Monet
Intermediate students created watercolor landscapes inspired by Claude Monet and the style of Impressionism. We read Linnea in Monet’s Garden, a book about a young girl’s visit to Monet’s home in Giverny, where Monet created many paintings of a Japanese bridge crossing over a pond. We talked about the meaning of the style of Impressionism (recording what an artist’s impression of something is using dabs of color). We also imagined what we might see if we crossed over the bridge and looked into the water. Students began their landscape by drawing a bridge using oil pastel, which divided the space into foreground, mid-ground, and background. They applied a watercolor wash of cool colors to create the sky and water. Using small sponges, students added a variety of foliage to the background. Paintbrushes were used to add further detail.
The Final Product:
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This lesson linked to a study of pond habitat, including what animals and plants inhabit the pond area, how important it is to keep the water clean, and how everything in the pond depends on each other. To draw the fish, we looked at a real fish and identified its parts. We identified basic shapes and drew a fish using oil pastel and watercolor. We also discussed the insects that live around a pond, specifically mosquitoes, dragonflies that eat mosquitoes, and water bugs which turtles and fish eat. We looked at models and illustrations of insects to identify the parts of an insect (head, thorax, abdomen, antennae, and 6 legs). Students used oil pastel and watercolor to create the insects.
Links to Other Art Work:
School Garden | Arts in Action 2009 | Pirates of Carl Sandburg | Constructions | Arts in Action (2008) | Winter Tree Prints | Giraffe Mosaic
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