Painted Color Wheel Designs

Students showed mastery of color theory by painting color wheel designs. They got the primary colors, white, and black to create all 12 colors in the color wheel plus tints and shades of those colors. They used acrylic paint on heavy hot press watercolor paper. When done with great craftsmanship, these are artworks that make wonderful keepsakes. (See Animoto below)

Jr. High Zentangle Pattern Designs

Repetition, pattern, and texture have been components of artwork for decades and teachers have given various design assignments using them just as long. In the past few years, pattern has evolved into a cottage industry called "Zentangle." What I like about it is the complexity of some of the patterns which fit nicely into problem solving activities for students. They are more challenging and I certainly enjoy raising the bar when it comes to making kids think. I also love that there are so many wonderful online resources providing students with more choices than they could possibly imagine. (See Animoto below)