Japanese Footbridge

Kindergarten Art Lesson
3 Class Periods

Japanese Footbridge, Kindergarten Art Lesson

About the Artist:
Claude Monet was an Impressionist painter born November 14, 1840 in Paris, France.  Claude Monet loved to paint outside.  He is recognized by his big bushy beard and the fact that he is usually photographed wearing a hat. 

Claude Monet

As a class we examined numerous paintings by Claude Monet.  Students noticed that Monet painted the same subject matter over and over again, however the paintings did not look identical.

We discussed how Monet was fascinated with light. The color of the paintings all depending on what time of day Claude Monet went outside to paint.

We, also discussed that the more you practice something the better you become at it.  The paintings we looked at in detail are Haystacks, Water Lily, and The Japanese Footbridge. 

Haystacks by Claude Monet.

Water Lily by Claude Monet.

 

The Japanese Footbridge by Claude Monet.

Can you find Monet on the Japanese Footbridge?

Day 1:

• Students viewed a power point presentation on Claude Monet. Numerous examples were looked at and discussed.
• A photograph of each child was taken, printed and saved for day 3 of this lesson.

Day 2:

• Together as a class we painted the background landscape for our Japanese Footbridge compositions.
• Students were only allowed to use the colors: white, blue, yellow and red.
• Brushes were not used for this step.  Student could only use their fingers.  We discussed proper finger painting techniques.
• Colors were mixed only on the paper using a swipe or tapping motion with our fingers.  The idea was to capture an Impressionist (up close paintings appear messy and fuzzy, but when viewed from afar the pieces become more focused) feel to mimic the style of the artist.

Student finger painting background for composition.

• Paintings were set aside to dry.

Day 3:

• Students created a frame out of construction paper to place around the painting.
• Photographs were handed back and student bubble cut around their image and glued it to the center of their lily pond.
• A brown bridge was painted on top to make it appear as if the child was standing on the Japanese Footbridge just like Claude Monet!

Examples of Student Work: