by Jennifer Barrett
January is the perfect month to practice cut paper techniques, preferably over hot chocolate and cookies. Cut paper designs can come in many forms, from coffee filter snowflakes to intricate landscape collages.
Inspiration:
January. The days are short and the nights are long. Snow falls peacefully creating a quiet and cold landscape. Winter scenes are everywhere as families go sledding, skiing, and ice skating. Capture a winter scene, and let’s create a cut paper landscape!
Everyday Art Lesson:
Technique Focus: Collage
Mess Factor: Moderate
Ages: Can be modified for ages 0-18 years
Objectives: Kids will learn different landscape elements, including foreground, middle ground, and background while applying torn or cut paper techniques.
Babies, toddlers, and younger kids: torn paper snowman collage
Suggested Materials:
• Different colored and textured paper, mostly cool colors such as blue, light blue, orange for the nose, black for the mouth and eyes, and white. Paper can be tissue, construction, recycled wrapping paper, or any paper of interest. Cotton balls can also be used.
• Glue or glue stick
• White crayon
Younger kids and babies love ripping paper. Children too young to create a snowman can tear the paper and watch as you place it into the shape of a snowman.
Starting with blue background paper, tear white paper, overlapping pieces into a rounded snowman shape. For younger kids, you can just focus on a close up of the face. Add in the triangle, orange nose, and the black eyes and mouth.
Let it snow by drawing snowflakes in the background with the white crayon for the finishing touch.
Older Kids: Winter Landscape/Coffee Filter Snowflakes
Suggested Materials:
• Scissors
• Different colors of construction paper: blue, white, gray, light green, dark green, brown.
• Glue or glue stick
• Coffee filters
Choose the blue paper, white paper, and gray paper and decide on the orientation of the paper, either landscape or portrait. Cut the following papers in the same orientation so that they line up with the background. The blue paper is the background, the gray is the middle ground, and the white is the snowy foreground. Cut a wavy strip along the length of the white paper. Next, cut jagged, triangular lines along the length of the gray paper. Add more colors and layers for more details. Attach the white paper to the gray paper, and the gray paper to the blue background. You should have a white snowy layer for the foreground, a mountainous middle ground, and a blue sky background.
Cut trees by folding paper in half and cutting a long triangle off the fold line (Like cutting out a heart). Open up and you will have a symmetrical tree! Cut a brown trunk and glue to the back of the tree. Larger, lighter trees should be placed in the foreground, while smaller, darker trees should be placed in the middle ground. This gives the illusion of depth and space.
Let it snow by drawing white crayon or oil pastel snowflakes over the tops of trees and in the background.
Coffee Filter Snowflakes:
Kids can make snowflakes out of coffee filters, which are already circular in shape! Fold in half 3 times and cut triangle shapes along all three edges, leaving space between each shape. Open up and you will have a snowflake to hang in the window!
(TIP: Always check for the ASTM d-4236 standard and ACMI AP seal, which should be on all art materials given to children. Materials are like ingredients. Many things can be substituted for what you have on hand.)
Feel free to email any questions or comments to info@creativespacearts.com, or visit my website at www.creativespacearts.com. I aim to create an open exchange of ideas and best practices.
Jennifer Barrett is the Arts Liaison and Performing Arts Coordinator at a public junior high school in Brooklyn, and has taught visual arts there since 2002. She founded Creative Space Arts in 2014 to offer a different kind of art studio, always changing and inspired by the immersive environment of galleries and other creative spaces. She has also guided countless students through the rigorous audition process of portfolio development, with many gaining acceptance and even scholarships into some of NYC’s most prestigious art schools. Jennifer’s paper creds include: B.F.A. in Drawing, M.Ed., S.B.L Certification.
About Creative Space Arts:
What do dragons, neighborhood-scapes, rainbow fish, and the moon have in common? They are all possible motifs at Creative Space Arts, a pop-up art studio set in galleries and other creative spaces. Our fun and immersive workshops are inspired by the work currently on view in gallery spaces, or by weekly theme. Through this approach, we aim to ignite curiosity and freedom of artistic expression.
