Jelly Fish Mixed Media Value Lesson
This lesson teaches children about the elements of art called value. Value is the lightness or darkness of a color. Students practiced two ways to create values with paint & dry pastels. They mixed black & white with blue to create differnent values of blue for the ocean.
I saw a project similar to this on pinterest & have hard time tracking down exactly who the project belongs too- so this is not my original lesson. The link I found was on Flicker called My Student’s Work By Pumpkin Chief. So credit for this lesson should go to this person!
Here is the lesson from my perspective:
Objectives: Students will learn about the element of art called value. Value can be used to show distance and give the illusion of form (3D). Students will learn that mixing black or white with a color will create different color values.
Supplies: 12×18″ tagboard, tempera paint (black, white & blue or torquiouse), paint brushes, dry pastels
- Value is the lightness or darkness of a color.
- ASK: How do you think different values are created? What color could you add to another color to make it lighter? (White, yellow, any color that is lighter than the original color) This is called a TINT
- What color could you add to another color to make it darker? (black, brown, blue, or any color that is lighter than the original color) This is called a SHADE
- Practice Sheet: Value-Tint & Shade of a Color-Elem
- Values can be made by a couple different ways (demo): by varying the pressure of you hand, by mixing white or black (or a darker color) to another color. We will use both of these techniques in our project.
- We looked at pictures of jellyfish under the sea (specifically with the sunlight shining behind them).
Instructions for Background:
- Have students draw 5 concentric circles on the tagboard in pencil.
- Beginning with the innermost circle mix a little bit of blue into white paint & paint the smallest circle.
- In the next circle, mix a little more blue into the first mixture. Make sure there is a visable difference in value.
- Again, in the 3rd circle mix so that it is mostly blue with a little white & paint in the area.
- In the 4th circle, paint pure blue.
- In the 5th circle mix a little bit of black into blue & paint the area.
- In the last circle, mix more black in & paint the area.
Instructions for Jellyfish: (Demo how to draw a jellyfish)
- Use dry pastels in various colors to draw the outline of the jellyfish (draw 3 of varying sizes).
- Use your finger to smudge inward toward the center of the jellyfish. This will give it a transparent look.
- Add a little white to the side that is facing the sunlight shining in.
- At the bottom of the drawing add in the sea floor with seaweed & coral.
If you choose to use this lesson or to repost it, please link it back to my blog. Create Art with ME