Because we live in Western NC, we are, as a community, always seeing and exploring and studying mountains and rivers. I thought it might be a nice change to discuss Eastern NC as well. We studied the east coast by designing and painting lighthouses!
Students began this project by drawing a three layer composition with oil pastels. The far background (the top of the paper) is the sky. Some students chose to draw the sun and clouds, others moon and stars, others birds and bugs. The midground (the middle of the paper) is the ocean. Some students drew calm seas, some drew boats, others drew aquatic wildlife. The foreground (the bottom of the paper) is the ground. Some students drew the beach, others, a field, a city, a boardwalk. I love how each and every student's three layers turned out so differently!
To make our artwork bright and colorful, we did layers of watercolor paints on top of the oil pastel. Because oil and water resist, the oil pastels and create a high contrast, colorful work of art.
To finish this project, students cut out and glued their lighthouse on their mid ground.
These turned out sooooo awesome. I want to frame them and keep them forever...