6th Grade Abstract Landscapes!

This lesson has become a staple for my 6th grade Core Art Class.  Landscape is a great subject, very broad subject.  Then choosing several artists with interesting, painterly techniques to inspire composition, approach to colors and mixing... you have a great lesson!

We look closely at Mandy Budan, a current Canadian Artist, and Vincent Van Gogh.  Students create smaller thumbnail sketches in their sketchbook, (4x6), and practice painting with both artists techniques.  Once they decide their own style, inspired by the two artists, we draw on a larger 16x14 paper.  Students are required to have foreground, middle ground and background.  Once drawn, sky and background are painted first, then middleground, followed by foreground. Each quarter, the students manage to create very different looking landscapes! No two are alike!

6th Grade - Fall Landscapes!

These Fall Landscapes were created on 150lb Jack Richeson Watercolor paper.  The students looked at a slideshow of many different fall themes.... harvest time, spooky sky's and Halloween.  They chose the kind of fall landscape they wanted to paint.

After drawing our ideas in our sketchbooks, I encouraged students to draw very little on the watercolor paper, but rather plan and paint the sky and ground first. They could always draw more later on top of the paint. This keeps them from painting the objects first, then struggling with the space around them. Since most objects were going to be painted as a silhouette, I  was not as concerned with details on objects.

I also encouraged the use of foreground, middleground and background and how to give a sense of space with near and far.

This lesson gives lots of room for creativity! Students who looked at the handouts of the slideshow did more and had more success. They did not copy necessarily, but took good ideas from several.  I plan to have even more handout options next time!

3rd Grade Spooky Castles with Oil Pastels

This is an all time favorite to teach! All students LOVE to create castles, they all end up looking unique! This is one version, I have on this blog another post with these castles color with chalk pastels.  I do love this version though... oil pastels is really my favorite!

These castles are painted directly with black tempera.  We started by drawing a line with pencil for a ground line, then a rectangle for the entry way. I demonstrate the whole painting, I ask for ideas, they are full of them! From there they get started and paint direct, each section of the building must touch the next. Lots of windows... anything they can think of to add!

I highly recommend the virtual tour of Warwick Castle in Warwick, England. My students LOVED the virtual tour so much, it was difficult to get them in their seats to paint!  

Virtual Tour of Warwick Castle