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| Student work, ages 9-13 |
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| Student work, ages 12-13 |
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| Teacher Sample |
My students ages 9-13 looked at the beautiful spring landscapes of English artists Jo Grundy. Our learning goals were many! We focused on building a landscape with special attention to atmospheric perspective, color mixing and scale. We considered how distant objects appear smaller, less detailed, and less saturated. We looked at various options for creating texture: we used gouache paint with many drawing implements and painting techniques to create these, including credit cards, Q-tops, tooth picks, dry bristle brushes and colored pencils. So much problem-solving and technique exploration went into these small format pieces. So inspiring to see kids work their way through complex tasks.
Materials:
-Gouche Paint I adore these from Sonnet or from this Russian brand, Portrait - they are thick, vibrant and opaque, in small containers for easy handling - pricey but worth it. For a more affordable option try Windsor and Newton.
-Mixed-media on A3 sized, mixed-media paper in soft tonal colors like these from Canson or Tiziano. The smooth surface allows for easy gouache applications, and the blue subtly shines through the paint, creating a moody and ethereal feel. The smoother the paper, the better the paint application, so don't get paper that's too 'toothy'. Paper size was cropped by some students depending on image.
-Taped borders results in a clean finish. We used washi tape, a Japanese paper tape that does not rip paper. My students love the various patterns and color of one like these and these.
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| Exploring color mixing and using various brushes for texture. |
First Step: a light layer of colors - softer, less saturated color in the distance, bolder up front.
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Next Step: adding texture and detail. Closer elements are more saturated in color, and more detailed.
Tip: Start at the top and back, moving down to the bottom and front. This prevents smudging and encourages overlapping.
Students slowly build up the landscape, adding increased texture, detail and saturation up close. We then add a house, a distant tree, clouds with shadows, birds in the sky, etc. to finish these beauties off.
Done!
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| Student work, ages 9-13 |