Still Life Paintings Done by 3rd - 5th Graders

We used tempera cakes for these paintings. We spent one art class drawing the still life in pencil. I have students work on techniques such as how to hold the pencil loosely when sketching quickly. I stress the importance of starting a drawing very loose and fast, scribbling or gesturing the placement of each object in just a few seconds. Students spend two to three days painting. On the first day we work on making light washes of color on each object and in the background (we had previously practiced some wash technique in another painting). On the next two days we focus on adding textures, such as the lines on the basket, wood grain on the table, and imperfections on the pear. We look for places that need more colors. We add shadows and greater value range. We then may do some outline work to unify and give the painting a more solid look.

Students were very pleased with the results of all the hard work they had done on their still life paintings.

Alexis		Ariel
Brittney		Cory
Katie		Melissa
Brittany		Kaisha