Bit-O-Bio, A Bit of a Biography

I'm so excited to introduce my newest adventure.  I'm calling it Bit-O-Bio.  This is going to be my new 'Moster Medium' or '#ProcessPigs'... This year I'm concentrating on Biographies of Artist.  What do I mean by all that... Let me share. 

Several years ago I gave a presentation at the AOE (The Art of Education) online conference on Monster Mediums in my classroom.  Feel free to view it below but basically, I wanted my students to know that the word medium means "materials used in an artwork".  I would introduce them to a 'monster' hanging on the wall every week. Then the kids would guess the medium of the monster and because this was our daily warm up, every student was able to use the word medium in their normal vocabulary by the end of the year. 

I did the same thing with Process this last year.  Check out any of the many videos of #ProcessPigs that I created. Students K-5 were able to talk about the 'process' of their own artwork in a sophisticated way by the end of this year because it was part of our daily 'cool down' in art class. 

This next year I'm tackling Art History... As you might have caught in the video above, this was part of my long-term goal.  If you have been watching my Instagram account, you know that I'm working on these paintings of Artist.  They are my own style and I'm loving ever minute!  I plan to create a video for each artist.  These videos are going to be 2 to 4 minutes long giving some highlights of the artist life.  I will be hanging the artist image in my classroom and each week as the students come in, I will have the video play at the start of class. As a wrap-up at the end of class, I will quiz students about what they have learned.  

I have just completed my first Bit-O-Bio, A Bit of a Biography.  Of course, I had to do it on Bob Ross... anyone who knows me, knows I love this dude!  In the past, I have been asked if I would sell my Monster Mediums or #ProcessPigs... I would love to, but I would have to quit teaching to make the beautiful works of art.  This time, I have made my images and videos digital so I can share them with anyone else who would like to implement a little more art history into their classroom.  I will be adding new artist throughout the summer.  I am selling them on TpT (Teachers pay Teachers).  This is what you will get if you buy a Bit-O-Bio.

I have made a video introducing the artist. This is a short 2-4 minute video with kid-friendly language. It highlights some 'kid-interesting' facts. I draw the story in the recording so it kind of shows drawing process as well.  

I took a picture of the key images and formulated some review questions.  My plan is to show the image to my kiddos so that they have a visual prompt as well as a verbal question. I will give these as students are lining up, or maybe for a brain break.  I plan to also have these posted outside my room for teachers to use as they line up to come into the classroom. 

The images are what have been feeding my creativity this summer. I love the fact that I have been able to think about these great Artist, research them, and create a simple explanation to share with my students.  The process of these paintings has been so much fun because I'm learning how to use photoshop yet I am still being true to my hand skills with watercolor and drawing.  I also feel that I'm being true to my 'style' of drawing.  I compare these artworks to ones I did even in high school and I see lots of similarities. 

So, check it out!  I hope you can use them, and if not, I'm having a blast getting ready for my student this fall!