Composition is hard. How do you know when a picture “looks” right? That’s what I asked my fourth graders today. We talked about what grabbed our attention and how our eyes travelled around the page. I used student art to demonstrate compositions that were effective.
Creating a balanced picture was our goal. Fish were our subject and a special concoction of magic paint was our medium.
SUPPLIES:
- Sharpies
- Paper
- Mod-Podge
- Watercolor paints
- Glitter watercolor paint
Here’s what we did:
Draw a tropical fish using a waterproof marker (we used Sharpies). I told the kids to draw as many fish as they would like but to arrange the fish to create a balanced picture. Of course, some kids couldn’t be persuaded to draw more than one fish, but that was fine by me.
Using a blend of Mod-Podge, glitter watercolor paint and a splash of concentrated watercolor paint, the kids chose one color to paint their background.
After the background, the kids painted their fish.
This lesson took 2 45-minute sessions. Only a few didn’t finish.
Fourth grade watercolor fish…
FIND MORE FISH ART LESSONS IN THE SUMMER FUN BUNDLES INSIDE THE MEMBERS CLUB.
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I just finished this fish project with my 5th grade class,however,I decided to let them create the under water ocean scene instead of leaving it one color. We used the liquid watercolor for the first time. They put salt in the water of their oceans. They loved seeing the chemical reaction with the salt and water. They were great. I’ll be using the liquid watercolors a lot more than the cake watercolors. They were so vivid and easier to work with. They turned out great. Thanks for your wonderful suggestions. I have used several of your lesson plans.