Fun Facts About Koi
Koi originate from Japan
Female Koi are more social and playful than males
There are 50 different varieties of Koi.
Koi can live to be 100 years old or longer.
The age of a Koi is determined by the rings around their outer scales: one ring for every two years.
This month we worked quite a bit with oil pastels. Oil pastels are otherwise known as "Creamy crayons." They get their name from the oil content they contain instead of the wax/soy content of many crayons. This oil content allows the artist to seamlessly flow from one color to another in their artwork, producing a highly effective result in any art project! We learned how to draw and seamlessly colorize a Koi fish in April! We also created a beautiful pond in which the Koi could swim! We did two types of texturizing and drawing to create the background!
I love creating WITH my students! Many/most art teachers make one "sample piece" and tell the students how to accomplish each step. Most students learn best by watching each step. (Hence the success of YouTube tutorials!) So, I create a new project with every class that comes to me. The only drawback to making so many projects is that I end up with SO many at the end of the week! I usually pick one or two favorites I created for my portfolio. Still, I always feel sad when I throw the rest away! This time, I kept almost all of them and promised the students I would find a neat way to display them! Ta-dah! Below is a section of the door piece I created using most of the extra Koi fish I made that week! Fun stuff!