1st grade Monet paintings

1st Grade Monet Paintings

For this lesson, Students were influenced by Monet's paintings of his pond and lily pads. 

 Monet had an interesting life which makes for a great introduction to any art lesson. He lived in poverty when he first started painting, but eventually his paintings began to sell. He was then able to buy his famous home in Giverny, France.  He almost went blind from cataracts but continued to paint.
We discussed impressionist painting and I shared many of his paintings of his lily pond. Students tried to determine what season and time of day the paintings were created.

 We then drew a bridge together with oil pastels. 

 Students painted watercolors over their drawings and added salt to create a textured effect. They loved this! 

 The next class period students drew lily pads with oil pastels and added tissue paper flowers. 

They really loved making these!