2nd Grade Art Show

We covered a wide range of topics in art for 2nd grade...
Self portraits:  We started the year off with drawing a self portrait.  Proper placement of facial features were discussed, as well as drawing from observation (students looked in a mirror to guide them).
Warm leaves, cool background:  After studying the color wheel, students learned the difference between warm and cool colors.  A composition of leaves were sketched, and watercolor were used to paint in the leaves and background.
Snowmen:  Students looked at art throughout history that depicted different points of view.  We talked about the difference between a bird's eye view and a worm's eye view.  Students had to pretend they were on the ground and looking up at the snowman and draw what they would see.  Oil pastels were used to color them in, and paper snowflakes were cut and guled for the finishing touches.
Britto hearts:  After viewing some of the artwork by pop artist Romero Britto, students had to create hearts (for Valentine's Day).  Their heart compositon was inspired by Britto's work which was always bright, colorful, and full of patterns. 
Found objects portrait:  Students learned about an Italian painter named Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who created portriats from various objects.  After looking at some examples of his work along with other famous portraits painted in history, students had to arrange found objects from around the house or outside to create a portrait of their own.
Fingerprint art:  Students looked at examples of art from well known children's author/illustrator Ed Emberley.  They then had to create their own version of the fingerprint art, using a marker to create a finger print, and adding details in black ink.