The Art of Observation in Fourth Grade

The fourth grade artists have been honing their composition skills and are developing a more complex art vocabulary to describe their artistic process. After brainstorming, the fourth graders determined that observational drawing is defined by an artist carefully considering the object or view in front of them and attempting to re-create that in their artwork.

Drawing at Meadowbrook Farm

We had an opportunity to practice our observational drawing skills while on our first field trip to Meadowbrook Farm, in conjunction with Science class. The fourth grade students are thrilled that we will be visiting again soon and will have the chance to sketch the beautiful scenery.

Drawings from Meadowbrook Farm

Back in the classroom, the fourth grade artists created contour line drawings of still life objects. After carefully tracing four copies of their drawing, they learned four new watercolor techniques and applied a different technique to each copy. The students are able to compare the effects created by using wet-on-wet, resist, dry-brush and salt watercolor methods. They are very excited that they will be able to apply these techniques while creating their observational watercolor paintings on the Shore Trip!

Comparing the 4 Watercolor Techniques