1st and 2nd Grade Art

We have begun our study of the artist Henri Rousseau. Rousseau was a self taught French painter who is most known for his amazing jungle painting. This project ties directly into the biome study the students are learning in their main classroom. The students began the project by observing several examples of Rousseau's jungle paintings and going outside to create observational drawings of bushes and ferns around the school. These drawings should have come home last week, ask your child about them, they were great drawings! The next step of the project was to create an impressionist background for their jungle. They used oil pastels and liquid watercolors to create the feeling and mood of a jungle environment. The following step is to "build" the jungle plants using colored paper, tubes, glue and scissors. The students are learning valuable skills in constructing their jungles and are engaged in the work. We should finish building this week and will add a few sculpted animals in the final stage of the project.