Penguin March

This week the Calgary Zoo announced they would start up their very popular Penguin walk, where the King penguins get to go out for a walk around the zoo. That was the inspiration for this project.

I did 2 versions. A large 12"x18" (bulletin board size) and then a smaller 9"x12". (art journal size)















MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- background paper, use good heavy painting paper or wc paper
- blue disk tempera
- grey (black and white) liquid or disk tempera
- white paper
- black paper
- scrap of orange paper
- glue
- oil pastels, you need orange, yellow, black and white
- Kleenex
- some textures for printmaking, I used some bubble wrap and bumpy foam
- glue
- glitter glue, optional
- text, optional

PROCEDURE:

Place your paper on your art board.  I like to tape my sides to hold it down and to get that nice white border.

With a pencil draw a path.

Paint with blue tempera along the sides of the path.  Get nice bright colour so make sure the students swirl that paintbrush on the disk well.

I wanted a snow effect so while the paint was still wet I used a Kleenex to lift some of that paint.  Similar to what we do when lifting clouds.





For the small one I concentrated where my lifting was like a snowbank.

For the large one I kinda did it all over.  It's up to you but I wanted you to see both results.

I then painted the path.  You can use disk tempera or liquid.  I used acrylic as that was what I had on hand in the studio.

To get grey you mix mostly white and a touch of black.

To add some texture to the path I mixed a darker grey, (just added some more black) and painted some bubble wrap and bumpy foam.

I then turned them over onto path and pressed to get that texture.

For the small version I didn't even paint the path just added the dark grey texture onto the white path.

While your background is drying let's make the penguins.

You start with the bellies. They are a rounded triangular shape. You want one large one and 2 smaller ones for perspective.

For the large version you can get 3 out of a 8.5x11 piece of paper.  For the smaller just cut the paper in half and set it up the same way.

Once the bellies are cut out use them to draw out your head and wings.

I call them wishbones you'll see what I mean in a moment.

I traced them in white so you could see them.  Use a white pencil crayon if the kids have a hard time seeing their pencil lines on the black paper.

See what I mean they look like wishbones.

For the large one you are going to need 1 and 1/4 pieces of black paper.  For the small just 1 sheet.

Glue the bellies onto the wishbones.

These are King penguins so we are going to add some colour with the oil pastels.

Put some orange right at the top of the white and then some yellow underneath.  Use a Kleenex and smudge it a bit.  Kleenex smudges better that your finger with oil pastels.
You can also add a touch or orange to the side of the head.

You can put some white pastel under the wings.

And I would add just a touch of black to sides and bottom to show the roundness of the penguin body.

Do it now as it is easier than waiting like I did.

Glue your penguins onto your path.

Add eyes (white circles and hole punched black circles out of scraps) or you could use googly eyes.

Cut out beaks from orange paper and feet.

I added some snowflakes.  I have this great Martha Stewart snowflake punch that I use constantly during the winter. Kids love punching snowflakes.

You can add a touch of glitter glue to snow for that sparkle.

Finally I added some text to finish the project.

That's it.


Gail

Penguin Portraits

I completed these penguin portraits with Grade 1 in my last 2 residencies, (about 100 penguins!).






They were quite effective.

Here are some of the student's work.














MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- substrate, we used 12"x12" hardboard but you could use cardboard, poster board, heavy paper or canvas
- recycled cardboard for belly
- drywall filler
- snow glitter
- acrylic paint in dark blue, purple, light purple, yellow, and white
- disk tempera paint
- white paper for painting
- black paper
- large googly eyes, you could also make eyes out of white and black paper
- pipe cleaners in assorted colours
- piece of yellow craft foam for beak
- glue
-small snowflakes
- mod podge, optional

PROCEDURE:

This is a 2 session project.

Out of recycled corrugated cardboard cut out the belly shape. It's an egg shape but then cut straight at the bottom.

Coat one side of the cardboard with drywall filler.  While it is still wet shake on some snow glitter.

Take background and tape off a horizon line.  I do this with Kindergarten to Grade 2. When they start painting the background they have a tough time stopping, the tape gives them a visual finish line.

Paint the background.  We started at the top with dark blue, then purple, and then light purple.  We tried to do some blending so we were not too stripey.



Set aside to dry.

I have this great roll of corrugated cardboard. I think it is sold as packing material. You could also use paper feed thru a crimper or just regular cardboard.

