Friday, November 21, 2014

Watercolor Abstract Landscapes by 1st Grade


 I apologize for the sideways pics...too much trouble to fix that! Anyways, aside from me being lazy, this was a lovely project. I needed these kids to understand landscapes in a really simple way so here it is!

Day One: Draw horizon line, overlapping mountains, perspective lines and details in pencil.





Day Two: Outline in "abstract color" with oil pastel and paint with watercolors. (You mean the sky doesn't HAVE to be blue...omg.)
















More finished paintings coming soon.

Cezanne Inspired Still-Life with Fruit

I've been teaching this lesson for the last couple of years and I keep changing it. This year I really focused on getting the kids to 'draw' the actual still-life, instead of letting them invent a still-life by tracing circles. I think drilling this early is going to make a big difference...

Day One:
We define "still-life" in our idea books. They draw a still-life on their own (pre-assessment) then I draw it with them. We compare our drawings and see who was using their "artist eyes" to really observe the objects.

Then I let them trace a plate to get a big circle...and then they draw the fruit and paint with warm colors.





Day Two:
We write about contrasting colors in our idea books then draw two columns...one side warm colors and the other cool colors. Then we draw a pattern for our "table" on our painting from day one. They get to paint with cool colors to show contrast. I like to talk about how "water is your friend" when you are painting....as a result, they create some value without really knowing it. So they're paintings have a little more depth. I have also started letting them use the smaller, nicer brushes...so those little brushstrokes look really nice.













Here is a really nice painting...not a still life at all...but hey, if the art teacher can't appreciate a good painting, then why are we here? 

Day Three: Adding shadows and highlights. 
I got the oil pastels out to bring some "definition" to these paintings...cause I guess I can't live without line. We added some extra pizazz/patterns/designs. Then I demonstrated how to do an "easy shadow" and a quick highlight...we outlined in black to bring some more boldness to our paintings. 




Overall...some of my favorite still-lifes yet.