Media & Techniques

How to Make a Chalk Pastel Gradient

Amanda Heyn | October 30, 2014

It seems like chalk pastel projects are either hit or miss. If you can teach students techniques for controlling them, they can achieve some beautiful results. On the other hand, if you can’t stop them from spreading, you end up with rainbow dust from one end of your room to another. Today I’m sharing one of my favorite things to do with chalk pastels- make a chalk pastel gradient! The technique is simple and can be used from second grade right on up through high school. It’s similar to my Perfect One Day Lesson in that you can complete it in one class period and in that it has an element of surprise that hooks kids from the very beginning. Watch how it’s done in the video!

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What kinds of projects do you do with chalk pastels?

Do you have any other tips to keep the spread of dust down while working on a project like this?

Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amanda Heyn

Amanda Heyn is AOE’s Director of Community Engagement and a former AOE Writer and elementary art educator. She enjoys creating relevant and engaging professional development just for art teachers.

How to Make a Chalk Pastel Gradient

Amanda Heyn

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