made by students of grade 6

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A3 size


2. water paint color


3. brushes


4. liquid water color paint


5. crayons

Draw some Dutch canal houses and color them with water color paint. Use crayons to draw fireworks. Then paint the sky dark blue with liquid water color leaving  the edges white. 

Funny houses like James Rizzi

Made by Kalen, grade 4

You need:

1. white drawing sheet


2. crayons 


3. liquid watercolor paint


4. brushes


5. jars with water 

James Rizzi was born in 1950 in Brooklyn. He studied art in Florida, where he started experimenting with printing, painting and sculpting. Rizzi’s work often shows his birthplace New York. His paintings look sometimes childishly naive, with the bright colors and brilliant gaiety. In the art press Rizzi is often described as "Urban Primitive Artist '. Rizzi himself says he is influenced by Picasso, Klee and Dubuffet.

Made bij Jade, grade 4

Show some paintings of Rizzi and discuss the characteristics:

• bright colours



• no gradations within colours



• evertything is outlined with black



• houses have human faces/characteristics



• the artwork is full and busy



• background is full too

Students use a dark color crayon to draw a house in Rizzi style, a house with human characteristics like hair, mouth, eyes etc. 

Paint with liquid water color paint.

The sky is the limit

Golden Gate Bridge, made by Elize, grade 6

You need:

1. grey paper A4 size


2. white and black pencils


3. pictures of famous skylines

During a visit to the Museum in The Hague, I saw an artwork that Escher had made on gray paper. The only colours he had used were black and white. Together with the gray, you do have a lot of colours at your disposal. The Escher drawing I saw then, was the inspiration for this lesson.

Show photos of some famous skylines. Discuss skylines, skyscrapers and remarkable buildings. Ask children to search a skyline on the internet. Print this in black and white and then copy it so you can see the shadows of the buildings (settings light - dark on copyer). Students draw with just white and black pencil on the grey sheet.

Sydney skyline by Adnan, grade 6