Glue Line Chalk Pastel Sunflowers

Grade 6 students finally finished their sunflowers last week. This is a fun and relatively easy project that all students can find success with. I find most 'glue lines on black paper' projects are great for all levels and abilities of students. Chalk pastels are very forgiving and easy to work with, so I tend to start out with these types of projects at the beginning of the year to help build my students' confidence in Art.

I out some real and fake sunflowers on display for students to look at. I wanted them to really see what an actual sunflower really looks like, as opposed to what they think a sunflower looks like (ie: a circle with triangles all the way around). We looked at the various sunflower paintings created by Van Gogh and discussed what makes them unique. We discussed his color sense and how his 'trademark' colors of blues and yellows were inspired by his time living in Provence.

Using a white or light colored pencil, students drew their sunflower on large black paper. I encouraged them to draw large and fill the page, even going off the page.

my sample drawing

     

Then, using Elmers clear glue (my favorite type of glue for these projects as it dries black and shiny), slowly trace all over the pencil lines. You can also use regular white glue.

       

Let these dry on a flat surface overnight. 

The glue will end up drying flat, not really a raised line like you'll get with the thicker white glue.

Then color the sunflowers using chalk pastels. I demonstrated to the kids how to use white, as well as darker shades of oranges and browns, to create shading and more realistic looking petals.

Save at least 5 minutes time at the end of class for clean-up because chalk pastels are messssssyyyy!!