31 Expressive Art Projects for Teens

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Art projects for teens can be assigned inside and outside of art class. They can help students dissect their feelings and decompress their emotions, or you might use an art project as a tie-in to science experiments or math concepts. The world of art was designed to cross boundaries and encourage expression and experimentation. Investigate ways the power of creation can be added to your lesson plan with minimal effort. 

Create calm with therapeutic high school art ideas

Art projects for high schoolers can help build self-reflection and empathy, as they create an outlet to process personal experiences and encourage a growth mindset. By engaging in reflective artmaking, teens learn to understand themselves better and develop compassion for others. Sharing their artwork in a gallery walk or class discussion can further strengthen connections and spark conversations in the classroom community.

• Illustrate Poetry: Write a poem about emotions and create an illustration around it, weaving the words into the artwork.
• Release Stress with Splatter Art: Load a brush with paint in colors that reflect strong feelings and fling it onto the canvas, Pollock-style, for a fun and cathartic release.
• Design Affirmation Vision Boards: Craft posters or paintings with positive messages in the style of a vision board, either for personal encouragement or to uplift classmates.
• Engage in Colorful Emotional Map Abstracts: Map out emotions from the day, noting moments that lifted spirits or presented challenges. 

Make mixed media animal constellations

Projected Time: One week
Skills: Painting, sketching
Additional Materials: Watercolor paper, watercolor paint supplies, masking fluid, black acrylic paint, white acrylic paint, sponge

Examining the stars shows students just how small they are in the vast universe. This simple act can become a mindful practice, helping them pause and reflect while creating art. Blend pigments and principles when you have students use a stencil or invent their own animal-inspired constellations with paints and any other materials you want to add. 

Mixed Media Animal Constellations, Winter Art Project, Middle/High School
By The Cozy Art Teacher
Grades: 6th-12th

Using an animal stencil, teens create a watercolor design that connects art with space. This project is designed to take one week and includes 30 pages plus instructions. 

Learn through lines and drawing concepts

Planning, organizing, and perseverance all connect closely to art, science, math, and ELA concepts. Drawing provides students with a meaningful way to translate ideas onto paper, and teachers can align drawing concepts with the National Core Arts Standards, integrating creative skill-building with personal expression and academic objectives.

• Draw Waves of Emotion: Channel the energy of the ocean by painting waves that visually represent current emotions.
• Draft an Explosive Self-Portrait: Use bold, dynamic colors to create a self-portrait that expresses your explosive personality.
• Render a Blind Drawing: Close your eyes and let your hand guide the drawing freely.
• Depict Visual Diary Pages: Instead of writing a traditional journal, create a visual journal to capture daily feelings and experiences.
• Pencil in Leaf Art: Trace the shape of a leaf, and use the shape to guide an abstract geometric drawing. 

Explore negative space with skeleton art

Projected Time: One week
Skills: Sketching, positive and negative space, painting
Additional Materials: Watercolor paper, watercolor paint supplies, oil pastels, art pens, collage supplies

Encourage technique exploration while harnessing spooky energy by designing a negative space skeleton of a human, animal, or even a mythological creature. Perfect for Halloween, it teaches students about the fundamentals of positive and negative space. 

Negative Space Skeleton Art Lesson: Middle School Art High School Art Project
By Inside Out Art Teacher
Grades: 5th-12th

This resource comes with video tutorials, step-by-step instructions, and worksheets. It can also be used virtually with your class or incorporated into your sub plans. 

Spark student engagement with interactive art

Hands-on craft projects give students a FUN-damental brain break and can easily weave into guided circle activities. You can also modify the craft to fit what they are learning in math, science, and SEL lessons. 

• Compose Emotional Origami: Use colorful paper to fold shapes that express different emotions.
• Invent Nature Mobiles: Collect natural objects (flowers, leaves, sticks, pinecones) on a walk and craft them into hanging mobiles with twine. Use the power of physics and motion to make it move. 
• Assemble Pressed Flower Art: Press flowers from a nature walk and create expressive collages that can work in an ELA lesson on poetry. 
• Design Texture Boards: Mix materials and surfaces to explore tactile sensations in art.

Sculpt art projects for teens

Sometimes the best way to express yourself is to get hands-on with clay and other materials. Building sculptures can be both creative and therapeutic. Many projects are simple enough for a quick break or can be expanded into a larger self-exploration project for teens.

