Thursday, September 26, 2013

4th and 5th Grade Lighthouses

My 4th and 5th grade students have been working on lighthouse art. They drew the lighthouse, land, and water with crayons, and then used a choice of watercolors or watercolor pencils for the sky. Some students also used a light watercolor wash over their ocean to fill in white spots. I didn't work as much art history into this lesson as I would have liked (anyone know of a famous artist who painted lighthouses?), but we hit a lot of elements and principles of art on this project!









































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11 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 11, 2013 at 6:14 PM

    Hi Miss Young

    Your students artwork looks beautiful. The folk artist Joe Norris of Nova Scotia Canada painted a few lighthouses. He mostly painted the costal landscape with houses and sea animals with beautiful skies that could work for blending or wash lessons. I hope this helps
    April Estabrooks

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  2. AnonymousOctober 12, 2013 at 4:49 AM

    Hello again,

    I had another thought. I know that you want an artist to show students, but photos of light houses are taken by photographers who are working artists. Photographs are art as well. Why not use calendar pictures of light houses and discuss the jobs that are out there for artists and how a photographer use the elements and principles of design to create a good solid image. I think it is ok to focus on the elements and principles of design for a projects like you did here. The art work by your students look wonderful.
    Just a thought
    April

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    1. Jessica YoungOctober 12, 2013 at 1:24 PM

      Thanks, April! Both of your comments are really helpful. I like the idea of calendar photographs! I had a few small photos from google images for my students to look at while designing their lighthouses (you can probably tell which students were looking at the same picture!), but some of those photos were just snapshots, rather than the work of a photographer, and I didn't have any information on any of the photographers. I'll have to find a calendar for next year! That could also introduce a great discussion on aesthetics :).

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  3. AnonymousOctober 14, 2013 at 1:20 PM

    Hi Jessica
    I'm glad I could help. I was looking for some art work to show for my students when I came upon 2 paintings by Edward Hopper of light houses. Long Leg, 1930
    and Lighthouse, Port head. The latter one on AllPosters.com. I just thought you might want to know.

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    1. Jessica YoungOctober 14, 2013 at 6:51 PM

      Oh, I should have thought of Edward Hopper! He has some great lighthouse paintings. Thanks!

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  4. UnknownOctober 22, 2013 at 1:34 AM

    Hello Jessica,
    thanks for your blog. I really enjoy looking at it for ideas for my own class. I am a casual teacher in Australia. Could I please ask, when you do your paintings etc, do you lead the students in a guided drawing session? Do you show them example beforehand?
    Thanks! Meg.

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  5. Jessica YoungOctober 22, 2013 at 1:47 PM

    Sometimes with the younger students, I begin with a guided drawing or painting, and then the students add their own details. I especially do that in kindergarten, 1st grade, and second grade, but I always give the students choices on some things so their art is their own. For this lesson, I made an example of how I would paint a lighthouse, and I had lots of photographs available for ideas. I encouraged the students to look at several photos and use what they liked in each photo, rather than only using one photo and copying it exactly. Each painting should be unique! I did show my students an easy way to draw a lighthouse at the beginning. I said, "you can draw your lighthouse any way you want. But, if you think it's hard, here's an easy way to draw one. You can start with this, and then add any details you want." The simple lighthouse I drew on the board had two lines leaning in for the sides, a striped rectangle for the balcony, a square with light bulb inside, and a triangle roof on top. Then, I showed the students some variations, and I showed how curved lines for the balcony and the the stripes could make it look 3D. The simple lighthouse looked about like the one 16th from the top (purple sky, yellow beam of light, sailboat in the distance). Most students found that example as a good starting point, even though most students went above and beyond that simple drawing.

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  6. UnknownSeptember 24, 2015 at 9:13 AM

    I love your pictures! Have lots of inspiration!
    Au Essay WRiting Place

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  7. UnknownDecember 8, 2015 at 1:06 PM

    Hi my name is Jennifer Clark and my son was in your class in 4th grade. We were looking up lighthouse pictures on Google images and came upon his drawling. So I thought I would come on her and say Hi and I think this made his day. He couldn't believe his picture was online. LOL His picture showed up online but when I clicked on visit page it's not in this list?

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  8. UnknownDecember 8, 2015 at 1:08 PM

    Oh never mind I found it. It was the first one. I clicked on it and it showed up.

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    1. Jessica YoungDecember 8, 2015 at 1:23 PM

      Hello! That's really cool that you found your son's art on my blog :). I think I know who your son is, judging by your last name. He and his sister were both wonderful students!

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