Friday, January 27, 2012

"Jump Rope for Heart": Abstract Paintings

The gym teacher at my school always has "Jump Rope for Heart" and "Hoops for Heart" in February to align with Valentine Day. We have put together a cross curricular lesson combining their gym activities and knowledge of heart related ailments with an abstract art lesson that is designed to adorn the bland gym walls! 


I was inspired to do this project not only as a cross curricular opportunity, but because our students have raided over 10,000 dollars for the American Heart Association!!! AMAZING! They blew their last years record out of the water!

We started with a black tempera that was watered down a bit so it would flow nicely over the paper. Start with five hearts (large), then create five circles in between the hearts to add more shapes, and then use a variety of lines to connect the hearts and circles together.

 On the second day we used colored tempera to fill in our black shapes. I used my premixed paint cups for this. Each table got five colors on a tray, then about every ten minutes I switched the colors from table to table so there could be more variety. 


On the final day we used oil pastels to clean up black outlines and add a variety of lines, outlines, and patterns. I'll post a picture of the gym once they are hung up! yay!

"It Takes Heart to be a Hero!"

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