Thursday, February 5, 2015

Native GA birds in atmospheric perspective

Third graders enjoyed getting to know some of the beautiful birds that live here in Georgia, like the Brown Thrasher, the Summer Tanager, and the American Goldfinch. We drew the birds in bright, clear detail using watercolor pencils since they were in the foreground, and created a blurred, out-of-focus effect for the background using wet-on-wet watercolor brush techniques. This is one way of showing perspective, or the illusion of space on a flat surface. The older students use perspective techniques with vanishing points.
Looking at photos helps the students understand the atmospheric perspective, because they actually see the contrast in clarity. Some painted the backgrounds using the same colors they observed, while many used artistic license and imagined colorful gardens in the distance.











5 comments:

  1. These are Wonderful! The blurred, "out-of-focus" watercolor backgrounds make a nice contrast against their detailed birds.

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are really special, Hope. I am pinning this project in hopes to try out with my 3rd graders!! Thank you for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love these! Each bird has it's own personality: )

    ReplyDelete

Comments are very appreciated - thanks for stopping by!