Flowers...? AGAIN?

I've had the same flowers and vases in my classroom for the past 3 years now, and I really couldn't stand to put my students through drawing them yet again. So this year I got creative! I've collected random clear glass jars, vases, etc. and rather than flowers, I put succulents and moss inside with pebbles under the soil for some extra details. 

Rather than forcing students to draw exactly what they see and exactly how they see it, I asked them to simply draw some things they saw however they wanted to arrange them on their page (we discussed composition within art).  We recall last year, how we learned every mark comes from lines, which create words, and lines, which create shapes.  To the right, you can see a student who really enjoys drawing realistically, and so she drew just what she saw using only a black ultra fine point marker.


Why use a black marker?  Because in art there are no mistakes.  Students come to me once per week or per 6 day cycle, and are exhausted by always being pushed to find or read the "right" answer.  I explain to students that in math and reading, yes, there is a correct answer or correct word. A-R-T always spells ART, that won't ever change, but when they're in art I want them to understand there is NO RIGHT ANSWER.  This is their release, their time to break free from the pressure of needing to be right, and by using a black pen which you cannot erase, they learn that "mistakes" or "mess-ups" are in fact art.

 Above you can see a student who has chosen to draw the vase, and does so with excellent technique!  You can also see another plant in a glass as well as one student who chose to think outside the box by drawing a flower and imagining the pebbles from the bottom of the glass swirling around and into the flower.  Now that's imagination and creativity!  If this is just the beginning of my students hard work this year, I'm already ecstatic to see how I can help them blossom and develop their skills even further!