To create these magic trees we paint a chromatic shade with tempera colors on a drawing sheet. First we start the shade with yellow: we add a little amount of red into the yellow paint and proceed painting the orange tint until we reach the pure red. After that we add a little amount of blue into the red paint and proceed painting the purple tint. In order to obtain this chromatic shade we need to work quickly, because the painting on the sheet has to be wet for being shaded. Take care to mix the color on the palette and on the sheet before it becomes dry.
After creating the chromatic shade, the students have drawn the silhouette of a tree on the colored background, inspired by the shape of oaks. We colored the negative space of the image with black paint in order to emphasize the shaded colors of the tree. At the end the silhouette of the tree has been decorated with free zentangle, making these trees even more magic.
Beautiful! What age group? Thanks for positng!
Hi Lori, thanks for your comment! The students are 12 years old, but I think you can do it even with younger kids 🙂
Thank you for your response. I love your blog – I gain a lot of inspiration from it. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas with us all!
They look beautiful!
Thanks Patricia! 🙂
Splendidi!
These are great. Yay, something new, easy, beautiful, and sure to give kids feeling of success. I am going to use first thing next year with my 3rd-8th graders. Maybe even my k-2. Thanks for all your wonderful art projects. Jennifer Tineo Graham, San Diego, CA USA
Hi Jennifer! I’m glad to be useful with my idea, I hope you and your students enjoy the lesson, even because you seem to me a lovely, enthusiastic teacher who loves her job. Nice to meet you !!!! 🙂
I have a question!? What kind of markers/pens did you use with this lesson? I find that sharpee markers have trouble writing over tempera paint.
Hi Penny. We used normal black pens or black colored pencils. We used also black felt-tip pens