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!

Landscape paintings in the style of the Impressionists

Painting by Dea E., Grade 6

Grade six students learned the fundamentals of painting and used a variety of Impressionistic techniques to create these richly textured, colorful paintings. Students studied Impressionism, a 19th century art movement made up of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to fame in the 1870s and 1880s. We learned about the movement and analyzed the paintings of  Claude Monet, whose painting Impression, Sunrise sparked the use of the term Impressionism because it used very loose brush strokes, which suggested rather than delineated.
     Students created landscape paintings in the style of the Impressionists and used a photo as a reference image. Students learned how to use complimentary colors to make browns, as well as how to accentuate highlights and shadows, create atmospheric perspective and work wet paint into wet paint.  Additionally, students repeated brushstrokes and learned how to control brush flow and pressure.

Painting by Rose H., Grade 6

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