Grandma Moses "Winter In Vermont"

October 28, 2015

Grandma Moses "Winter in Vermont" - 5th Grade Art

Artwork shown above is by Alicia Frank taken from a Grandma Moses, “Winter in Vermont”

Grandma Moses, “Winter in Vermont”

Medium: Tempera paint and colored pencils

Reason for the lesson:  Element of Art is perspective.  To study the works of art from artist Grandma Moses and to use her style to paint a landscape picture.  This art uses layers of paint to add bold colors to paper.  This art is set in a colonial style small town in Vermont during winter.  5th grade teachers would like us to talk about colonial towns and the kind of stores, churches, buildings that were available in colonial towns.  We will label some of the building in our art. (Shoe Shop, Blacksmith, Market, Herbal Store, General Store, Doctor, Church, Pots and Pans)

Label:  5th grade, Grandma Moses, Tempera Paint, Landscape, Winter

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Prep Prior to Class:  Gather 5th grade box from the art closet.  Fill cups of water for rinsing.  Pick out art from Grandma Moses to display by document camera or library books provided in the box.  See this blog:  The art is different but the concepts are similar.  http://www.artforsmallhands.com/2013/02/in-style-of-grandma-moses.html?m=1

Class Time: 1 hour session and ½ hour session

Materials: 8 ½ x 11 white paper, pencils, colored pencils, water cups, paint cups, large and small paint brush, and paper towels.  The students should have pencils and colored pencils at their desk.  Provide large scratch piece of colored paper to protect desk and tap off excess paint.

Instructions to Lead Lesson:

Step 1:  Talk briefly about the life of Grandma Moses.  See this blog:

http://www.artforsmallhands.com/2013/02/in-style-of-grandma-moses.html?m=1

Discuss the main characteristics of Grandma Moses’ works: she painted from her memories; she divided her paper, painting the sky first, then the hills, then the cattle, and then the buildings and people; her paintings are cheerful and full of bright, pure colors; she used no shadows; and she showed perspective, or distance, by painting objects larger in the foreground (closest to the viewer) and smaller in the background (farthest from the viewer).

Describing her process, she said, “I paint from the top down. First the sky, then the mountains, then the hills, then the trees, then the houses, then the cattle, and then the people.” Her tiny figures cast no shadows and seem arrested in action. Her use of color relates to the seasons, such as white paint for winter scenes, light green for spring, deep green for summer, and brown for autumn. Working from her memories, she portrayed the way of life that she had once lived. She painted over 1,000 paintings, twenty-five of which she did after her 100th birthday.

We want to paint a “winter scene” as Grandma Moses would.  Begin by sketching the line of the sky, mountains and hills with pencil.  Then mix blue and white to create an icy blue...darker for the sky and lighter for the shading on the top of the hills.  Paint the sky first as Grandma Moses would then move to the hills.  Paint the road brown mixed with a little yellow.  When mixing colors take a dab of the two colors and lightly mix to make the new color so that you still see a variation of the two colors not a solid color.

While painting today remember to keep your brush dry and not to water down the paint.

The “snow” white isn’t painted. The paper is white.

Step 2:  

Next think about what type of colonial houses you would like to add to your painting.  For example, a Shoe Shop, Blacksmith, Market, Herbal Store, General Store, Doctor, Church, Pots and Pans shop.  You may sketch out your buildings along the road with a pencil.  Paint each simple building shape.

Step 3: Using a very dry brush gently tap your small brush in the black paint.  Tap some of the paint off on the scratch piece of paper.  Tap a thicker trunk of the tree.  Then gently tap branches to the side of the truck to create branches of a tree.  Gently tap bushes as well.

Step 4:  Add roofs to houses with ice cold blue or grey, windows and doors to houses in black paint with a small brush.  Add a fence in black.  Add snow details with ice cold blue with a medium brush with a small amount of paint.  The paint brush will be very dry.  Add drops of snow throughout the entire landscape and on top of the building and trees.

Step 5:

When project paint is dry, add details in colored pencils such as people, cars, wagon and horse, policeman, signs to name a few of the buildings throughout the town.