• Render a Fractured Self: Break a premade mask and piece it back together to show how even broken things can be beautiful.
• Simulate Balance with Sculpture: Create a sculpture that reflects the challenges of balance in life. It can be a metaphor for life or art techniques.
• Design Armor: Make a wearable art piece—mask, bust, or chest plate—that expresses different personality traits. 
• Form Drip Sculptures: Slowly drip wax or another medium to build an abstract and possibly creepy sculpture.

Create sweet sculptures

Projected Time: 1-2 class periods
Skills: Sculpting, painting, sketching, brush techniques
Additional Materials: White paper, cardboard, tinfoil, plaster wrap, tempera paint, craft supplies, scissors, tape

Sculptures aren’t limited to wax or clay; students can use common kitchen materials to create art that looks delicious enough to eat. Three-dimensional food projects are fun and can easily tie into health or culinary lessons.

3D Cake Sculpture Art Project
By The Crafty Teacher-Stephanie
Grades: 5th-12th

Turn this 11-page Google Slides deck into a 3D cake masterpiece. Teachers receive step-by-step instructions with full-color photos to guide every stage of the project.

Add color to creative art projects for teens

Whether your medium of choice is tempera, watercolor, or acrylic, students develop fine motor skills and gain confidence in their artistic abilities. Painting lets teens express themselves creatively, while also improving focus and encouraging problem-solving.

• Connect with Music: Translate the emotions of a favorite song onto the canvas through color and movement.
• Take Pop Culture Under Water: Use an underwater theme to depict a famous person or icon with bold colors.
• Explore Perspective: Draft a cityscape from a unique viewpoint, such as the top of a building or a worm’s-eye view. 
• Paint Your Name: Use repeated painted letters of your name to create a unique landscape or portrait. Alternatively, use the letters of the school’s name to create an image of the school building or campus. 

Splash a stunning water landscape

Projected Time: Three weeks
Skills: Painting techniques, sketching, watercolor, landscape techniques
Additional Materials: Watercolor paper, watercolor paints, brushes, sketchbook, cups, salt

Landscapes have the power to evoke emotion and offer viewers a fresh perspective of the city or countryside. They also give students time and encouragement to refine their painting techniques and master color theory. An original water landscape can work as a high school project for beginners or provide students with technique guidance for junior high art projects. 

Watercolor Landscape Painting Art Project Middle High School Art Projects Lesson
By Look Between the Lines
Grades: 9th-12th

The 52-page Microsoft PowerPoint includes the rubric, project info, supplies, and resources. It also breaks down artist techniques for watercolor and landscape painting. 

Simple High School Art Project Ideas

Art projects for teens don’t always require dozens of supplies and weeks of planning. Simple art projects can be completed right in the classroom with supplies you typically have in your cupboards. 

• Design Emoji Bracelets: String pony beads together and shape them with fun emojis. 
• Draft a Personal Flag: Use bold colors and geometric designs to create a unique personal flag.
• Create Collage Leaf Pattern Art: Paint with leaves to make a textured fall scene.
• Scratch Your Way to Creation: Paint a canvas black, then scratch out a picture with a knife.
• Brush Up on Your Painting Skills: Plan an image using different brush strokes, sizes, and directions to practice technique.

Paint playing card designs

Projected Time: One week
Skills: Painting techniques, illustration, color, color theory, balance
Additional Materials: Watercolor paper, permanent markers, watercolor pencils, pencils, erasers, lightbox

Sometimes it just takes a bit of out-of-the-box thinking to get students excited about high school art projects. Creating unique playing cards for different types of board and card games lets them practice painting techniques while exploring color theory and balance. Use them to play an existing game, or have students invent their own games with their new cards.

Playing Card Designs Middle or High School Art Project: Unity & Balance Lesson
By A Space to Create Art
Grades: 7th-12th

This one-week project includes 40 pages and video demonstrations, focusing on unity and balance. In addition to learning the history of playing cards, students design their own custom set from scratch.

Bring art projects for teens to life with TPT

Art projects give teens a chance to express their desires, emotions, and individuality. They can also provide a sense of calm and personal reflection. Whatever the reason for creating, make every brushstroke engaging with high school art resources from TPT. Your class will stay fresh, and your students will thank you for it.