This fall my second graders were "art investigators". I brought in a variety of autumn leaves and encouraged my students to look closely at what they saw. Looking Closely is one of our ways of "thinking like an artist" that we talk about often in my classroom.
Students looked at the lines, shapes, and colors that they noticed in these leaves. I wanted them to commit to their mark making without fussing over erasing and second-guessing themselves, so they drew black Sharpie directly onto their watercolor paper. This was a challenge for most of them, as students at this age tend to want to draw "perfectly" but most are not skilled enough yet. I want my students to remain open to "happy accidents" and allow the art materials to have a voice in the artistic process, and this is one way that I encourage them to allow for imperfections which often enhance an artwork.
The final step was painting in their leaves with watercolors, attempting to make them as naturalistic as they could. I love these little paintings!
No comments:
Post a Comment