Engage and Inspire: Projects for Early Finishers
You’re deep into an art project, thrilled to see everyone engaged and working diligently. You’re excited to see the final results, but suddenly, Tommy raises his hand and asks, “Can I be done now?” You carefully examine his artwork, looking for any areas that might need improvement to give some advice, but there’s nothing. Meanwhile, the rest of the class still needs the entire week to finish. What do you do with Tommy?
“Draw! Create more art!”—these suggestions may sound great to me, an artist who loves to create, but to Tommy, not so much. It’s just not going to happen. Instead, he’ll likely disrupt Sally from her work, and before you know it, several students are off task. So what’s the solution? What should early finishers do?
Every art educator has their unique approach to managing early finishers in the classroom. Here’s what works for us: “Side Projects.”
2 Tips for Creating an Early Finisher Side Project
A Side Project is exactly what it sounds like—an art project that students can work on alongside their in-class projects. The Side project can be anything you want, but it needs to be both engaging and independent. Here’s why:
- Engaging: The Side Project should not feel like a chore to students. They need to be motivated to pull it out and start working on it. If a student finishes a project early, the Side Project will keep them engaged for the rest of the period while everyone else is still working on the current assignment.
- Independent: The Side Project should allow students to work independently so they won’t constantly ask for help. For instance, if the current in-class project is portraiture, you’ll likely be spending your time assisting students with developing the planes of the face and the correct proportions, and you won’t have time to answer questions about the Side Project, too. The Side Project should be something that students can work on independently without taking away time from the main project. In addition, this is the perfect assignment for those days that you need a substitute!
How it works:
We don’t start the Side Project immediately. Instead, we begin the school year by diving straight into the first project to help students understand the flow of the class. Once the class rhythm is established, we introduce the Side Project, with one Side Project assigned per semester.
The Side Project is a graded assignment, carrying about half the weight of a regular assignment. It is worked on throughout the semester and turned in at the end. When a student finishes a project early and gets approval from the teacher, they can work on their Side Project, which is kept in their portfolio for easy access. If students don’t get time to work on their Side Project during the semester, they can take it home to complete it by the finals.
We start by covering all the content for the Side Project, including art history, demonstrations, and practice, leading up to the actual start of the project. Once every student has begun their Side Project and understands the expectations, they put it away, and we move on to the regular classroom assignment/ project.
Here’s what we do in our classes:
ART 1: Beginning Art
Semester 1 Side Project: OP ART with Colored Pencils and Sharpies!
Why Op Art? Because it’s both impressive and cool! While it might seem daunting at first, once students grasp the techniques, they get hooked. They become fully engaged with the mesmerizing task of coloring bold gradients and tracing an endless variety of line widths.
How to Introduce Op Art:
We begin by presenting Op Art to our students through a captivating presentation of optical illusions by various artists and sharing key historical facts. Next, we teach our students how to blend three shades of colored pencils—light, medium, and dark of similar colors.
Once the students have mastered the colored pencil techniques, we demonstrate various methods for creating optical illusions. The students then practice making their own illusions and are encouraged to continue exploring on their own.
After all of our students have practiced Op Art, we show them how to create depth and value within their Op Art pieces using a three-color gradient with colored pencils.
For Colored Pencil Help Check out this Blog → Click Here
We then outline all the expectations, including the deadline and the expectation that this project is to be worked on the “side” of other projects. We then allocate a period for students to get started.
Students begin by sketching out their plan in their sketchbooks. Once their plan is approved, they can start working on their project. After they’ve begun, the project goes into their portfolios, to be worked on when they finish a primary project early or when there’s a substitute teacher.
Semester 2 Side Project: POP ART with Colored Pencils and Markers
For the second semester, we introduce our students to a new Side Project. This time, we choose something a bit more representational yet still engaging and intuitive: recreating a Pop Art poster.
We start by introducing the students to Pop Art, providing a brief history of the movement. Next, we have the students practice marker techniques while demonstrating alongside them. Following this, students practice using a grid by completing a grid worksheet.
Students then choose an image to reproduce, draw out a grid, and begin their drawing. Again, we only have the students start the project, after which it is put away until there is downtime in the class.
For our Art 1 Sketchbook Unit → Click Here
For our Art 1 Portfolio Unit → Click Here
ART 2: Advanced Art
In our school, students in Art 2 have already had a full year of Art with us (Art 1) and therefore have at least a basic understanding of, and experience with, the fundamentals. They are also more dedicated to the arts, because they are willingly taking it again! These facts better prepare them for this more advanced side project we call the “Text Portraits.”
Semester 1 Side Project: TEXT PORTRAITS in Pen
Text Portraits are a drawing project that requires students to use a word or phrase to build up realistic value, which develops into a portrait of a person or animal and it’s all done in pen!
We like to begin this unit with a worksheet assignment to “hook students.” The worksheet is a hidden image grid drawing assignment that is engaging while emphasizing the importance of drawing one square at a time accurately. After this practice, we then introduce the project with a slideshow presentation. The slideshow provides the project expectations as well as a variety of different student samples, creative ideas and suggestions.
Before choosing our portraits, we do a demo on how to create value using a pen and 1 word. We create a couple of value strips together using this method and a sphere for form. Together, we also create a lightly drawn grid on final paper, so it’s prepped and ready to go.
The final step is for students to choose their subject. For the purpose of my class, students can draw anyone, including a celebrity and/or an internet photo. But I do emphasize that if they ever want to potentially use their art work in the future in an art contest or on the AP Art and Design Test (for the Selected Works section) for example, they must use their own images, free from copyright infringement. So I always suggest they use their own photo by drawing a family member, friend, self-portrait or pet!
I like to give students 1 full class to start drawing their portrait one square at time, before setting these aside in their individual portfolios to work on during free time throughout the semester. Students know to finish the grid drawing, erase the grid and begin filling in the portrait with text value. They can now work completely independently on this side project.
ART 2 Semester 2: POINTILLISM in Pen
In the 2nd Semester of Art 2, we do Pointillism! Surprisingly, students LOVE this technique! It’s simple enough to understand and the results are so pleasing and successful!
To get started we do a slideshow introduction to the history of Pointillism with an emphasis on Seurat. Students take lecture notes in their sketchbooks.This slideshow presentation also includes a project introduction with expectations, and student examples.
Similarly to the Text Portrait Assignment, we draw grids lightly on final paper together so that it’s ready to go, and then we practice the technique through a live demo. Students fill out a Pointillism practice worksheet so they fully understand how to build up value using only dots.
After practice and prep, students choose their subjects and begin drawing with a grid. Once the drawing is complete, they can erase the grid lines and begin building up value using a pen of their choice. I recommend sharpies or felt tip pens. I give students a day or two to set up their art pieces before we set them aside in their individual portfolios and we continue to focus on the regular class project. Students will work on their Pointillism projects throughout the semester whenever they finish an assignment or project early, or when they have a sub.
For our Art 2 Sketchbook Unit → Click Here
For our Art 2 Portfolio Unit → Click Here
A Structured Art Class creates a smooth Art class!
Implementing a structured Side Project for early finishers can transform the dynamic of your art classroom. Not only does it keep students engaged and productive, but it also allows them to explore new artistic techniques and ideas independently. By encouraging creativity and self-guided learning, you foster a more enriching and supportive environment for all your students.
Thank you for reading! Happy teaching and happy creating!
For more on what we teach, check out our Art 1 Curriculum for High School