Listening to people complain about the hardships of win- ter and the dreariness of our nearly constant gray sky
prompted me to help my sixth graders
recognize and appreciate the beauty
that surrounds them for nearly five
months of the year in western New
York. Perhaps if students could see
things more artistically, the winter
wouldn’t seem so long and they’d be
happier adults when they grew up.
It was with this simple thought that
my students and I pursued winter
landscape painting in our classroom
and taught some adults a thing or two
about vision.
Mary Coy
( 30 x 40 cm) canvas paper. Students
were required to mix their colors and
incorporate subtle varieties of tints
or shades within these two areas. A
reminder of how colors fade in the
background served as a prompt for students to include this effect as well. In
the middle ground, mountains or hills
were to be added, their color showing
contrast against the sky.
Using the Smart Board
We began this lesson by examining
large color landscape photos projected
on my Smart Board. Each table had
been given a question to discuss
related to an element of art or prin-
ciple of design such as, “What colors
dominate the picture?” or “What fills
the space in the
foreground, mid-
dle ground, and
background?”
Afterwards,
students shared
their questions
and answers,
and I built on their responses, ulti-
mately teaching a lesson on creating
a realistic sense of space on a two-
dimensional surface through the use
of atmospheric perspective, dimin-
ishing sizes, fading colors, and the
overlapping of objects. Being able to
draw extra trees with the electronic
pen right on top of a landscape photo,
or insert, move, and change the size of
green triangles (representing simpli-
fied pine trees) helped students see
multiple solutions to how they might
eventually fill their own space in their
paintings.
Learning from Wilson Bickford
Before adding trees, we watched a
short YouTube video of New York
landscape artist Wilson Bickford
painting birch trees. Trees are first
painted black, after which a small
amount of white paint is placed along
one edge of the tree using a small,
square brush. A dry brush then wisps
the white paint across the trunk in
short horizontal strokes. Wiping the
brush off frequently helps keep the
bark from getting overworked.
Bickford’s technique provided an
excellent step-by-step process that
enabled most
students to gain
confidence in
their paint-
ing skills and
achieve realistic
results after a
practice session
or two. Some students had difficulty
managing the paint and their fine
motor skills needed further develop-
ment. Smaller brushes were given to
them so they would use less paint.
Perhaps if students could see
things more artistically, the
winter wouldn’t seem so long
and they’d be happier adults
when they grew up.
Moving to Paint
As we prepared ourselves for painting, we spent a lesson mixing tints
and shades using cool colors and neutral tones. Students then painted the
sky and snow on a piece of 12 x 16"
Completing the Paintings
Students decided on the placement
and quantity of trees within the final
painting, but the use of space and a
sense of balance also guided their
decision-making. Painting the smaller
branches proved the most challenging;
many students seemed to think adding just two branches was sufficient
and were encouraged to add more.
With the birch trees completed,
students were asked to add other
details. Suggestions included shadows,
pine trees, winter grass, thin lines on
the bark of the birch trees, cardinals,
and any other details they might naturally see.
Reflections
From start to finish, this project took
nine one-hour classes. Though this project could be shortened, I’m glad we took
our time, because the finished paintings were truly impressive. One teacher
who normally sees winter as dull and
dreary said, “I get it!” upon seeing the
display of paintings, referring to how
she should see the beauty of winter
instead of just complaining about it.
Your students will get it, too!
