Art at Home for the Week of May 4

Welcome back!  This week's theme is art inspired by Native People of North America!  Scroll down to find the lesson for your grade level.  And don't forget, if you'd like, you can email me a photo of your artwork.  I'd love to see what you've created, and I'll even add it to our online art gallery.  Have Fun!


Pattern Blanket Designs inspired by Navajo Blankets

For Grades K and 1

The Navajo Nation is spread across the states of Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.
The Navajo Nation is the largest tribe of Native American people, with almost three
hundred thousand members. 

The Navajo people are famous for their textiles.  A textile is something made
by weaving, or made from cloth. A blanket is an example of a textile.

You will be creating a drawing of lines and patterns, in the style of a Navajo blanket.  

Watch this video before you start, Ms. Goldman walks you through the project!

Ms. Goldman's Art Video

Materials:

Long piece of paper

Pencil

Markers or Crayons

Ruler or something straight

Optional: 

Hole Puncher

String or Yarn

Hold your paper the tall way.

Use your ruler to draw lines going down your paper.  Leave the space of two fingers
in between each line.

Go all the way down your paper like this, make it look like a ladder.

Now look at the examples of Navajo rugs and blankets, what types of shapes do
you see?  What types of lines do you see?  How about colors?

Example of a Navajo Blanket

Example of a Navajo Blanket

Fill each space of your drawing with different types of patterns using lines and shapes.

When you’ve filled all your spaces you might want to trace your lines with black
crayon or black marker.

Now add color to all your patterns.  Maybe each row will have totally different
colors or maybe each row will have similar colors as the rest.

Optional:

If you have a hole puncher, punch holes going across the top of your paper. 

Now punch holes going across the bottom of your paper. 

Tie string, yarn or pipe cleaners.  This is the fringe on your blanket or rug.

These are made cutting with paper, so yours may look different. 
If you want an extra challenge, you can try one with paper too!

These are made with paint, so yours may not look quite as bright. 
If you have paint at home, you can try this project with paint as well!

Colorful Moose Art
For Grades 2 and 3

This lesson is inspired by the color-filled artwork of contemporary Native American artist,
John Nieto. A contemporary artist is an artist who is working and creating art today or in
very recent years. John Nieto died in 2018.

You will be creating a moose drawing in the style of John Nieto.

Materials:
Black paper or other Dark paper (even cutting out your paper from a
brown paper bag is great!)
White crayon or colored pencil for drawing (use pencil if you don't have these)
Crayons, construction paper crayons are best if you have them
Colored paper, even a flat cereal box or some colorful cardboard would work
Tape or Glue

Steps:
Observe these paintings by John Nieto. Do you recognize the animals?
What colors do you see in each? How many colors do you see in each animal?

Next, follow the steps below to draw your moose on your dark paper.  Don't worry if it's not the same as the example, just do your best!

Now, use your colors to make your moose as colorful as possible, just like John Nieto's 
paintings!





When it's fully colored in, you can draw a "bubble" around the moose, and cut it out. Glue or tape it down onto a colored piece of paper.








Shield Designs Inspired by tribes
of the Great Plains
For Grades 4 and 5

Shields are an important part of the culture of tribes of the Great Plains, who
are Native Peoples of North America.

There are two types of shields: medicine shields, used for protection from evil

spirits and war shields, used for protection from physical harm. For the warriors

of the Great Plains, such as the Sioux and Crow tribes, the shield became a

major part of daily life. They were made of buffalo hides, painted with designs

and pictures, and decorated with items such as feathers.

Below are examples of Great Plains shields. Notice the colors, patterns and

symbols. A symbol is a picture used to represent an object.

.

Materials:

Paper

Pencil

Two round objects to trace, one large and one slightly smaller

(a plate and a bowl work well)

Markers or crayons

Steps:

Using a pencil, trace the large circular object near the top of the paper.

Trace the smaller circular object in the middle of the large circle. This creates a border on the outside edge.

Inside the border, draw an interesting pattern. Think about combining types of lines such as zig-zags, wavy, straight, etc.

In the center of the shield, create a design of your choice! Use the symbol chart above for inspiration!

Add hanging feathers to your design by drawing lines from the bottom or the sides of your shield and oval shapes on the ends. Draw the veins of the leaves.

Finish your design with color!

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