Mommio: Art Class

This week in art class we finished our study of da Vinci by talking about the Mona Lisa.

We learned that da Vinci was a master at creating picture-perfect portraits because he was so good at portraying realistic proportions.  We also learned that he made human skin look real in his portraits by painting layer after layer and using color washes in between so that there would be no brush strokes to see in the final artwork.  The kids tried making their own portraits using a watercolor wash process today.  The first step was to draw the basics of the face with pencil on watercolor paper.  We talked about the size and placement of ears, eyes, nose and mouth on a human face as well as the basic shape of all of these things.

 Next the kids prepared their paint sets to do a color wash of the skin.  They put some water into one of the mixing areas of their paint set and then decided what skin tone they wanted.  For darker tones they mixed some brown and red into the water.  For lighter tones they mixed orange and yellow.

 After creating their color wash the kids brushed a generous layer of water over the surface of their paper.

 Next they applied the color wash to the skin.

 After the color wash areas dried they used their watercolors to add detail to the portrait and 

create a background.

 Here's a look at what they created.

 For homework they will use the same process to create self-portraits.  And next time we move onto Michelangelo and will do some ceiling painting (on our backs under a table) and apple carving.
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