Mixed Media Ducks

The Grade Ones are hatching duck eggs at my current school.

For an art project we are making these mixed media canvases.

You can see by this side view that there are elements that stick out from the canvas, lots of great texture.























MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- 8x10 primed canvas, I buy mine at Michael's in the 10 pack when they go on sale, you could also do this on foam board or heavy corrugated cardboard
- cardboard
- duck template, feel free to use mine
- drywall compound
- painter's masking tape (green or blue)
- blue, green, brown, and yellow acrylic paint
- white tissue paper
- posterboard or manila tag
- glue
- air dry clay
- printed text  "is for duck"
- black pony bead
- a few feathers

PROCEDURE:

Using my template or your own drawing, cut out a duck from cardboard.

Put some drywall compound on a plate and using a spatula or even an old gift card spread on top of your duck.


I buy my drywall at Home Depot in a huge container, (very heavy) for about $20.00.  It will last a long time if you are careful to keep it sealed.  One large container will do an entire school.

You can also buy it in smaller amounts.

Using a pencil or a chopstick add some texture to the body of the duck to represent the feathers.

Leave the head and bill smooth.


Set aside to dry.

Our ducks drying.

Take your primed canvas, lay it down horizontally, (landscape style).

Take some painter's masking tape and tape off the horizon line.

Paint the sky with blue acrylic paint.
Don't forget to do the sides.


Set aside to dry.

Take a small amount of air dry clay.  Roll flat about 1/2 an inch thick.

Using the "D" cookie cutter cut out a D.

Use a little water to smooth the surface if needed.

Set aside in a warm place to dry out. I put the whole art board on top of my fridge.

Because I only had one cutter and I found it a little finicky I pre cut all the D's for the Grade Ones.

When the blue paint has dried remove tape.

Take another piece of tape, place it right on the line but now on the painted blue side exposing all the white.

Most ponds around here tend towards the green side so I painted the bottom section green.  You could also do a dark blue or a greeny blue.

Do the sides and leave to dry.

When your duck is dry paint the body brown.  With the kids I taped off where I wanted them to stop.  The head and then the beak were painted in steps.


Some kids did a female duck.  We painted them light brown up to the bill and added some dark brown dashes when they were dry.

For the reeds I wanted to use some textured paper.  Due to this being Grade One and us being on a tight schedule I prepped the paper for them.


I took sheets of posterboard and spread glue over top.  While the glue was still wet I lay a piece of tissue paper on and smooched it in, creating lots of wrinkles.  Trim away excess tissue from sides and set aside to dry.

When the paper was dry I painted stripes on it with acrylic paint.

Leave to dry.

I cut the paper into squares for the kids.

Cut some strips out of the paper that resemble reeds.


Using the duck I figure out how many I need.

Glue into place.

Glue the duck into place.  I used hot glue, (adult operation only)  It made it easier to glue any ducks that warped a bit.

Glue a black pony bead on for an eye.

You can use a fine sharpie to add the hole in the bill and the dividing line between the upper and lower sections.

Paint your 'D' with some acrylic paint.

Glue into place and add text.

Mod podge the whole canvas at this point.

When the podge dries you can add a few feathers as well as some felt cat tails.



We added the touch of blue and white feathers on the wings.

That's it.  As soon as I have enough student ones to take photos of I will update this post.





See you soon.

Animal Pinch Pots

I start a new residency tomorrow but I thought I would show you one of my last clay projects, animal pinch pots with Grade 3.



Sorry for some of the photo quality but the school lighting is always a challenge.

Each child chose their favourite animal. Some had their pots up on legs, some had the pot on it's side having a large mouth.  It was great to see all the different versions.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- clay, air dry if you do not have access to a kiln
- nail (for cutting), wooden skewer(for scratching and details), small cup of water
- cloth placemat or paper towel
- coloured glaze if using a kiln, acrylic paint if using air dry
- reference photos of animals if needed

PROCEDURE:

Take a lump of clay about the size of an orange.  You will be working on your cloth placemat or paper towel.

Using your thumbs push into the centre of the lump.  Start to form a pot.

Push down on the bottom to help spread the pot out.  Continue to form a nice shape.  You don't want it to be thicker than an inch on the sides or bottom.

You also don't want it to be too thin.

Dip your finger into the water and rub along the rim on your pot.  Make a nice edge.

Smooth the sides as well.

For this pot I'm adding a head to the front.

I take some more clay and form a nice head shape.  I keep it flat like a cookie so that my pot does not get too thick and then won't dry out.

To 'glue' clay to clay I make little scratches on the 2 surfaces.

Dip your finger in water and add some to the scratches.

Attach head.  Using the wooden skewer and add detail to the face.

Add some newspaper to the pot to help it keep it's shape when drying.

Add arms and legs.  Remember to 'scratch, scratch, water, water'.





In my pot I made my arms and legs flat and attached up against the pot.  If you are adding legs to hold up the pot make sure they are short and stubby.  No giraffes here.

To make a long tail you can roll a snake.

I then added it flat to the pot.

A short stubby tail could stick out but no long tails as they would just break off, better to attach to the side of the pot.

When you have finished sculpting, set pot aside to dry.  Drape with garbage bags or plastic tablecloths for 2 days to equalize.  Uncover and then let clay fully dry out, about 11-12 days.




Here is some of the clay at my last residency drying out.  When the clay has dried do a bisque fire.

When the clay has been fired and cooled you can glaze.  Finish with a glaze fire.

With air dry you'll skip the firing and paint with acrylic paint when the clay is dry.

That's it.






I have lots of new projects coming up that I'm doing at my next school so I hope to post them all shortly.