Chalk Landscapes

This is a very easy and fun project to do with  kids. It really allows them to be creative. I began this lesson by talking about landscapes and the different types of landscapes. This is also a great activity to discuss foreground, middle ground and background. We viewed and discussed several examples of landscapes before making our own. The students got very excited about this project and asked, "Can we make an ocean?" "Can we make a sunset?" Yes! Yes! Yes!

The materials you will need for this project are:

1 sheet of white paper

1 sheet of paper of any color that is the same size as your white paper (this will be your scrap paper)

Paper towels

Chalk pastels (These are available at any crafts or art store and very affordable. Regular colored chalk could probably be used but the effects will not be as vivid. I haven't tried it myself)

Spray fixative

Crayons

The first step is to tear the sheet of scrap paper in half so that the torn edge is sort of wavy and interesting, not straight across. Then, have the children think about what type of landscape they are creating because this will influence what colors they choose. Are they doing hills and valleys, a desert, maybe a seascape?

In this case, the student was doing a field so she began with green chalk. The scrap piece of paper is placed on top of and near the top of the white paper. The student draws a heavy, thick line with the green chalk on the torn edge of the white paper.

Now, she takes a clean paper towel and uses it to smudge that chalk line all the way up to the edge of the paper (We were rather rebellious here and did not cover the workspace with newspaper. That is not recommended).

Lift off the scrap paper and you have the first layer of your landscape. Now, the student can choose to use the other side of the paper or the other torn half of the paper to make different shapes on their landscape.

Move the scrap piece of paper down about an inch, choose another color of chalk and repeat this step.

The student continues with this process until she is about 2/3 of the way down the page. This student only used three colors but I encouraged 3-4.

Next, the student turns the paper around so that it is "upside down" and voila! A beautiful landscape. I let the students who wanted to, fill in their sky or other elements with crayons. Lastly, spray these with a fixative or aerosol hairspray. Make sure to test on a scrap piece of paper. Some fixatives leave dots or a film on the artwork.