Each of the 5th graders has now completed — or nearly so — a personal kind of Impressionist painting by studying the work of the Impressionists (Monet, Sisley, Morisot, Pissarro), copying one of their paintings, and then altering the image to include a personal item which reflects something about each student’s own interests or passions.

After making a basic sketch of the landscape earlier in the first semester, the students started by painting variations of the dominant color (mixed by hand on each student’s own palette) and then developed the painting using the Impressionist technique, using many tints and complementary colors, and creating dark areas and shadows without using the color black and by creating their own browns. One major emphasis was for the students to become independent studio artists: to be able to manage their materials and decision-making, all while continually reflecting on their artwork, taking risks with media and techniques, and being open-minded as they attempted new processes and ideas.