Week 3: The Painting Game Landscape Paintings
Age 1st-2nd grade
Date 10/14/22
Teachers Madigan
Learning Objective
In this lesson TWL apply perspective techniques to depict depth in a landscape painting.
In this lesson TWL compile 3 or more imaginary ideas with observations of daily life to create a new representation of a personally meaningful place.
In this lesson TWL practice following step by step prompts to complete one final painting.
David Hockney, Mullholland Drive, the Road to the Studio, acrylic on canvas, 1980, 86” x 240,” LACMA
Lesson Summary
Introduction
I began the lesson by introducing the David Hockney painting above. I asked students to share what they noticed about the painting. The students pointed out that it looked like a city, had buildings, that it also looked like fields with windmills and it had a big mountain in the middle of it. The students also said it was crazy and had a lot of colors. I asked them if it looked exactly realistic and they agreed that it didn’t. I told them that Hockney painted this landscape from memory and it portrays where he drives on the way to his studio.
Drawing/Initial Worktime
After the brief discussion of the Hockney piece, I shared that we were going to paint landscapes together today, noting that they could use their memories or real places and their imaginations. I handed out the papers while Anna prepared the paint palettes and brushes. Students already had drawing materials in front of them. I had my example painting and a blank paper up on the white board and began step by step instructions, drawing with them as I went. Here is a breakdown of the steps and how they went.
First, I introduced the concept of the horizon line by asking students if they knew what it was (one said that it divides the sky from land), and I had one student point out the line on the example painting, highlighting that it is not perfectly straight, and is near the middle of the painting. I asked the students to begin their landscape by drawing their own horizon line across the center of their page.
The next prompt was for students to add a body of water (I asked them to name a few) to their paper.
Third, I introduced the idea of creating depth in the painting - making things seem closer and farther away. I asked students to start by drawing a plant/tree really big at the bottom of their paper with a lot of detail, then a second set of plants between the bottom and the horizon, and a final set of tiny plants on the horizon with hardly any detail.
The final all together prompt with the drawing materials was to draw something big that catches your eye in the painting. I asked them what catches their eye in Hockney’s painting (the mountain and the telephone wires) and shared my teacher example that had a rollercoaster and I drew a giant peach to show a range of how imaginary they could get.
Throughout the prompts students continuously worked, mostly following the prompts and asking if they could do variations (I always said yes). They worked much more quickly than expected so I didn’t need to incorporate movement or suggest they add more details and kept moving.
Painting/Work Time
Now it was time to paint. I had students put painting aprons on and instructed them to not start painting right when they received paints (they also got brushes after paints which helped manage that). Before I set them loose, I gave one more rule to follow- choose at least one realistic aspect of their painting and paint it an unrealistic color (i.e. paint the sky yellow or a tree purple). The students were enamored by this and shared their plans aloud as they began painting.
As they worked, I asked students if they wanted to tell me anything about their painting (one highlight was a student told me the mountain was his brain and it was the scary part of his mind as he painted it grey and black, another was a student who drew an eagle and a whale). Students were excited to share what they were working on. As they began painting I could assess their skills (all of them had said they painted before) and called out some tips. I reminded them to dip their brush in water to start, dip in water and brush off the paint on scrap paper to change colors and asked if they knew what colors to mix for purple, or to make things lighter etc. I visited with each student more individually during work time to continue to ask and answer any questions. I also offered tips to the whole class, reminding them they could add new details to their landscape, or characters (who lives there?) etc.
Conclusion
When students were complete, I asked them their favorite part of the final piece and why, and what the most challenging part of their painting process was (usually coloring the sky or land without accidently blending over the lines and getting brown). Then I had them bring their brushes and water cups to the sink and guided cleanup individually.
Final Outcomes
Students created their own individual landscapes. The works varied in level of details and painting techniques (splatter paint, blended, showing brush strokes). They almost all had mountains and a few had animals or other details. There was variation in the type of horizon they had and students successfully placed the horizon near the center. Students created depth in their work, by painting details getting smaller from the bottom of the page to the horizon. Students followed the steps with focus for the most part, with one or two finishing early, not wanting to add more.
Students recalled places they have traveled, places they live and invented places that exist in games or their imaginations. They recreated these places from memory/invention on the paper. Students were enthusiastic about what they included in their paintings and were more than willing to share with instructors and peers. Students dove right into painting, quickly following any tips about technique as I went. They were able to experiment with brush size, brushstrokes, diluting paint with water, and mixing colors.
Breakdown of Outcomes
students created individual landscapes inspired by real/remembered and imagined places
there was a variety of different landscapes, with different levels of detail
students successfully followed steps
students were invested in and excited about their paintings
students learned about the horizon line and creating depth by varying size/placement of objects
students experimented with painting techniques
Future Modifications
To adapt this lesson for a classroom (me teaching alone with 25+ students), I would have the students gather materials themselves after explicit instructions. I would also add more painting technique instruction into the prompted step by step. I would also consider breaking the lesson into two parts, with one focused on landscapes, using my originally planned warmup where students draw onto a printed out landscape before drawing the initial set up prompts. The second day would be about filling in the painting and providing more technique oriented tips.
In a classroom I would also need to need to be clear about how to cleanup and what to do when students are done, because there would be more of a range in finishing times.
For the classroom, alternative materials could be watercolors and oil pastels, doing the initial steps in oil pastel and then taking advantage of the wax resist to color it in with watercolors. This would allow students to achieve the details they are used to with drawing.
In the classroom I would also use tempura paints rather than acrylic so the paint is washable, and because it would likely be available.
Students were invested in the steps and followed the prompts well. To push them a little further and include more meaning and variations in their work, I might add in options with the steps or intentionally sit with silence and give students more time with each step.
The lesson could be adapted to incorporate SEL by including step by step prompts that ask students to paint things in response to emotions or specific memories (ex: think about how you feel right now and paint the sky how that might look, paint the grass so it looks angry etc.)
I would use the paper covering the table as the paint palette and ask the students what colors they wanted, in order to reduce cleanup and waste.
I would lay down behavior expectations at the start of class, specifically reminders to raise hands, let everyone have a turn to talk, note the boundaries of the room. I would also be cognizant of enforcing the correct behavior. I was too relaxed when students desires trumped my original expectations, which is a trend that I get stuck in. In the future I will better establish and stick to my classroom expectations.
