Alfred Thompson Bricher, At the South Head, Grand Manan. Oil on canvas, 55 7/8 x 45 3/4 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
Thomas Hart Benton, First Crop. Gouache on paper, 21 x 29 3/4 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
Feodor Zakharov, View of the Shimmering Sea from Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Oil on canvas, 32 x 45 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
Peter Hurd, American (1904-1984), Summer Storm Over the Jemez Mountains, c. 1955. Watercolor, 36″ x 27″. Collection of the Carlsbad Museum & Art Center, Carlsbad, NM, USA.
Visual Arts
Grade 1
4: Winds of Change
3 30-minute lessons
drawing
How can students discuss how artist use symbols of wind to depict mood in their art?
After viewing the artwork of others, what moods will students create in their own art using symbols of wind?
I can understand and discuss that art can communicate feeling by using symbols of wind.
I can make my own art using symbols of wind.
Lead a discussion: can one see the wind?
Display the art images and discuss by asking the students,
Then, demonstrate how students can use oil pastels to create “wind” within a piece of art with van Gogh Post-Impressionist style of short, almost parallel strokes; overlapping colors to blend the oil pastels; and using paper towels to blend the colors. Additionally, the teacher cites objects that are affected by wind… Sailboat in the composition, trees leaning, etc.
As students work on their wind compositions, circulate. Encourage students to blend their oil pastels to create new colors and to include details in their drawings.
In this art lesson, we used our drawing skills to show what the wind looks like. Similarly, good writers don’t just tell us what characters and settings are like, they also show us.
Display At the South Head, Grand Manan and write the sentence, “It was a windy day” on the board. Ask, “What do you see in this painting that tells you it is windy?” Have students look closely at the painting for 30 seconds before taking responses.
As students share their observations, paraphrase them and press for details. (For example, “What about the waves tells you that it is windy?”)
Write responses on the board in complete sentences to illustrate other ways of saying “It was a windy day.”
If you have time for a writing activity, have students write three sentences that illustrate a windy day using their own artwork as a basis.
Modification: Crayola's water-based oil pastels can be blended with wet wipes for a more watercolor-like effect.
Students will create an artwork that includes visible wind and includes objects effected by the wind. Examples might include a kite flying, grass leaning, and so on.
white sulphite paper (12”x18”), oil pastels, paper towels
winds, clouds, breeze, sail, land, sea, ocean
Alfred Thompson Bricher, American, At the South Head, Grand Manan, 1880s. Oil on canvas, 55 7/8 x 45 3/4 (141.9 x 116.2 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Museum purchase with funds provided by the John A. Schwarz III and Anita Eerdmans Schwarz Family Endowment, 2002.18.1. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.
Thomas Hart Benton, First Crop, 1944. Gouache on paper, 21 x 29 3/4 inches (53.3 x 75.6 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Bequest of Louise and Alvin Myerberg, 2010.3.1. ©T.H. Benton and R.P. Benton Testamentary Trusts / UMB Bank Trustee / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.
Feodor Zakharov, American, View of the Shimmering Sea from Woods Hole, Massachusetts, c. 1927. Oil on canvas, 32 x 45 inches (81.3 x 114.3 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Museum purchase, 1996.6.1. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.
Peter Hurd, American (1904-1984), Summer Storm Over the Jemez Mountains, c. 1955. Watercolor, 36″ x 27″. Collection of the Carlsbad Museum & Art Center, Carlsbad, NM, USA.