Donuts for Days, 4th grade

My fourth graders are learning about form, value, and space in a two-dimensional artwork, so we chose a really fun topic to explore - donuts! We have looked often at the work of Wayne Thiebaud in my classroom for various projects - his paintings of bakery treats in repetition are so inspiring for art teachers and young artists. I also shared this student example found on Pinterest by Molly Curry.

How can we show space and form in our art? Value, placement, size, and overlapping. Here's what we did.

After a quick value scale activity, we started with a small black and white study of a single donut on an index card, focusing on value. Because we were using pens, we couldn't blend like we do with pencil so we used hatching techniques instead. Then we started a larger piece with rows of donuts, larger at the bottom, and smaller as they go up the page. Overlapping helps the illusion of space. This time, instead of black and white value, we made values of colors by changing our coloring pressure or by blending with our Crayola Twistables. I just bought some of these for the first time after trying them out at my friend Mollie's art room. They have a different feel than regular crayons - we are liking them so far!
We finished these off with some cast shadows, and finally some decorations on top with colored sharpies. For our reflection time, I am planning to surprise them with some real donuts to celebrate their good work!