Winter Fox Paintings Grade 1/2

 

Lesson Background:

There are many winter fox art projects online such as this one http://littledogartblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/5th-grade-winter-fox-paintings.html

I combined lots of ideas to create these foxes.

This was a directed drawing lesson. Directed drawing (i.e. modelling step-by-step) elicits great discussions, exposing students to vocabulary they encounter in art and maths. Students are hearing and putting into action phrases such as “half way down the page”, “curved line”, “straight line”, “triangle shape”, “a quarter of the way down this shape”, etc. Once students had drawn the basic fox shape, they were encouraged to be artists and make it their own. Some chose to have white paws, pink ears, pink cheeks, blue trees, birch trees, falling snow, “cute” eyes, “closed eyes”, whiskers, grass, and many other variations. I love how unique they all are.

Lesson Materials (per student):

1 thin and 1 medium paintbrush

1 sheet A3 light blue paper (trimmed ready for backing)

acrylic paint (I provided orange, red, white, blue, black, brown)

water pots

thick black sharpies or whiteboard markers

My Sample artwork:

Lesson Steps

1. We looked at photos of foxes, including the one that lived in my backyard when I was teaching in England back in 2006. We also read stories and non fiction books about foxes in winter.

2. I showed the students how to draw the fox and background, step-by-step, offering lots of chances to individualise their foxes (different eyes, whiskers, type of trees, etc.). Students followed along with their lead pencils.

3. I modelled how to paint one section at a time, offering ideas such as using dabs of paint for a more "messy" impressionistic style, or smooth blended strokes for a more realistic look. I also showed them how to add texture to the fur with little lines or dabs, how to blend a little black into the snow to show shadows, etc.

4. Once dry, the students used markers to outline. We actually found our thick black whiteboard markers worked best (particularly on paintings that had "gone out of the lines" a lot).

Student Artworks: