Rainforest Paintings
by Deborah Padrick
Coordinator of Demonstration Arts Project
Forestville School
3rd Grade
Supplies: poster
board 22"x28", medium-point "Sharpie" permanent pens, oil pastels, liquid watercolors,
ice tray palettes and brushes, pictures and books on rainforest animals.
Note: Curriculum studies can include materials on endangered rainforest animals
and habitat. A website, The Earth's Birthday Project, provided information about
the rainforest and opportunities for students to purchase land in rainforest
conserves. Forestville students, under the leadership of Carole Castleberry,
have purchased many acres of rainforest land for conservation.
- Give the students poster
board and pencils and have them draw the basis parts of their rainforest
picture using light pencil line. Images should be drawn large. Include many
animals and the surrounding plant life. Plants and branches can enter from
all edges of the page and can overlap filling areas in the picture. Some
basic step-by-step drawings of rainforest animals can be found here.
- Students can now go over
the pencil lines with permanent black pen, and add in more details with
the black pen while considering the overall composition and interest of
the picture.
- Add accents of color with
oil pastels. In some areas use the oil pastels heavily, but do not fill
the entire picture with oil pastels because oil pastels will resist the
application of liquid watercolors, used in the final step.
- Finally, brush on watercolor
washes throughout the picture. Liquid watercolors in ice trays are easy
to use. Dilution of some of the colors with water is needed to develop pastels.
To keep the individual colors unmuddied, rinse brush between color changes.
The techniques used in
this art project can be adapted to other grade levels.
Visual Arts Standards used in this 3rd grade art project:
- Artistic Perception (1.1,
1.2,.1.3, 1.5)
- Creative Expression (2.3)
- Historical and Cultural
(3.1, 3.2, 3.3)
- Aesthetic Valuing (4.1,
4.2, 4.3)
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© Deborah Padrick 2001
