5th Grade Project: Ocean Impressionism

The 5th grade continued its study of Impressionism by going outside during three different class periods to create an impressionist ocean scene.  The students used crayons to imitate the impressionistic style of many small marks to create a larger image.  At first the idea of an entire ocean scene with no preliminary sketch seemed to intimidate the students, though they quickly relaxed as they saw their work come together.

We focused on light and shadow, and on showing colors accurately.  Students would show the varieties of green in a tree's foliage, or in a patch of grass.  Once this level of observation was made the quality of the work rose quickly, so much so in fact that one of the classes asked to restart the project completely to better show what they saw.

Even using crayons the students were able to imitate the style well, producing very painterly results.  We will move on further into Impressionism by using watercolors next.  To be continued...