Grade by Grade
B. Drama / D. Visual Arts · Drama and Visual Arts

Visual Arts: My Community Art Project and Portfolio

D1.1 D1.2 D1.4 D2.1 D2.4About 50 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can plan and make 2D and 3D art about my community or inspired by nature.
  • I can choose tools, materials and techniques (drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media) to solve a design challenge.
  • I can make a simple print and explain how printmaking works.
  • I can keep an art portfolio and write about my strengths, interests and areas for improvement.

Words to know

2D (two-dimensional)
Flat art with height and width, like a drawing, painting or print.
3D (three-dimensional)
Art with height, width and depth that you can walk around, like a sculpture.
design challenge
An art problem to solve, like "Make a sculpture that stands up by itself."
printmaking
Making a picture by pressing an inked or painted surface onto paper. You can make many copies.
mixed media
Art that uses more than one material, like paint plus paper collage plus yarn.
thumbnail sketch
A small, quick drawing to try out an idea before making the real art work.
portfolio
A folder or collection of your art work, with notes about what you learned.
artist statement
A few sentences that tell the viewer about your art: what it shows and the choices you made.

Remember from Grade 2

You made art about your community and nature, planned your art, solved design challenges with recycled materials, and kept a portfolio.

This year you will use everything from this unit: a variety of lines, warm and cool colours, values, texture, three grounds and the principle of variety. You will also try printmaking!

Artists in your community

Look around your community. Who are the people? What are the places? What happens there in each season?

  • the corner store, the library, the arena, the mosque, church, temple or synagogue, the farmers' market
  • the people: crossing guards, bus drivers, neighbours, elders
  • nature: the park, the river, the maple trees, the birds at the feeder

Artists like Maud Lewis, from Nova Scotia, painted cheerful pictures of the people, animals and places around her home: oxen pulling sleds, cats, boats and flowers. She even painted the walls and windows of her tiny house! Your community can be your inspiration too.

A busy outdoor farmers' market in autumn with pumpkins, flowers, apples and corn, and shoppers walking between the tents.
A farmers' market in the fall, full of colours, shapes and people. Places like this in your community can inspire your art. AI-generated image

The art-making process

Artists go through steps like these:

  1. Get inspired: look around, take photos, collect ideas.
  2. Plan: make thumbnail sketches. Decide on your theme or story and your composition.
  3. Choose materials and techniques: drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture or mixed media.
  4. Make: create your art work. Try things out!
  5. Check and revise: step back. What's working? What could be better?
  6. Share: show your art and talk about it.
  7. Reflect: what did you learn? What will you try next time?
1. Get inspired2. Plan3. Choose materials4. Make5. Check and revise6. Share7. Reflectnextidea
The art-making process. The dashed arrow shows that reflecting often gives you an idea for your next art work.
Technique2D or 3DExample for a community project
drawing2Da pencil-crayon drawing of your street in winter, with three grounds
painting2Da warm, cozy painting of your family's kitchen
printmaking2Da foam-tray print of the maple tree in your park, printed many times in different colours
sculpture3Da recycled-box model of your school or a clay model of a pet
mixed media2D or 3Da collage of the farmers' market with paint, magazine pictures and real seeds
Choosing a technique

Printmaking: one picture, many copies

In printmaking, you make a printing plate, put paint or ink on it, and press paper on top. Then you can print it again and again.

In a foam-tray print:

  • You press grooves into a clean foam tray with a pencil.
  • You roll or brush paint over the tray. The grooves don't get paint.
  • You press paper on top and peel it off. The grooves show up as lines the colour of your paper (white lines on white paper)!

Watch out: a print comes out backward (a mirror image). If you write your name on the plate, it will print backward! Write letters backward on the plate, or leave words off.

printing plate (foam tray)the printRRpress and peelThe print is a mirror image: everything comes out backward!
A letter R pressed into a foam plate prints backward. That's why you write letters backward on the plate, or leave words off.
Worked example

Example: Planning a narrative art work about my community

Leila wants to make narrative art (art that tells a story) about skating at the outdoor rink on a winter night.

  1. Story: my little brother skates for the first time, holding Dad's hand.
  2. Thumbnail sketches: three tiny sketches. Leila picks the one where her brother is big in the foreground.
  3. Composition and space: brother and Dad in the foreground; other skaters, smaller, in the middle ground; snowy trees and the lit-up arena in the background.
  4. Colour: cool dark-blue shades for the night sky; warm yellow lights; tints for the snow.
  5. Variety: skaters of different sizes, colourful hats and scarves with different patterns.
  6. Technique: painting for the sky, then crayon details on top (mixed media).

Leila's plan uses a story, a clear composition with three grounds, warm and cool colours, and variety. Planning first makes the art work stronger.

