a faithful attempt: Big Puffy Fish

Another school year underway!

I have tons of photos of new projects- just need to find the time to start editing them all! The first couple weeks back is always such a crazy busy time as teachers and students all know!!

First up: Big Puffy Fish created by Grade 4/5 students. I have a new display mini-room attached to my art room, so wanted to fill it with a 3D project. I used large sheets of white paper from a big paper roll (the kind schools have to cover bulletin boards, etc) I pulled off a long sheet, and folded it in half. I did this for each student. They each ended up with a folded piece of paper about 24" wide or so. We looked at pictures of different types of fish, They could choose to do a realistic one or create a fantasy one. Then, on one side of their folded paper, they drew their fish- really big. Then, they traced over the lines with a black wax crayon. They then took this drawing, and held it up to a window, and traced the design onto the other side. So then we had a perfect two-sided fish.

They added first accent lines with oil pastels, then used tempera paint (in the puck/disc style) to paint the fish. One class we painted one side, then the second class the other side. Once each fish was dry, students did what I call a 'bubble cut' around their fish, meaning they left a 1" border of white paper around the edges. I stapled all around this, leaving a bit of space for stuffing. Students stuffed their fish using paper towels. Then I stapled them shut, punched a hole at the top, and the kids tied a long piece of yarn through the hole for hanging purposes.

Here's the first drawing stage with the black wax crayon...