Flowery patterns: early childhood.

The Art Problem

Use mixed media to create a simple still-life composition.

Objectives

Students will create an effective still life using collage and watercolor painting.

Materials

9 x 12" (23 x 30 cm) white drawing paper, scraps of patterned wallpaper, scissors, glue, watercolor paints, brushes, simple still-life setup such as a vase with flowers

Process

1. Explain to students that artists often create still lifes, which are artworks depicting inanimate objects.

2. Students begin the collage by cutting a table top or tablecloth from patterned wallpaper and gluing it to white drawing paper.

3. Students complete the collage portion of the project by cutting out, overlapping, and gluing down a symmetrical wallpaper vase (using a different patterned paper).

4. Students paint flowers for the vase using watercolors.

Assessment

How well can students define still life? Is overlapping apparent in their artworks? How well can students explain the steps they took in creating a mixed-media still life?

By Nancy Walkup, art teacher at W.S. Ryan Elementary, Denton, Texas.