Oil Pastel Horses

     My wonderful friend Mrs. Susa at Lake Elementary School passed this great lesson idea on to me, and I thought we'd give it a try here at Suffield.  I am AMAZED by the incredible work our fifth grade artists created!  For the lesson, we looked at the role of the horse throughout art history (cave paintings, Native American hide paintings, Remington, Degas, Butterfield, etc.!), and then we started simple horse sketches (using pretty much just circles and ovals) and the students layered oil pastels from there.  We looked at a few artists who included unexpected colors in their work, and many students decided to try this too.

     To make these vibrant colors, the fifth graders created white oil pastel bases by using the side of the pastel.  Then they layered other colors to "build up" a life-like horse.  We also talked about highlights and shadows and the students were challenged to not just include these light and dark areas in the eyes, but also in the hair and other places.  They finished by making backgrounds of their choice in colors that would compliment their horses.