Henri Rousseau Jungles with Value Scales

One of the required artists for Fourth Grade is Henri Rousseau.  We start off with the DVD of Dropping in On Rousseau (The kids STILL love Puffer even at this age) and then discuss some of his prints after. Since we only have 35 minute classes this pretty much is the first day of the project.

On the second day of the project we start talking about value scales and how value can be used to create distance.  I do a painting demonstration using tempera paint in black and white plus one color (each student gets to pick their color) and show them how to create the tints and shades to be the foundation for their own Rousseau landscapes.  The rest of the class is spent painting!

On the third day there are always a few stragglers who need to finish painting.  However, anyone who finished last time gets to break out the oil crayons!  Another quick demo to remind them that small = background/far away, medium = middleground, and big = foreground/closeup and then they are off and running to create their own jungles.

My apologies on only having half finished ones to share!  I forgot my camera on the last day before these went home and only have pictures of the middle of the process!