Winter Landscape Art!

This was such a fun and simple art project! I was in a pickle...last Friday I was told that I needed to have my students submit winter artwork this Thursday to decorate the auditorium (our winter performance is next week). We were asked to create artwork that didn't have to do with Christmas, but had a winter feel to it. Since my mind wasn't in a creative art mode, I scoured the web and found this great project via Laura over at Painted Paper.

Here's what you'll need:

• 12x8 white paper
• Assortment of tempera paint
• Scrap paper (brown, white, and black)
• Glue
• 14x9 black or white paper (used for the "frame")

You'll need a couple days to work on the project. The first day was solely devoted to painting the background and allowing it to dry.

I used dark purple, dark blue, and white paint. In order to make different shades of blue and purple my students added white paint to create different tints.

I love how every work of art is unique! Some students chose to create harsh colors and lines, whereas, others blended the lines, using softer colors.

They learned what "tint" meant and how they can create many different shades just by adding white paint.

Tear art! Using white construction paper, students tore a horizontal piece for the blanket of snow on the ground. Then they tore out trees/branches with brown or black construction paper. After that, they added snow to the tree branches.

I even had some creative kiddos create snowmen on their winter landscape scene. Love it! I decided to frame their artwork with a larger piece of black or white construction paper (I was going to only use black, but ran out, so I let my students choose). I like how the "frame" finishes it up nicely.

 

A lot of times art is thrown on the back burner, due to all the other academic areas that must get covered within the year. As I roamed around my room and saw how involved and how much my students enjoyed creating their masterpieces, it made me reflect on how I definitely have to try harder to incorporate time for them to be creative into the year.