NWLSD Technology Links
Art Institute of Chicago A world-class collection (and website), this museum's online collection includes Geogres Seurat's 1884 masterpiece, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. To view more astounding pieces, click on the Collection tab. Browse artists by last name or by themes. Works are also organized by topics such as architecture and design, European painting and sculpture, Indian art of the Americas, Photography, and textiles. One unique exhibit is called Cleopatra: A Multimedia Guide to the Ancient World, a review of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art. In addition, the education section offers lesson plans and an opportunity to borrow materials.
Art Junction Great resources for art teachers including a forum where you can discuss ideas with teachers from around the world. There is a portal for kids to enter also, packed with creative projects.
ArtsEdge The National Arts and Education Network — supports the placement of the arts at the center of the curriculum and advocates creative use of technology to enhance the K-12 educational experience. ARTSEDGE empowers educators to teach in, through, and about the arts by providing the tools to develop interdisciplinary curricula that fully integrate the arts with other academic subjects. ARTSEDGE offers free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, as well as professional development resources, student materials, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment.
My Oats Design awesome kaleidoscopic images. You'll need to create a free account so your work can be saved.
Awesome ClipArt for Educators Free coloring pages, clip art for websites, worksheets, and fonts.
Color Matters Also mentioned on the Science resource page, this site explores color from all angles, such as whether animals see color and how color can affect your emotions.
Exposure: A Beginners' Guide to Photography Take a quick course in photography, learn a few tips on how to jazz up your photos, or use the Sim-Cam to learn how exposure and depth of field work.
Florence Art Guide Take your students on an amazing virtual field trip. Click the interactive map of one of Italy's most famous cities and explore the Uffizi Gallery, the Strozzi Palace, and Piazzale Michelangelo. Students will learn that the remarkable Duomo took six centuries to build. The Pitti Palace contains eight different museum collections filled with work by artists who made Florence famous. In addition, read about the Renaissance, the Florentine Republic, and the Dominican Order.
Inside Art A game which explores a painting from the inside out. You 'escape' from the painting after answering ' Who? / What? / Where? / How? ' questions.
Metropolitan Museum of Art's Explore and Learn Includes art games like "What is it?", activities, interviews, stories, art in the classroom, a FAQ about the museum, and more.
Making Oatmeal Box Pinhole Cameras Easy to understand, detailed instructions show you how to make a pinhole camera out of a common Quaker Oats oatmeal box.
The Pinhole Gallery This site's strength is its gallery section which displays the work of over 300 pinhole camera artists. You'll also find instructions on how to make a pinhole camera and a section on exposure guides.
The Rudiments of Western Wisdom Includes thousands of cartoons covering almost anything you'd like to know! Originally drawn over a period of 14 years for the Observer newspaper, you'll find information on animals, art, entertainment, music, science, sports and 16 other subjects.
A Lifetime of Color Lesson plans by grade level that involve interdisciplinary activities with a creative spin.
Deviant Art Free artwork sharing site contains hundreds of thousands of works of art. Click on categories to access works by medium, subject, and subtopic.
Drawz It
If you need a simple, online drawing application, consider Drawz It. This site is super easy and perfect for young students. In addition, you do not have to create accounts which is a huge benefit in the classroom.
Import pictures, add shapes or draw with the pencil. You can easily add text and choose from a selection of “rubber stamps.” When finished with a drawing, click share it. You will be given a link to the JPG image.
Queeky
Queeky is an advanced drawing application suitable for older students. Accounts are required and the basic membership level is free.
Numerous powerful tools are included for the budding artist to experiment with. Brushes, charcoals and much more allow for amazing drawing capabilities. Multiple layers are also possible and demonstrate the power of digital art. If you have older students, give Queeky a try.
MugTug SketchPad
So, what if Drawz It is too simple and Queeky is too complicated? Try MugTug SketchPad. MugTug has a beautiful user interface and just enough tools for the middle-years students. Almost every tool can be customized; for e3xample, you can set the diameter, hardness, flow and opacity of the brush tool.
NOTE: I had trouble using IE8 but it worked perfectly in Chrome.
Don’t forget to explore the tools at the top such as color, gradient and swatch. Your students will be creating masterpieces in no time. When drawings are complete, click the save icon and you will be presented with a PNG image.
Excellent Resources for Use on the Interactive Whiteboard in Art:
1. Aviary : http://www.aviary.com/ and also http://www.aviaryeducation.com/ An excellent free suite of tools for image editing – painting, vector and more. Also includes a sound editor thats worth investigating. There’s a regular version of Aviary, but now an educational version too.
2. Odosketch : http://sketch.odopod.com/
A very simple sketch package. Quite neat effect, a bit like using watercolors in a sketch book.
3. Sketchpad : http://mugtug.com/sketchpad/
Sketchpad is quite a fun paint package that works in your browser. All the basic tools you’d expect are here.
4. Google Art Project : http://www.googleartproject.com/
The Google Art Project is basically applying the Google Street View idea to the world’s art galleries. Visit some of the greatest galleries in the world and explore their paintings without leaving your classroom. Well worth a look.
An oldie but a goodie. Paint in the style of Jackson Pollock, but without the mess. Works great on an interactive whiteboard. Click to change colour.
6. Bomomo : http://bomomo.com/
Bomomo is bond to become a favorite. Each “brush” creates some very abstract effects as you move your mouse across the page.
One for the younger students – choose from a variety of crayons and felt-tip pens.
8. SumoPaint : http://www.sumopaint.com/
A very impressive, full-featured paint package. Lots of great features and it’s free. A paid version with extra features also available.
9. Moodstream : http://moodstream.gettyimages.com/
This is not a drawing program. Moodstream mixes images, movies and sounds to help the creative juices flow. Is hard to describe, but worth a look. Play with the sliders to suit your mood and see what turns up. Make sure your sound is on.
10. Graffiti Creator : http://graffiticreator.net/
This is a free, online flash application which allow you to design your own name or logotype in graffiti-style. TGC comes with several fonts from throwups to bubble letters to wildstyles. The program also has an array of different tools that will help you further enhance your design. Great for designing fun titles for presentations too.
Dreezle: A simple, java-based paint application.
Sketch : The brush tool gives a really realistic effect and you can alter lots of different variables if you want – or just paint away!
Crayola Digi-Colour: Choose from a variety of Crayola products including crayons, pencils and stamps. If you want to do something more off-line then there are coloring pages to print out as well. The Crayola site also has a lot of information for teachers including lesson plans here.
Bomomo : I love this. It’s brilliant for making abstract drawings. Some of the pens are really fun. Quite hypnotic to watch
Imagination Cubed : This has been around a while, but it’s still really fun. You can even collaborate with friends on a joint drawing.
Splashup : An online paint package very similar to Sumo Paint. ( There’s also a Lite version too for netbooks and less powerful computers)
Mondrimat : Create blocks of colour in the style of Piet Mondrian.
This is Sand : Another odd, but very hypnotic application. Make pictures by piling up sand. Fun.
