Kevin Henkes' picture book, Old Bear, is a magical and beautifully illustrated story of a bear dreaming through the seasons during a long winter sleep. The students were immediately drawn to the snow covered page, where the night sky is lit with the most colourful, glowing stars. The story reads...
After that, he (Old Bear) dreamed that winter was back. The world was covered in ice. It was night and he sky was blazing with stars of all colours. The cold went on forever.
Although I had a different background in mind, it was impossible not to validate their enthusiasm and let the starlit night sky inspire their work.
Old Bear was drawn using directed drawing, a step by step strategy that supports students in drawing or in this case painting, successful and real looking bears. It involves good listening skills and scaffolds the process so all students can take risks and create something to be proud of. We focused on drawing big organic, overlapping shapes with oil pastels. We weren't concerned with being perfect, rather with achieving a recognizable bear shape. We'd add the details later. They dove right in.
Next came brown paint, and lots of it. Old Bear was painted in using long brush strokes. We were too worried about staying in the lines either, because we would be outlining the bear in black after and then cutting him out too. Using a thinner brush, black paint defined Old Bear's shape and added some texture around his face and underbelly using short strokes. Once dry, we decided to help with the cutting, to ensure the bold black outline was left intact.
Day two: background. We opted for white paper over blue. We tested white paint on blue construction and it just didn't pop, so white it was. First, we discussed the horizon line and looked at some examples in other books. We defined it simply as the line dividing the land and the sky. Makes sense. The horizon line was drawn in blue oil pastel first, followed by the trees and the large moon. Colourful pastels punctuate the sky in a simple star design created with a lower case t and x layered on top. Once satisfied with the abundance of stars lighting their winter skies, paint was added to set them aglow. This was a little challenging using the tempera puck paints. Navigating the perfect ratio of paint to water on the brush was tricky. Some stars came out darker than hoped, but the artists started to get the hang of it through trial and error which was pretty cool to observe. Once dry, Old Bear was thoughtfully placed in the foreground of the magical scene. Just beautiful.
After that, he (Old Bear) dreamed that winter was back. The world was covered in ice. It was night and he sky was blazing with stars of all colours. The cold went on forever.
Although I had a different background in mind, it was impossible not to validate their enthusiasm and let the starlit night sky inspire their work.
Old Bear was drawn using directed drawing, a step by step strategy that supports students in drawing or in this case painting, successful and real looking bears. It involves good listening skills and scaffolds the process so all students can take risks and create something to be proud of. We focused on drawing big organic, overlapping shapes with oil pastels. We weren't concerned with being perfect, rather with achieving a recognizable bear shape. We'd add the details later. They dove right in.
Next came brown paint, and lots of it. Old Bear was painted in using long brush strokes. We were too worried about staying in the lines either, because we would be outlining the bear in black after and then cutting him out too. Using a thinner brush, black paint defined Old Bear's shape and added some texture around his face and underbelly using short strokes. Once dry, we decided to help with the cutting, to ensure the bold black outline was left intact.
Day two: background. We opted for white paper over blue. We tested white paint on blue construction and it just didn't pop, so white it was. First, we discussed the horizon line and looked at some examples in other books. We defined it simply as the line dividing the land and the sky. Makes sense. The horizon line was drawn in blue oil pastel first, followed by the trees and the large moon. Colourful pastels punctuate the sky in a simple star design created with a lower case t and x layered on top. Once satisfied with the abundance of stars lighting their winter skies, paint was added to set them aglow. This was a little challenging using the tempera puck paints. Navigating the perfect ratio of paint to water on the brush was tricky. Some stars came out darker than hoped, but the artists started to get the hang of it through trial and error which was pretty cool to observe. Once dry, Old Bear was thoughtfully placed in the foreground of the magical scene. Just beautiful.
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