Our second project today was to create a new solar system.  We worked hard to learn the names and order of the planets in our solar system.  But, this is art, not science.  So we got creative. : )

We began with a wet-on-wet watercolor technique, using plastic wrap to create an interesting texture for our planets.  While these were drying, we went outside to apply a spray of white tempera paint for distant stars.  We then cut our our planets, applied shading with charcoal, glued in place and used gel and paint pens for details.  Whew!  The big art message here was to learn how to add shading to turn a 2d circle into a 3d sphere.  I also wanted them to understand that a single light source created the shadows they created and to place their planets accordingly.  This was a lot to take in, but they all got it.  And had a good time!  Love the results!!

Thank you to Denise Logan for the inspiration!