This book, called "Ain't Gonna Paint No More" by Karen Beaumont (illustrated by David Catrow) is an Art Teacher's delight. It's a sing-songey book about a mischevious little boy who sneaks into his paint stash and gleefully paints himself silly. I am in love with the illustrations in the book, and my kindergartners like to "guess" what body part he's painting next using rhymes.It's a fitting book to read at the end of the year, too. Guess what? We Ain't Gonna Paint for another 2 months! We might as well enjoy our last couple of days here. *Really you can do this lesson anytime, I just like having projects that really hook the kids in at the end of the school year for my own sanity!
After reading the book, we talk about illustration and self-portraiture. Do we think the boy in the book was a portrait of the illustrator, David Catrow, as a child? Students then draw (in crayon) a self-portrait on 12x18" paper. This is the "clean"version of themselves, the angelic child their parents think they are! On day 2 we put our papers in our splatter box (a big paper towel box---which looks SO lovely on day 7 of this project!) I thin down some red, yellow and blue paints (in case they mix on the paper we still have nice colors and not muddy colors) and show the kids how to shake and splatter.
Needless to say they LOVE it!
The end results make me laugh after a long day of "sit, stop, come here, go there, tie your shoes, put your shoes on, yes you may go to the bathroom, time to clean up, push that chair in". Happy splatters!
A fun and creative project.
ReplyDeleteI will have to get this book.
Oh I just read this to my art kids last week and they. They loved the book and would so love this activity. Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteJoanna,
ReplyDeleteI must be losing it! Everytime I've read that book to my K/1-2's I thought the child in the story was a girl! Ha! Thanks for clearing that up for me!
Love these! What a fun twist on a self portrait. I'll have to check this book out. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteNice idea! I'm sure kids will get a kick out of this at ANY age!
ReplyDeleteI am a first year elementary art teacher and I love being inspired by other art teachers. The stuff you do with your kiddos is amazing! Where do you go for your inspiration?!?
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am constantly sparked by things I see everyday, be it on others' blogs, on pinterest, and a LOT of the time I'm inspired by childrens' books! I love that we can all network and bounce ideas off each other...good luck in your first year of teaching!
ReplyDeleteWould you please share how you get your kids to draw such expressive faces? Your kids do such a wonderful job with faces!
ReplyDeleteoh, THANK YOU! i absolutely ADORE children's book illustrations. and maybe that is why their work always looks sort of "cartoon-ish"...it's because that is how i teach it. thanks for the post idea- i will share soon!
DeleteMy daughter brought this book home from the library last week and we read it every single night. What a great story. I love your art project ideas to go along with the story. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteReally, your Kinders portraits are amazing! How did you get them to do the proportions so well? I just did glue/chalk portraits with my 3rd graders and that looks about their level. I had a particularly tough time getting them to go big even though we used rulers, I did modeling and demos, and asked them to measure with their hands (your face should be three hands high or more"). I can't imagine getting this out of my Kinders like you did.
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