Jim Dine-inspired hearts

                                        

Gina Colbert did this beautiful Jim Dine-inspired heart project in second grade last week. It would be great for lots of different grade levels! Here's how she did it:

Materials:

watercolor paper

watercolors (pans) & brushes

chalk pastels

black construction paper

scissors

glue sticks

Set Up:

pass out watercolor pans, brushes, and one of each kind of paper to each child. Also, put 1 color of chalk pastel on every childs' desk. (they probably have glue sticks and scissors in their desk but you may want to check with teacher to be sure. you'll need these at the end for the last step).

Art History: 

To give them a little background on pop artist Jim Dine, you can use this powerpoint (made by Cheryl Collins) here. 

Project: 

1. have the kids make any kind of design they want on the watercolor paper using the watercolors. Just make sure they get the whole paper covered with color.

2. while that dries, have them pick up their piece of chalk and draw a square on their black paper. When they finish their square, have them pass the chalk to their neighbor on the right and draw another square with their new piece of chalk. Do this as many times as you need to until the black paper is covered with colorful squares.

3. have kids fold the black paper in half, and then draw half a heart shape. Cut and unfold to reveal the beautiful checkered heart.

4. glue heart on watercolor paper, voila a Jim Dine masterpiece!