Transcript Art Unit Template

Luscious Landscapes
A FunArtLessons.com
AWESOME ART ACTIVITY
By Kari Wilson
An Awesome Art Activity appropriate for students age 8-16 in art classes, scout troops,
recreation classes, after school clubs, independent study, home school settings
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About Awesome Art Activities
These art activities are great for a birthday party,
rainy afternoon at home or as a special activity in a
classroom, daycare, or recreation setting.
About the Author

Kari Wilson has been an educator for over twenty
years, teaching first through sixth grades as well as
middle school language arts and social studies. Her
current passion is teaching art at a public middle
school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Kari's own
education includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts from San
Francisco State University, a Master of Fine Arts from
the University of Arizona, and a Master of Education,
along with teaching credentials.

Kari stepped out of the classroom for several years to
serve as a Curriculum Associate in a large California
school district, where she developed a variety of
programs from “Back to School with Basic Health and
Safety” to “The Achievement Club,” a program
designed to help struggling readers. This program
received the Golden Bell award from the California
School Boards Association. As a member of the
California History Social Science Project (CHSSP), Kari
was involved in the development and implementation
of numerous social studies units. Kari’s unit, Child
Work in Colonial Days, was published by the UCLA
branch of CHSSP.

Kari has continued exploring her interest in history as
a recent participant in a Gilder Lehrman summer
institute at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library,
where she engaged in research for the development
of a series of civics lessons which include integrated
art activities. These lessons on the Core Democratic
Values, as well as her other curriculum units for
preschool through 10th grade, are available online at
FunLessonplans.com, a companion site to
FunArtLessons.com.
Awesome Art Activities can be completed in an hour
or so.
Awesome Art Activities are fun and engage children
in imaginative and creative processes.
Every Awesome Art Activity includes an art
appreciation/ art history slide show highlighting the
art work of an artist or art movement. Open-ended
questions encourage creative thinking and interesting
discussion.
Prior art experience in not necessary for either the
children or an adult leading the activity.
Materials for these activities are inexpensive or free.
You may even find that you already have everything
you need at home!
“These awesome activities are kid-tested by my two
children and their friends at home as well as my
elementary and middle school students!”
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Getting Started
Luscious Landscapes
1.
This Awesome Art Activity is appropriate for children and adults of all ages. This art activity is fun
and easy to do alone or with groups of any size.
2.
Gather the materials needed:

Cardboard, about 8” x 10”, recycle! Use cereal boxes or old file folders, tag board or poster
board.

white glue such as Elmer's, thinned one part glue to one part water. Keep in a plastic lidded
container such as a yogurt tub. One glue container for up to 4 children.

scissors

Foam craft brush, 1”-4” wide, or an old house paintbrush. One per child.

Gift or craft tissue in a variety of colors, used tissue is perfect, provide a range of colors.
Tissue is available in the gift wrap sections of most grocery stores as well as craft supply
stores. Cut tissue into pieces about 4”x6”. Have 4-8 pieces in a variety of colors for each child.

Images of landscapes (slides 4-7)

Newspaper to cover work surface.

Gloss medium, (optional) available in the acrylic paint section of art stores, will give finished
landscape a shiny surface and brighten the color of the tissue.
3.
Arrange the workspace so that work surfaces are covered with newspaper and children can easily
share glue containers and scissors.
4.
Explain the project: You will create a beautiful landscape using colored tissue and glue.
5.
Set the stage for the activity by looking at some landscapes. This may mean simply looking out
the window and asking children what they see. Or view slides 4-7 as you discuss the questions.
Possible responses are shown along the left side of each slide.
6.
After viewing the landscapes, follow the steps 1-6 outlined in slides 8-13 to create your own
“Luscious Landscape.” Show the slides to your group or demonstrate each step as you go.
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Landscapes
Giovanni Giacometti
Herbstabend, 1903
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The gaze is carried from the foreground to the background along the curved lines of tree groupings and rows of mountains. The viewer’s eyes are constantly brought back to the small group of buildings in the foreground by the flowing curves of mountains and hills.
How does your gaze travel as you look at this landscape?
What did the artist do to make your eyes travel through the painting?
Jeong, Seon
After the Rain at Mt. Inwang
Ink on paper, 1751
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There are two silhouetted figures near the edge of the volcano which suggests both the grand scale of the volcano as well as mankind's relative unimportance in the face of nature. Two figures with
donkeys rest in the lower right hand corner suggesting an ease with the event that is taking place.
Can you find the people in this landscape?
Why do you think the artist chose to paint the figures so small?
Johan Christian Dahl
Vesuvius Erupting, 1826
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The foreground shows a path leading to the lower left corner which takes the viewer to the middle ground: a wide swath of golden corn and a figure. Across the background
stretches the clustered building and trees of a village with a summer sky. This landscape is divided into thirds, a classic composition for landscape painting. The figure standing
at the back edge of the foreground in comparison to the small buildings at the front edge of the background helps create the illusion of distance.
Find the foreground, middle ground and background in this painting.
How much of the painting does each ‘ground’ take up?
How does the artist show distance in this landscape?
© 2009 www.funartlessons.com
Berthe Morisot
The Cornfield, 1875
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Step 1
Gather Materials and Ideas

Cover your work surface with
newspaper to keep it clean!

Get a paint brush, white glue
and a piece of cardboard.

Write your name on the back of
the cardboard.

Decide what your foreground
will be. Is it a river, a meadow,
a city street, a snowy yard?

Choose a few small pieces of
tissue in colors that will be a
good base for the type of
foreground you want. For
instance, use light and dark
green for a meadow, or white
and light blue for a snow scene.
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Step 2
Create the Foreground

Paint a thin layer of white
glue in the lower portion of
your board. You decide
how wide the foreground
will be.

Tear a piece of tissue off
and gently press it into the
glue with your brush. Do
the same with the second
color, overlapping the first
color in some places as
shown.

Brush glue all over the top
of the tissue. Let it wrinkle
and overlap. This adds
texture and visual interest!
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Step 3

Decide what your
background will be such
as sky, treetops, houses
mountains, rain clouds...

Choose a few colors for
the background. For
instance, dark blue and
purple for a night sky,
orange and pink for a
bright morning or grey
and green for a storm.

Glue your background
tissue allowing it to
overlap and wrinkle.
Create the Background
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Step 4
Add Details to the Background

Using scissors cut shapes for
details.Tearing shapes out of the
tissue is another great way to
create interesting textures.

Keep your shapes simple.
Skyscrapers can be overlapping
rectangles. Think of tree trunks or
mountains as basic shapes such as
rectangles and triangles.

Continue to build up layers of
tissue by adding smaller and
smaller details.

You may want to include
something tiny such as a human
figure, in the farthest area of your
background to help create the
illusion of depth.
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Step 5
Add Detail to the Foreground

Continue to create your
landscape by adding
details to the foreground.

Remember items closer to
the viewer will be larger.

Try adding something very
large such as a tree branch
or a street sign or a person
that extends across the
picture plane. This will
help create the illusion of
depth.

Continue to brush a thin
layer of white glue on top
of the tissue.
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Step 6

Put your landscape
somewhere flat to dry
overnight.

If your cardboard curls
just place it under a few
heavy books, and it will
flatten out.

If you have gloss
medium, paint this on
the dry landscape to
give it a shiny surface.
Finish
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The End
Thank you for using this
FunArtLessons.com Awesome Art Activity.
Special thanks to Wikimedia Commons for providing access to
copyright free images used in this power point lesson.
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