Homecoming Watercolor Paintings

As I wrote in last year’s Homecoming post,  I like to teach my elementary students how to draw our school Wildcat logo during Homecoming week.  We are a K-12 school all in one building and the younger students get very excited to participate in Homecoming in anyway they can, just like the “big kids.”  I’m still having fun coming up with ways to use this lovely little graphic. This new project was a quick and satisfying one and the students were very proud of their work! 

This year, after my 4th graders learned how to draw the Wildcat logo, we drew a larger one (on 12” x 18” heavy paper.)  They cut it out and using pieces of rolled masking tape, put it back together on top of a piece of watercolor paper 
(also 12” x 18”).

We then got out our watercolors and I demonstrated how to loosely brushstroke around the shapes in a rough crosshatch, blending colors as needed. This was a great way to practice control of our watercolor paint and handling the paintbrush.  Students were given the option of using our school colors or any other color combination that appealed to them. 

One thing I needed to remind students was that they should paint right up to and over the edge of the paper logo pieces that were taped down.  If they didn’t, the shape would not show up well.

When finished, students carefully removed the taped paper pieces and noticed how bright white their logo showed up against the paint.  We hung these in the hallway to show our school spirit. Very cool!  

Happy Homecoming!!