Impressionist Christmas Trees

1. ImpressionistChristmas Trees First Grade

2. Materials: - 12x19 watercolor paper 9x12 scratch paper pencils scissors paint trays tempera brushes (small and large) sponges tempera paint (gold glitter, brown, light green, dark green, white, yellow) water

3. Directions • Paint the entire 12x19 piece of paper with gold glitter paint. • Paint the bottom brown for the floor. • Set aside to dry. • Fold the scratch paper in half lengthwise and draw half of a large triangle on the paper, then cut it out. • Place the triangle stencil on the painted paper. • Sponge the light green paint over the triangle and then follow with the dark green.

4. Directions Continued • Remove the stencil and using the sponge, soften the edges to make the tree look more realistic. • With a brush, paint a red circle at the bottom of the tree for a tree skirt. • Use brown paint to make a rectangle at the bottom of the tree for the trunk. • Use the small paint brush to paint white lights onto the tree (brainstorm with the class what lights can look like on a tree.)

5. Directions Continued • Use the small brush to paint red ornaments on the tree. • Use the small brush to paint a yellow star on the top of the tree. • Touch up any spots on the background with the gold paint.

7. Vocabulary: Realistic - expressing an awareness of things as they really are. Impressionism - a style of painting originating and developed in France during the 1870s, characterized by concentration on the immediate visual impression produced by a scene and by the use of unmixed primary colors and small strokes to simulate actual reflected light. Artists include Monet, Renoir, Pissarro and Sisley.