big, big trees

This week the 3rd graders are continuing to learn about the creation of 3d space in art. Some of the elements are similar to last week's lesson, even though their finished projects look a lot different. We start the lesson with a review of 3d space layer terms and how to create 3d space in a drawing.

I then share the illustration work of Japanese artist Gaku Nakagawa with the students. His work has a great sense of space in it. I enjoy his crisp choice of color and his layered compositions. The students identify what elements make his images have such a strong sense of space. He overlaps, changes color contrast, and makes things smaller as they recede in the picture. He also uses tints and shades to make shapes look more round than flat.

When students start their drawings I emphasize they should press softly, so the pencil lines do not show up much in their final pieces. This a main difference between their drawings this week and last. The contour lines were very evident last week in their fictional cityscapes, but this week they are making more realistic (nonfiction) landscapes and the lines should be less apparent.

Once students draw out the foreground, middleground, and background teh ygo in and add color- pressing softly to create light values and harder to create darker values.

At the end of the activity, students are required to fill out an exit slip. This reinforces the understanding of 3d space layers and how to create them. The answers to these 2 questions are posted in the room if students can not recall them. I tell the students about the exit slip in the beginning of the lesson too. I do this when reviewing the concepts from the previous week. I plan on doing this regularly throughout the year.