After having practiced the skill of quickly capturing the gesture of an object, we went outdoors to draw the flora right outside our school. The project was to single out specific plants and create our own gardens on the page, using grey chalk. We brought the pictures back to the classroom then used oil pastel, coloring in all the drawn segments, leaving the chalk line untouched. To finish the pieces we coated the composition with watery tempera paint–the oil pastel resisted the paint, filling in the background as well as everywhere the chalk lines were. There were some technical complications such as having the paint too thick which stuck to the pastel–we learned quickly together what was working well, and what was not! These projects are guiding the students to become familiar with specific materials and comfortable experimenting with their art. They are also building up a cache of techniques to use on future projects.
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| A few students included their shadow in the garden! |
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| They made tests before painting their composition. |
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| before and after |
