The Great Wave

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Claude Monet was taken with the beauty of Japanese Art especially woodcuts. In addition to painting and gardening Claude collected Japanese Art.


His home in Giverny, France had 231 woodblocks and Hokusai’s art was one of them. Many of Hokusai’s paintings were primarily landscapes. This inspired Monet to paint landscapes and eventually his waterlilies series.


Keeping with our Thematic Unit : Colors of the Sea, my 1st grade students created these beautiful paintings inspired by Hokusai. We used the wonderful book- The Great Wave written by Veronique Massenot and illustrated by Bruno Pilorget

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Hokusai’s most famous work is The Great Wave. 

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Supplies Needed:
• 12 x 18 Various shades of light construction paper
• Gray Pastels
• Blue and White Tempera Paint
• Large brushes

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Creating the Background
After examining this colorful book and its vibrant images, students created a gray value scale on the construction paper background using various shades of gray pastels. 

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Students shaded the lower part of their paper with dark charcoal gray, then proceeded with the lighter grays towards the top of the paper. 

Creating the Ocean and Wave

The Great Wave

Next, students took dark blue paint and painted the wave and water. We used the letter “C” to make a wave. After the dark blue, students used a lighter blue on top, then added white to represent the waves.  I love seeing the brush strokes in the waves.

 

Adding the Crest of the Waves

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Students used a foam brush to create the white crest on the waves.

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13 Comments

  • Phyl

    February 9, 2015 at 12:03 am

    Brilliant! I love the charcoal shading under the wave! Is the circle just a photo crop? It looks cool – maybe the kids would want their work round!

  • Paintedpaper

    February 9, 2015 at 12:19 am

    Thanks!!! It is a photo crop and I thought kids would like it too! 🙂

  • Sharpies, paint, and paper! Oh my!

    February 16, 2015 at 4:39 am

    I love these!

  • Danielle Smith

    February 27, 2016 at 2:32 pm

    What grade did you do this project with?

  • Paintedpaper

    February 29, 2016 at 12:59 am

    1st grade 🙂

  • Renae Syrett

    March 17, 2016 at 4:37 am

    I want to do this project with my art class on Friday and am wondering about the charcoal value shading underneath – is there an explanation you could give about why that is included? I'm guessing it makes the paint richer but I want to be able to explain it well to my students. Thanks so much – you're awesome!

  • Marie

    February 23, 2019 at 12:37 pm

    I did this with my class but used white packing peanuts for them to dip in the tempera paint. Looked great…however the overzealous ones who put a lot of paint on had paint chipping/falling off when it dried. In addition to applying less paint, what do you suggest?

    1. Laura

      February 24, 2019 at 10:35 am

      I try to demostrate when using too much paint the paint will flake off. I always share with my students this quote, “using too much paint is not always good. The paint will flake off your paper and you will not be pleased.” The more your students paint the more they will understand the process. 🙂

  • Rosemary

    March 9, 2021 at 9:50 am

    Where did you get your brush that you used for the crests of the waves? What is the purpose of the shading under the waves? Thanks!

    1. Laura

      May 9, 2021 at 7:40 pm

      To create a shadow under the wave.

  • Molly

    May 27, 2022 at 12:10 pm

    I would love to buy the foam brush–where is it sold/. Thank you!

    1. Laura

      May 28, 2022 at 8:24 pm

      These are the ones available at school speciality Roylco Funny Floppy Foam Paint Brushes, Set of 6

  • Jen

    January 6, 2023 at 12:47 pm

    Are those soft pastels? Would oil pastels work too or would it create an issue with the tempura paint?

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