Week 4: Fall Leaves
Sept 28-Oct 2, 2020
Mindfulness
What are 5 fall things you can see? Look around you and notice 5 things that make you think of fall for example blowing leaves, or yellow leaves
What are 4 fall things you can feel? Maybe you can feel the breeze on your face or the air is cooler.
What are 3 fallthree things you can hear? Notice all the geese honking on their migration or the rustle of the leaves.
What are 2 fall things you can smell? Maybe you can smell cinnamon, hot chocolate or wet leaves.
What is 1 fall thing you can taste? What tastes remind you of the autumn?
See Think Wonder
What do you see in the picture? What do you think is happening and what was the artist trying to tell you with this picture? What does this picture make you wonder about?
Georgia O’Keeffe is one of the most significant artists of the 20th century, renowned for her contribution to modern art. you can learn more about her at https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/about-georgia-okeeffe/
What is Autumn (Fall)?
The season changes to Fall. Fall begins on the Autumnal equinox. This is the day at the end of summer when the day and the night are equal length. In the Fall the air becomes cooler, the nights grow longer and the days grow shorter, the leaves on many trees turn to reds, yellows and oranges and animals' behavior changes as they get ready for the long winter.
Leaf Stories for Autumn
KInds of Leaves
There are hundreds of trees around us. Each type of tree has a different shaped leaf and seed. Do you know the kinds of trees in your neighborhood?
If you would like to know more about identifying trees you can check Arbor Day Foundation
App: Leafsnap Platform: iOS
App: Pl@ntNet Platform: iOS, Android and online
App: PlantSnap Platform: iOS and Android
App: PictureThis Platform: iOS and Android
The parts of a leaf
Go outside and find a good leaf blade with no holes or breaks. Study the leaf. Can you identify all the parts on your leaf? Looking closely at something is called observing. Learning to observe will make you a better artist and help you be more aware of the world around you.
Warm Colors
The Warm colors are a color family. When you add them to artwork they create a sense of warmth, happiness and energy. In a picture they seem closer to the viewer.
On the color wheel the warm colors all on one side of the color wheel. Reds and yellows are primary colors. When you mix them together you can make oranges. Orange is a secondary color.
Assignments
Try one or do them all!
Observational Drawing Methods
Observational drawing is drawing that you do when looking at the subjects you are trying to draw. Try to draw the most realistic and accurate picture you can.
Crayon Resist
use a crayon to draw the lines of your leaf. When you are done use watercolor paint to color your leaf. The crayon lines will protect the paper from the paint and they will show through the color. For the best results use a light color crayon and dark colored paint.
Leaf Study
Draw a variety of leaves you can label the parts of the leaf if you wish but you do not have to .
Finishing a leaf
Cut a leaf in half and paste it to a piece of paper. Using pencil, colored pencil, or crayon, draw the missing half of the leaf.
Vocabulary
Primary color: RED, BLUE and YELLOW Three colors on the color wheel that can be mixed together to make other colors. You cannot create these colors by mixing other colors together.
secondary colors: GREEN, ORANGE and PURPLE (VIOLET). Three colors on the color wheel you can create by mixing the primary colors.
warm colors: REDS, ORANGES and YELLOWS. These colors make up one side of the color wheel. They make art feel warm, happy, and energetic.
observational drawing: a drawing made by looking at the subject of the drawing.
leaf blade: the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants (the individual part of a plant that is green, they often turn colors seasonally).
medium: can refer to both to the type of art (e.g. painting, sculpture, printmaking), as well as the materials an artwork is made from
Why These Projects?
By exploring the seasons, we create connections to the world around us. We learn about the cycles of the seasons and how the changes effect our lives and our envrionment; and how to take note of the changes through our observations.
In our investigation into the senses we can see, feel, taste, hear, and touch the aspects fall to engage our whole selves in understanding the world around us. This brings us in tune with our envrionment so that we can create art that reflects our obsevations and feelings.
Drawing through observation creates an artistic record of our interactions and investigations of our world. Observational drawing helps us to see details and the parts of things that together will ceate the whole. Practicing observational drawing will develop our artistic skills and hone our ability to accurately record what we see so we can use that information to create artwork that expresses our thoughts, feelings, and interpretations.