Fireflies, Moonlit Landscape

I got this idea from Mary at http://marymaking.blogspot.com/ Thanks Mary!

We talked about landscapes, and how the light of the moon would effect a landscape. We talked about the coooool colors and dark silhouettes.

students had a great lesson on value before painting the moon!

Students blended the white and blue with a dry brush to form a smooth gradient

We then used green and yellow acrylic paint for the grass. We used this Pearlescent mixing medium for the silver shimmering fog.

We used black tempera paint for the trees. Students had to have foreground trees, middle ground trees, and background trees.

Then they used a silver oil pastel to highlight each branch on the side closest to the moon (light source)

then they made fireflies with silver sharpies, construction paper, and floral wire. We glued a piece of cardboard from a cut up box behind it for relief.

They added glow in the dark paint to the flies, moon, and background fireflies

These paintings turned out gorgeous! The kids LOVED them and the groups were excited whenever they came in the room to finish them.

The best part of this project was when a little girl came up to me with a huge smile on her face and said “ I LOVE my painting, Mrs. Waggenspack, I hung it on my wall and just stared at it glowing ALL night!”

It just made my day and made up for all the green and blue stains on my closes, the time it took to scrub the squished black oil pastels off the floor, and the frustration of having to count every silver sharpie after each class and still end up with one or two missing at the end of each day.