Fifth Grade Sports Sphere

In Fifth Grade, we finished taking the idea of value to the next level.  With our Cubist drawings, we began investigating the idea of a Value Scale and how artists use it to create light and dark areas within their artwork.  Within the Sports Sphere project, students were given the opportunity to create values in paint using Tints and Shades as well as using their values to create the illusion of a three dimensional object.

We first practiced combining the idea of a value scale to a sphere using charcoal.  The students enjoyed getting to use this tool, not only do you get pretty messy with charcoal the tool allows for an easier creation of values.  They enjoyed both of these things.

On the second day, we talked about Tints (adding white to make a color lighter) and Shades (adding black to make a color darker) and how they relate to the value scales.  We then created both a value scale and a sphere with values with paint.  The students did a great job with this step of the process!

For the final step of the project, the students selected a sports ball to create.  They placed their circle onto their final paper and created a design in the background.  Some chose to make an illustration and others created pretty amazing geometric designs.  The students then selected a color to paint their sphere with using Tints and Shades, I allowed them the opportunity to chose a color that might be different than what the ball is in real life.  We then used oil pastels to add the threads or patches onto the sports ball and then used colored pencils or crayons to fill in the background.