"If I Were A Tree"

Last week in Art Through Children's Literature we read the book "If I Were A Tree" by Dar Hosta .  Dar Hosta (prononced hoasta, with a long "o") is an award-winning collage artist who specializes in children's books. She combines unique papers, paints, pastels, metallics and other creative elements to show brilliant scenes and fantastic creatures that leap off the pages.  I am looking forward to introducing this class to more of her exciting and visually stimulating books.   Below are some examples of her tree art.

 

      Book Cover    Picture we used to inspire "Birch Trees" Art

     "Cobalt Tree Night"               "Owl's Tree"

After reading "If I Were A Tree" we focused on the line "If I were a tree, I would show you colorful leaves in the fall," which is illustrated with a warm colored birch tree. 

 We began our art by using watercolors to create a blue sky and green grass background for our tree to live in.  Next, using a smaller sheet of watercolor paper, we drew a tree with branches.  Some of the younger students traced their hands, transforming their fingers into branches. We cut these trees out and used black watercolors and toothbrushes to splatter on birch tree markings.  We glued our trees to our backgrounds so the trunk touched the ground. Lastly, we cut out leaves using warm colored construction paper and metallic paper and attached them to our branches.

Here are some examples of our "Fall Birch Trees"

              Victoria                                  Nicholas

             Adric                                              Aidan



        Jake                                          Yula

             

     

     Megan

*Some artwork did not have a name--if one of them is yours, please let me know!

Later during the day in The Sights and Sounds of the Seasons we celebrated the arrival of Autumn by learning more about collage art.  We collaborated to create a fall tree mural featuring cut paper, watercolor, and metallic elements.  First we applied a watercolor wash to a large paper background to create a sky.  Then I drew a big tree outline in a bold marker.  The children took turns covering the tree with glue and then using torn pieces of brown and gold papers to fill in the trunk and branches.  All students made leaves using a few different techniques.  We used washable markers on coffee filters and then spritzed them with water to diffuse the colors.  We also embellished cut paper leaves with markers and gold paint pens.

Here is the end result of all our hard work and collaboration!