Drawing Inauguration Day

In school this week, my art classes (grades 1-6) are making wonderful drawings of our newly inaugurated President, Barack Obama, and are showing some of the important work our country will undertake under his leadership. The students are including famous quotes by President Obama in their drawings.

You may also want to do some drawings that remind you of our historic Presidential Inauguration Day. Some things you could include are the American flag, the White House, the Obama family, the world globe and people of all colors celebrating.

We used Art Stix and colored pencils to make our drawings, but you could use colored markers, crayons or oil pastels too. Your drawing will be a great reminder of a special day in American history.

101 ideas in the Idea Bank

"What should I draw"? In my school Art Studio, I often see kids who need help thinking of something to draw. I created a classroom Idea Bank to help kids find inspiring subject matter for their art. 

Similarly, I've created an Idea Bank on this blog, filled with lots of fun subjects kids can use to begin a drawing - in fact, there are 101 different ideas to choose from. Each time you click on the idea button, you'll see a new idea pop up. Choose the idea you like best, and make a drawing with lots of beautiful colors and details. 

Draw big, and fill the space on your paper. You can draw with any tools you like - crayons, oil pastels, colored pencils, markers... Try to keep all your drawings in a sketch book so they won't get lost. More about sketch books later.

Keep drawing, and do try this at home!

Do try this at home!

As an Elementary art teacher in an independent school for seven years, and a working artist, I'm very excited about the opportunity to share my ideas about creating art with simple materials. The main idea is that great art depends on imagination...it's not about fancy or expensive materials. I bet you never thought a little tin foil and tape could be used to make action figures. By working on some of my art projects, I hope children and parents can see how easy it is to have fun making wonderful art. These projects offer great opportunities to spend time together as a family.