Sketchbooks

4th Grade is currently creating the cover of their own, hand made sketchbook! Sketchbooks are like an artists journal or notebook. 4th graders will be utilizing these sketchbooks for taking notes, creating preliminary sketches or drawings and during "free-draw" time. On the cover of these sketchbooks, students are creating designs out of their names. Their names will be colored in using oil pastels and the backgrounds will be created in watercolors. As a little bit of a science project, students are exploring how oil and water don't mix by painting with the watercolors over the oil pastels. To their surprise, their names won't disappear because of the oil pastels resist the watercolors. Students love watching the watercolor bead off of their names like magic! This is essence is more of a discipline based lesson in which the students are learning the techniques and processes in the materials. Sketchbooks are a great way to store ideas, drawings and notes about artists and artworks that they are learning about to later refer to after leaving 1st grade. 

Learning objectives: Techniques in using watercolors and oil pastels, listening to guided instruction, color mixing.

ART WORDS: 
Sketchbook: a journal or book used for ideas and drawings by artists. 
Watercolors: Paints that are activated using water.

Oil Pastels: Drawing instruments that are made out of oil. While they look and work similar to crayons, they are much softer in consistency and much smoother when drawing with them.

CLICK ON THE GALLERY IMAGES TO SEE SOME OF THESE WORKS IN PROGRESS!