This oil pastel drawing project is inspired by the artwork of Paul Gauguin, in particular his painting Tahitian Landscape.
To build up a little enthusiasm, when the kids arrived to class there was an envelope at their seat. I told them to open the envelope and see what was inside. I had printed off pictures of Tahitian Landscape, laminated them and then cut them into puzzle pieces. The kids worked quickly to put together the puzzles. Then, I introduced the artist Paul Gauguin.
We started by reading the book Getting to Know the Famous Artist: Paul Gauguin.
I showed the kids how to draw mountains overlapping, demonstrated color mixing with oil pastels and blending to create shadows. Some of the kids really understood the concepts and other students were beginning to experiment with the blending and mixing. They all did a fantastic job and improved their skills with using oil pastels.
Layering colors was emphasized and I tried to show how to use various shades of a color to create more interesting colors. For example, I encouraged them to use shades of yellows and greens in the grass rather than just coloring it all green. Same thing with the sky… add whites, blacks and various shades of blues. Some students added purples to the sky or colored the whole sky in warm colors for a sunset effect.
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