With summer break just 35 school days away (Sarah and Pam have a count down posted on the front office window!), we thought it would be good to have one last project for the year.
This project uses different stamping mediums to create the flower blossoms, and adds layers to the lupine meadow by using chalk, oil pastels, paint, and markers. The lesson draws from the Fines Lines Blog here: http://kids-finelines.blogspot.com/2012/03/springtime-lupines.html
You can read the book Miss Rumphius (see a YouTube video of the story being read here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrjPzbuxLJU) by Barbara Cooney as inspiration, as well as impressionist painters like Claude Monet and Pierre-August Renoir (in particular, Monet’s piece Flower Beds at Vétheuil – below).
What you will need:
White construction paper or watercolor paper (the paper should be cut into long narrow pieces, about 6 inches x 12 inches (roughly) per student)
Oil pastels in warmer colors (yellow, orange, etc)
chalk in warm colors (yellow, orange, etc.)
paint
Sharpies
Various stamp shapes
The Prep:
Cut the paper to be long and narrow for each student. Find lighter colored chalk and oil pastels for each student. You’ll also need green paint (for flower stems), and purples, pinks, blues, and white paints for the flower blossoms.
The Lesson Discussion:
Read the book (or use the link above to have the story read on the video) to the class or 
show impressionist painter’s works of flower meadows, and then have students talk about colors, shapes, leaves, stems, etc. that they see in pictures of flower meadows. Discuss how flower meadows look from far away as compared to being really close.
Somethings you might discuss include:
- Close up, you can see the individual flower, but not the meadow. In impressionist paintings, you often need to be farther away to see the whole picture.
- When you are further away from the picture, you might loose the detail of the individual flower, but the whole meadow comes to life with more color and dimension.
The Lesson – Making Lupines:
Start by coloring the paper with chalk. Then quickly add a layer of oil pastels.
Paint stems with regular paint on top of the chalk/oil pastel background.
After the stems, use various stamp shapes to create the lupines. You’ll want to encourage the students to start with purple, pink, and blue as a larger stamp, and use a smaller stamp in a lighter color to give the illusion of the bell-shaped lupine.
Once the flower buds and stems are dry, you can use Sharpie markers to outline individual flower buds and create more definition on the piece.
Happy creating!
In Touch with Art 