Tree Silhouettes

This week my classes (4th, 5/6th) enjoyed this colorful project I found at http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/. I adapted it a bit. We were finishing up our flip books from last week, and I knew some would need a project to fill in the rest of our class time. They liked this idea so much that a few had trouble finishing their flip books before starting their tree silhouettes.

We used:
black paper-I used our co-op's construction paper, but for real black paper that will not fade, black scrapbooking paper is best (from a craft store)
oil pastels
pencils
reference pictures of trees

I try to have reference pictures for most projects. I want my kids to learn that artists OBSERVE. Knowing how something looks in real life helps your created project become more successful, even if you change details to suit your own ideas.

First we looked at tree pictures and talked about how trees branch. I showed them my sample tree (above) and defined silhouettes. I showed them that this composition would have all the major lines going clear to the edge of the paper, making large areas that would be colored in with individual bright colors. We talked about trees being wider at the bottom of the trunk and each branch, then getting narrower as they moved outward. (No stubby ends.)

(Above: Daughter W.)Instead of using white paper, as in the original project, we drew directly onto black paper with our pencils. I showed them how you could see the lines well enough to color up to them, but not so well that you need to erase mistakes. (Erasing on black construction paper is ugly.) The trunk should go about half way up the paper and there should be 4-5 major limbs radiating out from the top of the trunk. Trunk and main limbs should go off the edge of the paper. A few smaller limbs can be added, if desired. Color each large area left between limbs and trunk with bright oil pastels. (Using larger scrap paper underneath compositions while coloring will help keep your tables neater). Pastel shavings should be brushed from the papers into a garbage (not onto tables or floor) if necessary when coloring. This would probably work fine with crayons on white paper for a younger class.





These give a real "fall" feel and make simple and striking compositions. (Student work, above.)

I did allow the students to add contrasting lines if they desired, after they colored in the large blocks of color between the limbs. I experimented with leaves on the second example (above) that I had time to make during class.