A Tale of Two Landscapes

My third-graders start the year with our Expression Through Art unit, designed to show them that this year, we will delve deeper into thinking like artists. This sets the tone for students to consider composition, examine details, and utilize the elements of art and principles of design as the tools they are for artists. I call this unit A Tale of Two Landscapes.

Discussing Winslow Homer
We start by examining the differences in realistic, abstract, and nonobjective art styles through a group activity in which we analyze professional artworks and interpret the clues we find. This is a great way for me to assess studentsʼ understanding of these concepts.

The first artist we learn about is American painter Winslow Homer. We talk about how his style tested the limits of realism during his time. While he received criticism for being too loose and abstract in his painting style, he stayed true to a realistic color palette. We look at some of his paintings and discuss how his use of value, form, and movement creates a mood and evokes emotions in the viewer.

Realistic Landscapes
Following our discussion of Homerʼs landscapes, students use their sketchbooks to develop original landscape compositions. We activate prior learning as we draw foreground, middle ground, and background, and I remind students of the importance of the horizon line. These sketchbook drawings become realistic watercolor landscapes.

My students already have experience using watercolors, but this is the first time some of them have used pan palettes (my younger grades use liquid watercolor). I demonstrate using the whole palette to mix new colors and show them wet-on-wet and dry brush techniques. We discuss how they can use different techniques to create textures and express a mood.

Discussing Jaime Byrd
Following the completion of our realistic landscapes, we learn about abstract landscapes through a lesson about contemporary artist Jaime Byrd of Asheville, North Carolina. This artist has a fascinating portfolio that includes media arts, but for this lesson, we focus on her paintings.

I share Byrdʼs website with students (see Resource) and we watch a video she developed to explain how to use the augmented reality experience at her gallery. As a quick bridge activity, students create their own augmented reality artwork using tempera sticks and the QuiverVision appʼs Dot Day worksheet. Students choose abstract or nonobjective styles for their circles and turn them into floating spheres. Following this activity, we pull up our sleeves for a fun and messy process art experience!

Abstract Landscapes
Students create their second landscape intuitively without a planned composition. We use crayons to draw a variety of lines on white paper with the goal of creating texture and layering color in the style of Jaime Byrd. The final crayon line is the horizon line.
Using liquid tempera and tagboard, I demonstrate scraping thin layers of paint onto the paper starting at my horizon line. Holding the tagboard vertically allows you to cover the paper with a thin layer of paint while permitting crayon to show through, creating interest and texture.

I demonstrate how to angle the tagboard for thicker application of paint so students can determine where to break up the crayon texture. For visual distinction between ground and sky, we scrape “down for the ground” and “to the side for the sky.” Alliteration helps them remember, and these intentional paths direct movement and texture in their work.

Lastly, I encourage students to explore other ways of mark-making with the tagboard by tapping or using corners instead of sides. I explain how this technique can be used to create details such as plants or clouds. The following class, students use oil pastels to add buildings or nature objects to their landscapes.

Inspired by Inquiry
This unit is successful because students find solutions to creative challenges. They learn that itʼs okay to revise their work throughout the process, and their depth of knowledge and technical abilities are expanded through the explorations in this unit. They are transformed as they work through the process, developing metacognition as they interpret and analyze their own pieces in relation to professional works. At the end of this unit, my artists are inspired by inquiry and excited for more.