Henri Rousseau Elementary Art Lesson Pre-K to 6th Grade

 

Josey’s Art School

Presents

Studying Art with the Masters

By

Robin Norgren, M.A.

This Lesson:

Henri Rousseau

Snake Line Cartooning Lesson


“Surprise”

-Henri Rousseau

 

Discussion

·      Henri Rousseau is famous for his jungle paintings.

·      Henri Rousseau never saw a jungle because he never left France!

·      These paintings were all created from his imagination.

 

Source: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/henri-rousseau-jungles-paris

 

 Materials needed


Pencil (to write the child’s name on the back of the work)

Black pen

8.5x11 or 9x12 white cardstock/precut poster board/watercolor paper– something with a bit more stability to it than copy paper in order to withstand the amount of paint your students will be using.  You will need enough for each participant to use as the base for his/her artwork

This is a lesson that can be adapted in many ways depending on the age and skill level of your classroom. 

Options:  Fill in the drawing with color using ANY of these options: crayons, markers, watercolor paint, colored pencils, acrylic paint (in my example I am using watercolor paint)

Ruler (optional)

Baby wipes

Aprons

Length of Time/Duration of project:

30 minutes

Prep work:

Gather the materials.  For younger students, you may choose to divide the page into 2 quadrants using a dotted line.  This should take no more than about 20 minutes

Instructions

1.   Take your piece of paper that you are using as the base for the project and write the child’s name on the back of the paper or let them write their names on their own.

 

 

2.   Divide the page into 2 equal quadrants – you can prep the page beforehand OR your older students can divide the page using a ruler.


3.   Draw a diagonal line starting from underneath the horizontal dotted line that reaches to the other side of the paper.  Then draw a PARALLEL line above the first line. 

 

4.   Draw a squiggly line that begins underneath the tree branch and loops above and below the branch.  The student can decide if he/she wants the head of the snake to be ABOVE or BELOW the branch.


5.   Draw a parallel line above the first squiggly line.  Before you begin creating this line, make sure to think about how WIDE you want the snake body to be.  For example, if you are creating a CERTAIN TYPE of snake, think about the width of that snake.

 

6.   Begin to design the skin/body of the snake.  In my example I create a rattle on the tail of the snake. The tongue helps to distinguish that you are drawing a snake. 



7.   Add branches to the tree.  Add leaves or flowers to the branches if you like.


8.   For this lesson, I had the students traces the lines with crayon and paint with watercolor paint.

 

Find all my art lessons over on Teachers Pay Teachers:

CLICK HERE: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Joseys-Art-School

9.       

Look at my free art videos on YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbQExZltWJHERASlzbZ6nLtjeqvpAgLY7