Have you ever expected toooo much out of your students??? I might have this time... lol... but they ended up doing a great job on these Ton Schulten Abstract Landscapes! We discussed his use of vertical lines in his landscapes and tried to have both vertical and horizontal lines in ours. These took a long time, it was not a quick painting! But everyone enjoyed each phase. I encouraged keeping houses either warm or cool colors, then the opposite for the land. Some followed my advise, others did not. Either way, they are true works of abstraction!
Beautiful works! Love the gradients and black line accents.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I love your blog! :)
DeleteThis looks like a pretty intense painting project. However, from what I see the students nailed it! I love all the different color values and the bold black outlines to emphasize certain parts of the landscape. I've taught a lesson on thus artist too, but I had my kids use glue on black paper to make an outline and then fill in the shapes with chalk pastels. http://artmuse67.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-lost-post-5th-grade-ton-schulten.html
ReplyDeleteYes! I have seen your lesson! I need to try it, it looks a bit calmer than this one and with great results... lol. It was intense, but I went for it. This group of 4th graders is very bright and creative, I knew they could do it. Thanks for commenting! I love your work! :)
DeleteThese are beautiful! Do you mind sharing your steps?
ReplyDeleteSure! The drawing part... I drew two houses with barns/garages. One in middle ground, and background. They are floating. Then students draw theirs. Next, draw a couple group of trees, and if they want a pond draw that as well. Then put in the land lines... at least 4 horizontal lines, probably under the houses and trees. If they want a path that looks like it is going back in space, start on the last land line, (horizon line), draw getting wider as closer. Throw in a couple vertical lines, not more than 3.
DeleteOnce all drawn, paint... I mixed all the values for the kids. They traveled to tables with colors they needed. I demonstrated painting the houses either warm or cool - not mixed. Too difficult to see them. Then the land needs to be the other. Sky can be anything, but he used a lot of value in the sky. I showed how to start at one section of the egg carton and stripe a section dark to light or light to dark.
I have to admit, this was tricky for my smart 4th graders. They did a great job in the end, but I coached them quite a bit. It was a lot to organize, but they were great at being committed to finishing them. Once all painted in, a little black India ink to bring out the details. I hope this helps!!! Please let me know if you have more questions!
Wow! it does sound intense. They are just beautiful though, well worth the effort! I can't imagine doing the value mixing for them ahead (and keeping this organized throughout all of my daily classes coming and going) I recently did some landscapes with 3rd graders where they mixed all different values of green and used them below the horizon line. Then, used yellow and red combined for the sky. It was hard so I can only imagine how yours was. But I might try mixing values for them sometime. I certainly would make them look better.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was a a lot, but I just poured the paint in the egg cartons and let them mix the values together, then if the needed more variety, I would add a bit more to make lighter or darker. A labor of love, I do love them!
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