Winslow Homer Inspired Ship Paintings

The second grade has made a dramatic shift from abstraction to realism. And, who better to inspire realism? But, Winslow Homer! After learning about the American artist’s life and artwork (including his usage of foreground, middle ground, and background), students created an observational drawing of model ships in perspective. Students had the advantage of looking closely at some really cool ships in the art room, and drawing what they saw – in perspective! These drawings were then transformed into watercolor paintings by using new techniques like the watercolor wash and adding salt for a clever effect.

 

Perspective Activity

After learning about the life and artwork of American Artist Winslow Homer, students began a perspective activity. This is in preparation for a larger painting the students will create beginning at the end of the week. We studied how Homer creates an illusion of depth in many of his paintings by altering the size of objects and people in the foreground, middle ground, and background. Things in the foreground, of course, appear much larger; while, things in the background can appear teeny-tiny. We explored this as a class by splitting our paper into three sections: foreground, middle ground, and background. Then, students tried their hand at drawing simple objects varying in size, but in the appropriate section of the page. The grand finale was learning how to draw a stone or dirt path that travels through all sections of the page.

Some student examples...