Impressionism, Monet and Sunsets

Before students start their unique, final landscape paintings, they worked with the tempera paints and brushes to master their brush strokes. In a structured mini-lesson, students experimented with techniques used by the French Impressionists, which I demonstrated in class and they recreated a "Monet Sunset". This mini-lesson let students focus on technique, rather than the subject, which built up their confidence and reinforced the techniques demonstrated in class. We spent about 2-3 classes @ 45 minutes to complete this exercise. Students also learned about Pointillism and the dots used to create an image that is blended together by the viewers eye. 

Below are pictures of Grade 6 students at work and enjoying the process. Many students had never painted in this style before nor really had a full understanding of Impressionism and how to create depth in an artwork and go about their painting. Many lessons have been learned!