This was the final art project before winter break for our 7-13 year olds. To make it extra special, each student was given a 20x30 stretched canvas! They were pretty excited about this.
Inspiration for this fun project came from The Art Sherpa on youtube. The video lesson can be found here.
This was a teacher-led, step by step process. I demonstrated and explained each step in detail, and students then followed. What I love about this project, other than the festive aspect, is the many different acrylic painting techniques that are built into it.
Process:
We began by using foam rollers to spread an even tone of blue paint on our canvas. Then we used a tooth brush to splatter a starry night into our sky. Next, we used a dauber brush to swirl in light and airy powdery-looking snow. We dried the canvas before moving on to the next steps.
We painted in our tree trunk to a few inches from the top of our canvas using the edge of a flat brush. Using a # 4 or 6 round brush, we brushed in strokes of dark black-green branches, getting wider as we went down (leaving an inch of trunk). Then we did the same thing, but used a lighter green/blue color (by adding some blue and white to our already black and green brush), and leaving lots of dark under branches showing. This gives us that depth we are looking for. Using our flat brush again, we added a few horizontal strokes of shadow under the tree. We then used a tiny detail brush (number 0 or 1) to paint in some glimmering stars in the sky. With the same brush we added the large star on the top of the tree, and several smaller sparkling stars in the tree. Using a Q-tip we added red christmas tree balls. Once dry, we used our tiny detail brush to added white highlights to our red balls, as well as to all our stars. This makes everything instantly glimmer and glow.
These are fun and festive, and we exercised so many techniques and tools in the process. Best of all: since they are on stretched canvas, they can be instantly hung up on our walls at home to add to our festive holiday decor.
Happy holidays!
