Sunset Silhouettes - Kindergarten

We did these sunset silhouettes in Kindergarten, though truly they could be done in any grade. The idea for this project came from Mt. Helix Academy.

INSTRUCTOR:
Shawna K.

GOAL:

This project began with a discussion about landscapes. Showed various landscapes including countrysides, villages, castles, city skylines, and beaches. Explained the word "silhouette." Students used orange and blue tempera paint to create a sunset landscape, with blues and purples for the water and reds, oranges, and yellows for the sunset. The students practiced sketching sailboat and ship silhouettes from pre-designed examples. The following week, the students practiced sketching their boats again, and selected a boat to draw on to their painted sunset. Once drawn, the students colored their boats with black marker to turn them into silhouettes.

SUPPLIES:
Watercolor paper, tempera paint in sunset colors and tempera paint in ocean colors, pencils, black Sharpies, sketch pads, and smocks.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Day 1: Because the students were so young and not very adept at using a ruler, I had the students fold their piece of paper about a quarter of the way up width-wise.  This separate the ocean from the sky, so the sky would take up 3/4 of the page and the ocean would take up 1/4.  Using tempera paint, the students painted the ocean and the sky.

Day 2: Once the orange and blue paint had dried, the students sketched their sailboats on to the sunset, just touching the blue water to make a silhouette.  The sketches were colored in with a fine black Sharpie.