Grade 4: Radial Designs

We had a ton of fun and success creating radial designs in fourth grade with a touch of repousse added to the centers. My 4th graders never cease to amaze me with their positive attitudes, creative ideas and skills. 

I saw this project on pinterest via Laura over at Painted Paper blog. I modified the lesson slightly choosing to use white paper as our starting point. I had my students create their designs in quadrants. They outlined their designs in Sharpie and then used a mix of crayons and colored pencils to achieve the vibrant colors. We used copper tooling foil for the repousse centers. Enjoy these beauties, I sure am!

4th grade Repousse

What do the 4th graders and I share in common? We love these functional art repousse boxes that we are making!
After discussing metal work and copper tooling, I hope students appreciate the skill it takes to make intricate designs in metals of all thicknesses.

After creating a sketch of a sun or flower, students followed step to create a nice repousse design. Day 2 was to paint the boxes with metallic paints

Eva N.

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We discussed the outside of the box and how to make it more ornate. One 4th grader suggested utilizing the scrap metal to add metal designs in areas on the sides of the boxes. What do you think I said? YES! Let's go for it! So students have the option of utilizing the scrap metal if they choose.

Here are a few works in progress

Adding india ink to make the copper look antiqued

Getting set to paint the box