Worked example

Example: Solving a 3D design challenge

Design challenge: "Make a sculpture of a building in your community that stands up by itself and shows at least two textures."

  1. Choose: the public library.
  2. Materials: a cereal box (main building), a paper towel tube (a round tower), cardboard, glue, paint, and sandpaper and a scrap of fabric for texture.
  3. Problem: the tube keeps falling over. Solution: cut short slits at the bottom and fold them out like feet, then glue them down.
  4. Texture: sandpaper on the steps (rough, real texture) and drawn bricks on the walls (illusory texture).
  5. Check: It stands up by itself. It has two textures. Challenge solved!

The library sculpture stands up and has real and illusory texture. Trying, finding a problem, and revising is how artists solve design challenges.

Just for fun

Joke: Why are printmakers so popular?

They always make a great impression!

My art portfolio

A portfolio shows your growth as an artist. Put in finished art, thumbnail sketches and photos of 3D work. For some pieces, add an artist statement and a reflection:

  • What it shows: "This is a print of the maple tree in Riverside Park."
  • My choices: "I used thick and thin lines and printed it in warm fall colours."
  • Strength: "My lines are clear and show the bark texture."
  • Interest: "I love printmaking because I can make many copies."
  • Area for improvement: "Some prints were blotchy. Next time I'll use less paint."

You can also share your feelings about other people's art: "I like Maya's sculpture because...".

Hands-on activity

Community art project with a foam-tray print

You need: a clean, new foam tray or foam plate (not one that held raw meat), a pencil, washable paint, a brush or small roller, paper, and newspaper to cover the table.

  1. Get inspired: walk around your neighbourhood (with a grown-up) or look out the window. Choose one thing: a tree, your house, the store, a bird, a bike.
  2. Make two or three thumbnail sketches.
  3. Trim the edges of the tray so it is flat. Draw your picture on it, pressing firmly to make grooves. Add a variety of lines and textures.
  4. Brush a thin, even layer of paint over the tray.
  5. Lay paper on top. Rub all over with your hand. Peel it off slowly.
  6. Print it three times in different colours (warm, cool, a tint). Notice the variety!
  7. Put your best print in your portfolio with an artist statement and a reflection.

Safety: a grown-up should trim the tray with scissors. Use washable, non-toxic paint and wash hands after.

Your turn

1

What is the difference between 2D and 3D art?

2

What is a thumbnail sketch for?

3

Why does a print come out backward?

4

Name three art-making techniques.

5

What is a design challenge?

6

Name one place or person in your community you could make art about.

7

What goes in a portfolio?

More practice: warm-up

1

Is a clay sculpture 2D or 3D?

2

True or false: In printmaking, you can make many copies of one picture.

3

Art that uses paint, paper and yarn together is called ___.

4

Which artist from Nova Scotia painted cheerful scenes of her community and even painted her house?

5

In a foam-tray print, what colour do the grooves usually print?

More practice: on your own

1

Your foam-tray print came out blotchy with too much paint. What could you change next time?

2

Write an artist statement (2 sentences) for a picture of your street in winter.

3

Design challenge: your paper bridge sags in the middle. What could you try?

4

Name a strength, an interest and an area for improvement from your own art this year.

5

Why do artists check and revise before they finish?

Challenge

1

Plan a mixed-media art work about the seasons in your community. Name the materials and explain how you'll use variety and colour.

2

You want to print your name on a foam-tray print. What must you do, and why?

3

Look at two pieces in your portfolio from different times this year. How can comparing them help you?

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is 3D art?

2.

A small, quick drawing to try out an idea is a ___.

3.

In printmaking, the picture comes out ___.

4.

An art problem to solve, like making a sculpture stand up, is a ___.

5.

Which is an area for improvement?

6.

A collage made with paint, magazine pictures and real seeds is ___.

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 3 students create 2D and 3D art works that express feelings and ideas inspired by the environment or with the community as their subject (D1.1), use principles of design in composition for narrative or themed works (D1.2), use a variety of tools, materials and techniques (drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media) to solve design challenges (D1.4), express feelings and ideas about art (D2.1), and identify and document their strengths, interests and areas for improvement (D2.4).

How to help:

  • Keep a simple portfolio: a folder or box, plus phone photos of 3D work. Date each piece.
  • Ask about choices, not just results: "Why did you choose that colour?"
  • Visit a local gallery, a community mural, or a library art display.

Common difficulties:

  • Skipping planning. Thumbnail sketches take two minutes and save frustration.
  • Giving up when a 3D piece won't stand. Treat it as a design challenge: try, test, revise.
  • Mirror-image surprises in printmaking. Expect it and talk about it!

Safety: use a new, clean foam tray (never one that held raw meat). An adult should handle scissors or craft knives. Use washable, non-toxic paint.