Fifth Grade Colorscapes

Fifth grade students recently completed a series of four landscapes using different color schemes.  Each student was instructed to draw a landscape of their choice.  The only requirement was to create a landscape using foreground, middleground and background.  Students looked at landscape paintings by André Derain and Rufino Tamayo to inspire use of abstract colors.

André Derain - The Charing Cross Bridge (1906)

Para hoy una obra de Rufino Tamayo (1978)

After students first drew their landscapes, I made three photocopies of each drawing.  Students painted their original drawing using tempera paint and oil pastel details.  The remaining copies were colored using crayons, markers or a combination of both. 

After learning about value from our self-portrait unit, students applied their knowledge to create a monochromatic painting with five distinct values.  Each student chose their own color, and mixed paint colors using white and black to create shades and tints. 

Students chose to color their remaining three copies with either a cool, warm, primary or secondary color scheme.  Once completed, each student taped their artworks together to create a large rectangle of the four colorful landscapes. 

I am very proud of the work students put in to this project.  The best part was overhearing students help one another on use of color schemes and art vocabulary.  The students' artwork is displayed in the Etnyre Wing of our school to create a mural of wonderful colorscapes!