Fall Pumpkins

This is a great project for teaching wet-on-wet painting techniques, color blending, and how to use space in an artwork.

We began by doing sketches of pumpkins. I made sure students used contour lines while drawing and focused on details like vines and leaves. Once students were comfortable sketching the pumpkins, they then transferred that drawing onto a large piece of paper. The students had to be very comfortable with the drawing, because the large drawing had to be done with glue! I did not let the students use pencil because once the glue dries, it becomes clear and the pencil drawing would become visible. These were left to dry overnight. The next day, I had the students use an ultra fine sharpie and outline all of the glue lines. It can be very difficult, and sometimes you may need to tilt the paper to be able to see where the glue is. Finally we were ready to paint! I showed the students how to use a wet-on-wet technique to spread color quickly, as well as how to blend analogous colors. You have to be sure to NOT paint over the glue lines, the glue does not resist the paint and can be very hard to remove.

These painting were very fun to do and extremely successful! I received many compliments and they made for a great Autumn display!