Contour Lines Collage

People frequently ask, "Where do you come up with ideas for art projects for kids?" There isn't really one answer. Like many of us, I will see a blog or Pinterest post that appeals to me, or more often, triggers a thought for a "spin-off lesson." More and more, I find inspiration as I am driving and just looking around. Now that I am walking more for exercise, I find my thinking veering towards art ideas then, too. Even yesterday as my dentist was drilling for a filling and I wasn't enjoying it, my thoughts were re-directed towards the next art project as a means of escape!!

At any rate, Spring Break always seems to find me in the mood to experiment with some of these ideas that have been "percolating" for a while.

I found this idea on Pinterest. The original post doesn't seem to be available, but here is the link to the pin I saw (here). I liked the abstract shapes in this original post a LOT, but wanted to try the idea using a real object instead of the organic shapes.

First, I tore a piece of copier paper and glued half of it onto a black board (you could use regular black construction paper or cardstock instead.) Then I cut out a stem and leaves to collage onto the background. I used an old catalogue for my collage pieces, but again, construction paper would work fine.

The next step was to cut and glue the petals and center of a flower. I think I will encourage the kids to use one piece of white in the black area (as I did for the center of the flower) to help balance the white side of their background.

The final step is to draw the black lines contouring the colored shapes that are on the white part of the background. I used a black Sharpie for this.

My next teacher step will be to think of some other representative objects that would be good for this project. I think the objects should be interesting shapes (not too thick or clunky) with parts that would extend into the white area. Things like scissors, kitchen gadgets, maybe a sports car, etc. For younger kids something like the flower or even balloons might be better to keep the cutting manageable. Hmmmm. More to think about before I actually teach this:))