January is the perfect month to practice cut paper techniques, preferably over hot chocolate and cookies. Cut paper designs can come in many forms, from coffee filter snowflakes to intricate landscape collages.
Inspiration:
January. The days are short and the nights are long. Snow falls peacefully creating a quiet and cold landscape. Winter scenes are everywhere as families go sledding, skiing, and ice skating. Capture a winter scene, and let’s create a cut paper landscape!
Everyday Art Lesson:
Technique Focus: Collage
Mess Factor: Moderate
Ages: Can be modified for ages 0-18 years
Objectives: Kids will learn different landscape elements, including foreground, middle ground, and background while applying torn or cut paper techniques.
Babies, toddlers, and younger kids: torn paper snowman collage
Suggested Materials:
• Different colored and textured paper, mostly cool colors such as blue, light blue, orange for the nose, black for the mouth and eyes, and white. Paper can be tissue, construction, recycled wrapping paper, or any paper of interest. Cotton balls can also be used.
• Glue or glue stick
• White crayon
Younger kids and babies love ripping paper. Children too young to create a snowman can tear the paper and watch as you place it into the shape of a snowman.
Starting with blue background paper, tear white paper, overlapping pieces into a rounded snowman shape. For younger kids, you can just focus on a close up of the face. Add in the triangle, orange nose, and the black eyes and mouth.
Let it snow by drawing snowflakes in the background with the white crayon for the finishing touch.
Older Kids: Winter Landscape/Coffee Filter Snowflakes
Suggested Materials:
• Scissors
• Different colors of construction paper: blue, white, gray, light green, dark green, brown.
• Glue or glue stick
• Coffee filters
Choose the blue paper, white paper, and gray paper and decide on the orientation of the paper, either landscape or portrait. Cut the following papers in the same orientation so that they line up with the background. The blue paper is the background, the gray is the middle ground, and the white is the snowy foreground. Cut a wavy strip along the length of the white paper. Next, cut jagged, triangular lines along the length of the gray paper. Add more colors and layers for more details. Attach the white paper to the gray paper, and the gray paper to the blue background. You should have a white snowy layer for the foreground, a mountainous middle ground, and a blue sky background.
Cut trees by folding paper in half and cutting a long triangle off the fold line (Like cutting out a heart). Open up and you will have a symmetrical tree! Cut a brown trunk and glue to the back of the tree. Larger, lighter trees should be placed in the foreground, while smaller, darker trees should be placed in the middle ground. This gives the illusion of depth and space.
Let it snow by drawing white crayon or oil pastel snowflakes over the tops of trees and in the background.
Coffee Filter Snowflakes:
Kids can make snowflakes out of coffee filters, which are already circular in shape! Fold in half 3 times and cut triangle shapes along all three edges, leaving space between each shape. Open up and you will have a snowflake to hang in the window!
(TIP: Always check for the ASTM d-4236 standard and ACMI AP seal, which should be on all art materials given to children. Materials are like ingredients. Many things can be substituted for what you have on hand.)
Feel free to email any questions or comments to info@creativespacearts.com, or visit my website at www.creativespacearts.com. I aim to create an open exchange of ideas and best practices.
Jennifer Barrett is the Arts Liaison and Performing Arts Coordinator at a public junior high school in Brooklyn, and has taught visual arts there since 2002. She founded Creative Space Arts in 2014 to offer a different kind of art studio, always changing and inspired by the immersive environment of galleries and other creative spaces. She has also guided countless students through the rigorous audition process of portfolio development, with many gaining acceptance and even scholarships into some of NYC’s most prestigious art schools. Jennifer’s paper creds include: B.F.A. in Drawing, M.Ed., S.B.L Certification.
About Creative Space Arts:
What do dragons, neighborhood-scapes, rainbow fish, and the moon have in common? They are all possible motifs at Creative Space Arts, a pop-up art studio set in galleries and other creative spaces. Our fun and immersive workshops are inspired by the work currently on view in gallery spaces, or by weekly theme. Through this approach, we aim to ignite curiosity and freedom of artistic expression.
Attachments
Image
