Mixed Media and Expressionist Landscapes

Are you looking to brighten up your classroom or creative space this winter? Well, you have come to just the right place. My students have been busy creating some fun, mixed media landscapes inspired by German Expressionist artists. I love the use of color and bold patterns that is expressed on their canvases.

This project requires lots of little hands creating many parts to create a whole large scale mural.

HOUSES

To start, 1st graders created these fun painted paper houses. These are made from old placemats we use when painting. Some painted paper scraps are then cut into trapezoid shapes for the roofs. Additional painted paper scraps were cut and glued down to create windows, doors, etc. Small round brushes and black tempera paint create the outlines on the windows and doors.

BLUE SKIES

Next, an entire 2nd grade class made these bold, brushstroke laden skies. Lots of color mixing and movement can be found in these beauties. The paper is large 36″ display bulletin board paper.

Monochromatic Green Grounds

Directions

Using rulers and pencils, students divided up a brown 18″ x 5′ long piece of paper. Next, using large brushes, students painted in the shapes with various shades of green. They mixed in whites and blues for added interest.

Once dried, glue the sky and the green painted ground together. Have students cut out small details and glue down.

CLOUDS

Another fun project is chalk and tempera paint clouds. Created by my 1st grade students in about 30 minutes, these are perfect for an added touch to the mural.

Directions

On 6″ x 12″ drawing paper, sketch out a large puffy cloud. Using chalk pastels, lightly shade the cloud in with one color. Next, outline the cloud using bright, colorful tempera paints.

TREES

Don’t forget some fun trees for your landscape too! These were also created by 1st graders.

Directions

First, create triangles and stack on top of each other to make a tree. Next, use tempera paint and fill in the triangle shapes. Stamp the edge of the tree with the edge of a piece of cardboard and a darker color paint to outline the tree. Use oil pastels in various shades of green and create little lines to represent the needles of the tree.