So the kids wanted to learn how to do brush painting which meant I needed to learn how to do brush painting. In the end we did three mini paintings. 1. a straw blown cherry tree, 2. our version of Mt. Fuji (Mt. Hood here in Oregon) and 3. a panda.
These samples are from a talented 8th grade student. She is a far better artist naturally then I will ever be, but a modest and eager student. I will really miss her next year.
We looked at a power point of brush painting from China, Japan and Korea to compare and contrast common themes and styles. We then did the Mt. Fuji painting because it was a pretty simple perspective watercolor. Next we did the straw blown cherry tree. If students added a bird to the tree they got bonus points. Last came the pandas. Argg the pandas. I watched a lot of videos on You-tube to learn how to paint those pandas. I was shaking under the document camera when I first showed the kids. This was a good chance for me to point out that I am constantly learning and growing in MY art skills along with them. I showed them some of my less then perfect panda paintings that I did while learning how to show them how to paint the pandas.
Part of my job this year is to teach persistence. I think there is no better way to teach persistence than to model persistence. I try to do this by showing my students my learning process and how I have to start over and over again and my "mess up" projects. it is easier to ask them to try again when I have shown I am willing to try again and again.
Our practice pandas put into class collages:
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