If you're like me, you're always looking for new ways to teach about the Elements of Art and the Principles of Design. This lesson allows for discussion and execution of many concepts that are included within these two areas. This lesson also is a multidisciplinary lesson, (aren't they all?)
One day one we looked at examples of landscapes and discussed why these were unique. Many of the early Chinese landscapes were created by artists as an escape from political chaos. Landscapes became a retreat so that the artist could be more in tune with the peacefulness found in nature. Landscape painting was and still is considered the highest form of Chinese painting.
Spatial relationships are easy to see in many Chinese landscapes. You can see that we created the foreground, middle and background. Next we painted trees and added signatures with Chinese characters, using the traditional vertical format. Blossoms were added using cotton swabs and various tints of red.
