Legendary Sunset Landscapes

Lesson Plan, Grades 5-8, Art History, Science, Sakura- Cray Pas, Drawing, Mixed Media

Description

Lesson Plan and Artwork by Mandy Howard

Nature and landscapes have inspired artists since the beginning of time. Landscapes allow viewers to see places they have never visited or be transported back to a place full of memories. Robin Mead is an artist who does just that by creating whimsical landscapes with bright, blended colors. Using Sakura® Cray-Pas® Oil Pastels, students will create their own stylized landscape inspired by the work of Robin Mead.

Objectives

Study the work of artist Robin Mead and identify concepts in her artwork such as the creation of landscapes, the use of warm and cool colors, blending colors, creating a sense of space, the inclusion of sun and water in each, and outlining areas of color with thick black lines.

Explain how artists document observations around them in their artwork.

Interpret nature, bringing personal ideas about nature to the artwork.

Use Sakura Cray-Pas Oil Pastels as students create their own Legendary Sunset Landscape.

Supplies Needed

Sakura® Cray-Pas® Junior Artist Oil Pastels, Set of 25
Sax® Sulphite Drawing Paper, 80lb, 9" X 12"
Craft Swabs with Wood Shaft, 6", Pack of 100
*Here are the supplies needed for this lesson plan for reference. Find a convenient carousel of shoppable products for this lesson below.

Standards

Standard #2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
Standard #7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.
Standard #10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.

Instructions

1

Introduce key concepts, including landscapes and the Element of Art – Space.

2

Explain how landscapes are a major genre of art and include natural scenery such as sky, mountains, rivers or ocean, trees, flowers, etc. within the work.

3

Make sure to explain space and how an artist can break space into background (things that are the farthest away), middle ground (things in the middle), and foreground (things that are the closest). For extension or to use for higher grade levels, one can introduce the concepts of atmospheric perspective such as placement of objects, size of objects, value of objects, overlapping, etc.

4

After discussing landscapes and space, have students look at examples of Robin Mead’s landscapes to identify commonalities they see within the work. Make sure to lead students in the direction of her frequent use of warm colors in the upper half and cool colors in the lower half of the artwork. Ask students to observe how the colors she uses in her work blend from one to another. Ensure that students notice her inclusion of a sun and water in each. Point out her use of thick black lines to separate natural features and blocks of color.

5

At the conclusion of this discussion, ask students to begin working on their sunset landscapes.

6

To begin, students should use a piece of 9" X 12" white drawing paper placed horizontally or in a landscape setup.

7

Students should begin drawing with pencil by creating a horizon line about halfway down the page. The horizon line separates what is on the earth from what is in the sky. This line should touch edge to edge and can be straight, curved, wavy, etc. The horizon line is what should be considered middle ground with things above it in the background and things below in the foreground.

8

Above the horizon line, students can add lines showing plains, meadows, hills and mountains.

9

In the sky above the hills and mountains, students can create a sun in any way they choose. It can be partially behind the mountains, in the sky above, off to one side of the page or the other, or even in the corner like a “kindergarten” sun.

10

They can add rays to their sun, again however they want— straight, wavy, curled, or even a mix. Lines can extend to the edge of the page or just extend a little from the sun’s center.

11

Once the background is complete, students can add water in the foreground or bottom portion of their landscape.

12

Students can draw small waves like a pond or lake, create larger spiral and rough waves more like an ocean, or mix them to make a variety.

13

Once the drawing is complete, students should begin adding color using Sakura Cray-Pas Junior Artist Oil Pastels. Demonstrate for students how to use multiple colors blending into one another.

14

Begin with a color, typically the lighter of two colors, and then lightly add a darker color over a small portion of the lighter color and blend out.

15

Ask students to color using only warm colors—reds, oranges, and yellows—above the horizon line. They can decide what warm colors they want for the sun and the sky but remind them that these are sunsets, so no cool colors above the line.

16

Then, students can add cool colors—greens, blues, and violets—below the horizon, coloring the land, grass, and water.

17

Next, students can use a cotton swab, paper towel, or even their fingers to smooth and blend the colors from one to the next. Remind students how Robin Mead did this in the examples they saw earlier.

18

Once all colors have been blended and are smooth, the last step is having students add the thick black line to separate the landscape features and blocks of color. Using a black Sakura Cray-Pas, students should carefully trace over their original pencil lines. Remind them at this point that they should not blend and should be careful not to smear the black into the colors they have already finished.