Moonlit Pumpkins

3rd Grade: Moonlit Pumpkins

3rd Grade students learned about Cezanne and studied some of his art work-both his landscapes and still lifes. We discussed the fact that Cezanne really loved warm colors-reds, oranges, yellows, even brown and tan. He found a spot in much of his art work to put those warm colors somewhere. 

We did a step-by-step to draw a landscape full of awesome pumpkins at nighttime. Students used a #2 pencil on black constuction paper. The sulphite paper works nicely, as it is very thick and doesn't fade.  Next, students traced all contour lines with glue. The next week, students added color with chalk pastels. I did a few demos on how to blend colors. We also discussed showing light values at the top of the pumpkin and dark values below so the pumpkins would look "lit up" by the moon. Even though all students did a similar subject matter, I am impressed by the variety of colors, skies, and ways students tackled this project. 

Many teachers just loved looking at these hanging on the walls. Students, you should be so PROUD!!! You did an AWESOME job!!