Watercolor is a wonderful medium for capturing and depicting the nuances of each season, from dusky winter darkness to summertime sunshine and everything in between. Masters like Sargent, Rodin, and Pissarro were geniuses of the seasonal watercolor landscape and art lovers everywhere are still marveling at their techniques today.
Your students can explore these techniques with our Watercolor Landscape lesson plan. From dry brush, graded washes, flat washes, scrafito, and masking techniques, to the addition of salt, alcohol, and additives, students will experiment prior to beginning their landscape. Once they’ve mastered these basic techniques, the artists will review photographs they’ve collected of landscapes in various seasons and select one based on artistic values including subject, center of interest, shapes, lines, movement, values, color harmony and contrast, and other elements that work together to create a successful composition. Then they’ll put the techniques they’ve learned to work, creating a watercolor representation of their selected photograph. When complete students will discuss their final works, including how they used line, color, form, and shape in their compositions.
Download a complete lesson plan for this project, including images, step-by-step directions, and a materials list, today!
For Grades 6-12.
