Negative Space Poppy Painting

Here's another poppy lesson for Remembrance Day. In Canada, Remembrance Day is a national day of commemoration, observed annually on November 11 to honor the men and women who have served and sacrificed in times of war, conflict, and peace.

I found this project on a fellow Canadian's art blog. She was one of the originals: Gail from That Artist Woman. 

Grade 7-9 students first taped off a sheet of watercolour paper, then painted in in shades of red. They added salt for texture. Let that dry.

Once dry, they sketched out a poppy design onto it. Then, using black acrylic paint, they painted all the negative space black. 

I love how delicate these are.

 

Remembrance Day Poppy Collages

In Canada, where I live, Remembrance Day is observed every year on November 11. It honors the more than 2 million Canadians who have served, and remembers those who died in the line of duty.

All schools hold meaningful assemblies each year and our school is no exception.

These collages will be put on display for our assembly.

I found the idea for this idea on Instagram on the account: @art_studio_arbuz. It's an art studio for children in Russia. Russian children's art is very advanced- I would love to learn from a Russian art teacher! I was immediately mesmerized by their gorgeous collages and love the very Eastern European look to them.

Grade 4-6 students painted (tempera) two sheets on construction paper. One was in shades or red and the other in shades of green. This took one period.  Once dry, they cut out stylized poppy shapes and glued three layers together. Then they cut out stems and leaves from the green paper and carefully decided their composition on black paper. These look STUNNING in the hallway. 

Some finished artwork:

 

Poppies Collage for Remembrance Day

This is a new poppy project I tried this year wiht my Grade 4-6 students. In all honesty, it was too easy for them, but we needed a quick project we could do in one period (80 minutes) and this fit the bill.

The only part that needed to be completed the class before was the students making the textured grey background paper.

I altered this project slightly from the one I saw on the fellow Canadian website 'That Artist Woman".

See her post with all the steps HERE.

We used really watered down grey tempera paint mixed with silver metallic paint. 

Water it down to a runny cream consistency. 

Cover with plastic wrap, make lots of wrinkles and let dry a few hours. 

When you peel of the plastic wrap, you get a really cool textured pattern.

Using painted green paper, students cut out long, thin, wobbly stems as well as jagged leaves. 

Glue those down.

Using red tissue paper, students cut out three different sized circles and 

layered them together and glued them down. 

Cut out black paper and glue in the center.

You can see the bouquet of poppies that we looked at beforehand, to get a good sense of what poppies look like in real life.

Grade 4-6 results!

 

Glue Line Chalk Pastel Poppies for Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is November 11th in Canada. Every year on this day, Canadians pause in a silent moment of remembrance for the people who have served, and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict and peace.

The red poppy, a native plant along much of the Western Front during the First World War, has become a powerful symbol of remembrance. It is the principal emblem of the Royal Canadian Legion, which distributes several million each year to be worn by Canadians on Remembrance Day.

The person who first introduced the poppy to Canada and the Commonwealth was Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae of Guelph, Ontario, a Canadian Medical Officer during the First World War. John McCrae penned the poem “In Flanders Fields” on a scrap of paper in May 1915 on the day following the death of a fellow soldier. Little did he know then that those 13 lines would become enshrined in the hearts and minds of all who would wear them. McCrae’s poem was published in Punch Magazine in December of that same year. Flanders Fields is a common English name of the World War I battlefields in Belgium and France. Sadly, McCrae died of pneumonia near the end of the war in France, aged 45.

In Flanders Fields


by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae


May 3, 1915




In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Each year my art classes create art to be showcased during our annual school Remembrance Day assembly. It is organized by our very talented Music teacher and features singing by the choir and guest speakers. 

The gorgeous poppies were created by my Grade 7-9 classes. 

I've taught this lesson previously, so see all the steps HERE.

This lesson was inspired by a Pinterest photo (no source given) found HERE.

We used glue lines instead of the black lines in the photo. I like to use only clear glue for my glue line projects. It dries totally transparent and really shiny. You can also use white glue but it dries more cloudy.

I have a bunch of random empty squeeze bottles that I pour the clear glue into. 

On 12x18" black construction paper, students 'drew' their poppies directly with the glue bottle. 

Some students drew it out in pencil first. This took one 80 minute period.

Add three horizontal lines to break up the background. Let dry overnight FLAT.

The glue goes on thick but, after it dries, it's pretty much flat.

The next class, students use chalk pastel to colour their picture. I demo for them how to shade with chalk using white and black. Many of my kids hate chalk because of how 'messy' and dry it is. Some hate the sound it makes, etc. So I tell kids they can wrap their finger with a tissue to blend out the chalk. 

I tell them to colour the background first but many do the poppies first, lol. It doesn't really matter. 

Most kids finished colouring in one 80 min period; a few others needed more time.

Have a piece of scrap paper beside you to clean off the chalk and to test colours.

The final step is to use a thin damp paintbrush to 'clean off' all the glue lines, to make it nice and shiny and black again, as dust accumulates on them. This is a super satisfying step!

These artworks were projected onto a screen during our annual Remembrance Day assembly.