Category Archives: 2D Art

2D Art

Handmade Artist Books with Watercolor Pages

I’m so excited to share one of my all-time favorite art class projects: handmade artist books. I love using handmade artist books in my classes because they provide a way to practice techniques and address new concepts in my class throughout the year. They also are works of art in their own right, and I find that students take greater ownership of artist book assignments than they do with sketch book assignments. All in all, handmade artist books provide a great way to frame each of our art projects and to get greater engagement out of my students, and what teacher wouldn’t want that?

(Disclosure: This post uses affiliate links. See terms & conditions for more details.)

From the standpoint of a busy teacher who preps for five different classes, artist books also allow me to start the year with a little more wiggle room in terms of planning time. We start our books off by creating watercolor washes on all of the pages and that usually takes up three to four class periods right at the start of the semester. This allows me to have more time to prep and plan for our larger projects while students are painting. Students also enjoy this time as it allows them to ease into the year with a fun and low-pressure art activity.

In terms of teacher prep time for this project, it’s quite minimal. I cut the railroad board to size and then I show the students how to fold and rip 18 inch x 24 inch pieces of watercolor paper so that they get 10 sheets of 9 inch x 12 inch paper (they have to split their last large sheet with another student). I then show them how to create a watercolor wash on their paper and let them loose. The more challenging part comes when students need to prep their covers and complete their binding. Luckily for you, I’ve created a tutorial video that will walk them and you through this process, which I’ve included at the end of this post.

You do need some specific supplies to create these books but you can change up some of the materials to save money. For instance, instead of railroad board use old cereal boxes. You can also substitute high-end watercolor paper with a cheaper version or even drawing or construction paper. You can also skip the ribbon altogether or substitute it with a braided yarn. The standard supplies for this project are:

Book making supplies. Supplies to make artist books.

Check out the video below to learn how to bind the pages and finish off the covers to create your own handmade artist book.

2D Art, Downloads, Printables, Resources

Free Printable 2018 Coloring Calendar

2 Comments

I seem to be organizationally-challenged but in spite of that, or maybe because of that, I love to create resources that help me stay motivated and organized for the year. Since it’s the start of another year, why not start with, arguably, the most essential organizational resource, the calendar, and why not have some fun by making it a coloring calendar?

2018 Coloring Calendar Pages

I’ve created a printable 2018 calendar with decorative coloring borders  and each month can be printed to a standard 11 x 8.5 inch page. Each month also contains a to do list with checkable boxes to the side to help you set goals and accomplish tasks. In the classroom, I like to use these calendars to help students stay organized and give them something fun to do if they finish tasks early. I mean, who doesn’t love to color?

Coloring Calendar for 2018.
Each page features a checkable to do list at the side of the calendar.

Calendars are also a great way to get everyone in a class on the same page. It’s a good practice to go through the calendar with the class at the beginning of each month and mark down the due dates, special projects, and any other important information. Writing the information down helps to reinforce these key dates and helps students to be more organized. As a teacher, you may even want to print these out and write notes on key dates, or tasks on the to do list before you print them out for the students.

Of course, these calendars aren’t only for teachers and students. Anyone can use them! I’ve used calendars like these to help me keep track of fitness goals or to track habits. Whatever the purpose, these calendar pages are general enough that you can customize them to suit your needs.

Enjoy these free printable calendar pages. I hope to have more printable resources coming in the new year. If you’d like to stay up to date on my blog or stay aware of new printable resources, make sure to subscribe to the mailing list and check back soon for new articles, projects, and downloads.

Free printable calendar for 2018.
Keep organized and on task with these fun coloring calendar sheets.

Download the zipped folder with all of the months or preview each month’s .pdf file by clicking on the links below and then clicking the download option on the .pdf preview. Then you can print each page to a standard 11 x 8.5 sheet of paper. Enjoy!

2018 Coloring Calendar Zipped Folder

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave