Monet's water lilies.

Students love the colors of Monet prints. The sunny yellows, misty blues, soft lavenders, and outrageous oranges. Using this as inspiration, I wanted students to discover new painting techniques and ways of planning a composition with more spontaneity. I wanted to introduce Claude Monet as a painter of the seemingly spontaneous, yet he actually used a careful eye and mind.

I introduced the lesson by discussing the life of the artist as a gardener. Students observed photographs taken from his garden, and paired them with his paintings. I explained how colors changed depending on the time of day, and why he painted the same subject over and over. This discussion brought us to his lily ponds. Students pointed to every color they saw, taking note that it was not just blue or green. When students began shouting colors like fuschia, magenta, and tangerine, I knew they were ready for this project.

During the first class, students were given a 12 x 18" piece of heavyweight paper and a set of oil pastels. (I previously removed the black and brown pastels so that students would not be tempted to color their paper with these.) We practiced making squiggly lines, or "curly hair scribbles" in the air. I told students to choose one cool color to scribble all over the paper--including the edges. Students chose one warm color to do the same, thus providing a basic review of the color wheel. The third color was the student's choice. They were instructed to overlap their lines and curls, but also to leave some white spaces for the paint.

The pastels were layered; now it was time to paint! I gathered my students around me to experiment with different techniques that can be accomplished using watercolors. Students wet their papers and painted on them, then compared that experience to painting on dry paper. This time we would use the wet-on-wet technique.

I demonstrated proper painting procedures such as washing the brush before changing colors. I mixed my sample painting together until I created mud--this warned students against over-mixing. For this project, it was best to let colors bleed together by accident rather than mix them.

A Magic Trick

At the beginning of the next class, students were each given three coffee filters and a set of markers. (Again, I removed black and brown.) Students were told to color designs on each of the filters with at least two colors. I told students that I was going to perform a magic trick with their lilies using a bucket of water, so they needed to leave white areas where the markers would bleed.

At the end of the day, I laid newspaper on top of my counter, and set out pieces of 9 x 12" construction paper for each student. Very quickly, I dipped each filter into the water and crumpled it into a ball. By tossing the filters onto the construction paper, each student was able to get his or her own lilies back. I let them dry overnight, and then stapled the construction paper into pockets.

Assembly

The third class was used to assemble the lilies and pads to their ponds. Before I redistributed the coffee filters back to each child, I demonstrated how to draw and cut out three lily pads from a 9 x 12" piece of green paper. "Oohs" and "Awws" of excitement flowed out into the hallway as students opened up their filters to a tie-dye-like design.

Students glued their lily pads in place. Then they used a cotton swab to dab glue at the center of that pad. We created the flower shape by crumpling the filter into a ball once more. I told students to open it back up and find the center with their thumb. Then we stuck the filter onto the glue dot. Voila! Our lilies were magnifique!

NATIONAL STANDARD Students use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.

WEB LINK www.fondation-monet.com/uk/ sommaire/

Materials

* 12 x 18" (30.5 x 46 cm) heavy drawing paper

* 9x12" (23 x 30.5 cm) scrap construction paper

* 9 x 12" (23 x 30.5 cm) green construction paper

* oil pastels

* watercolor paints

* large-tip watercolor brushes

* water containers

* coffee filters

* watercolor markers

* prints of Claude Monet's Giverny garden paintings

* photographs of the gardens at Giverny

Learning Objectives

1. To enhance student awareness of Claude Monet and Impressionist paintings.

2. To experiment with techniques of painting. a. Layering materials b. Wet-on-wet paper

Michelle Maroni is an art teacher at College Square Elementary School in Beaver, Pennsylvania. [e-mail]