I gave each child a rectangle and they painted it yellow.  This will be for our feet.



This was the end of session 1 for us.

Session 2:

I gave each child a rectangle of white  paper about 4"x6".

Using disk tempera paint we painted it for our ear muffs.  They could do stripes, dots, etc.

Remove tape from background.  Paint bottom with white acrylic.

I gave each child a 8.5'x11' piece of black card stock. We turned it the short way.  Place the now dry belly on the paper, lining it up at the bottom with the paper.  Trace around but leave a gap. You want the black body to be larger than the white belly.

On the sides draw 2 wings.
Cut out the pieces.

Glue the black paper body in place on the background, glue on wings.

We needed to use a glue gun on the belly. (adults only)

Add 2 googly eyes.  I gave each child a small square of yellow craft foam and they cut a triangle for a beak.  I gave them some fabric snowflakes that I get from true Dollar store to glue on the background.

Cut 2 ovals out of the painted paper for ear muffs.

Glue to the sides of the head.  Add 1/2 of a coloured pipe cleaner for the band.

Finally you can add a coat of lodge to seal everything down and give you a nice shiny finish.




That's it.

I wanted to show you our valentine butterflies that we completed in kindergarten.


We used the same lesson as the warm and cool butterflies but cut 2 hearts for the wings.  We also used our Valentine colours.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day everyone.


Gail

Clay Penguins

It's a big year for penguins around here.  The Calgary Zoo opened their penguin exhibit and I have had lots of requests for penguin projects.





Here are Grade 1's clay penguins.

Isn't this one adorable with the little penguin sliding away on it's belly!

















MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- clay, if you don't have access to a kiln try air dry clay
- black, white, and orange glaze,  if using air dry clay use acrylic paint
- cloth placemat
- penny nail
- a wooden skewer
- small cup of water

PROCEDURE:

Put your cloth placemat on your workspace.  The cloth stops the clay from sticking.

Gather your supplies:
- rolling pin
- nail
- wooden skewer
- little cup of water

Roll out a slab with your rolling pin.   Cut a piece off your  clay block and then roll to about 3/4's of an inch thick.

With the nail cut a nice oval shape for your base.

For Grade 1, I pre roll the slabs, I can often get 2 ovals from a slice off the block.




Dip your finger into the water and smooth any rough edges around your cut edge.

Now we will start making the penguin body.  Take a lump of clay and roll into a fat sausage shape.

I want a flat bottom to attach to the base so I lightly pound it on the table to make it flat.

With the wooden skewer make little scratches on the bottom of your penguin and on the base where you want it to go.

Dip your finger in the water and rub a little on the scratches.  At school the kids all know my "scratch, scratch, water, water" chant.

Attach the body to the base.  I tell the kids that the scratches have to kiss, that usually gets a lot of giggles but they remember it.

Take some more clay and roll a head between your hands.

You want a good place for your head to sit so take your finger and make a depression at the top of the body where your head will sit.




Now in my sample I scratched in a line to separate the belly but I found it easier to skip this step with Grade 1.

"Scratch, scratch, water, water" your head.

Take some more clay and roll it out.  With the nail cut 2 wing shapes.  It is like a leaf or eye shape.

Attach to the body.

Cut 2 triangles for feet and attach these in front of the body or up onto the body like the penguin is sitting in the snow.

With the skewer you can mark in the toes.

Make a little triangle and attach for the beak.   Using the skewer mark in the eyes.

Now you can add some snowballs to the base.

Finally I want to make sure my penguin dries out fully so I take a pencil and poke a hole down thru the back.

Place the penguins aside to dry.  Drape with a garbage bag or plastic tablecloth for 1-2 days to let it equalize.  When leather hard then remove the drape and let it dry out completely.

I let them sit for 2 weeks to make sure.  We are lucky in Calgary as the air is very dry.

Do your bisque fire.

Set up for glazing.

I put a wax coat on the bottom of the penguins to stop them from sticking to the kiln shelf.

Place the penguin on a paper towel, explain the rules of glazing, ( 3 coats, wash brushes thoroughly before changing colours, blot out excess water on paper towel, and must wash hands after glazing no exceptions)

Glazing is always an adventure especially with young kids.  Despite our best efforts we still have a few orange bases but that is part of the charm.


Do your glaze fire.

That's it.  Takes a while but it's a great project.

Great work Grade 1!