Impressionists

Welcome to the Impressionists and one of the most famous art styles in the history of art!

Impressionism changed the way we look at and produce art. In this unit, students will be introduced to some of the most well-known Impressionists, including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and, importantly, two of the female Impressionists, Mary Cassat and Berthe Morisot.

A broad range of media is covered, including acrylic paint, mixed media, oil pastel, chalk pastel and collage. Students will  experiment with some fun and interesting ways of applying paint, including sponging and finger printing as well as more traditional applications using brushes.  

Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2

Students will love using paint and coloured papers to create a delightful Monet-style waterlily artwork. They will enjoy mixing colours to create their dappled background before constructing beautiful lilies from layers of tissue. The Monet tulip drawing will teach young students key observational skills and they will have the opportunity to use colour and detail to create a lovely collection of tulips in oil pastel.

Animal lovers will enjoy creating a cute puppy in the Berthe Morisot puppy lesson plan, where they can use their fingers to create the shape and texture of this adorable puppy. Students will complete their puppy with a cute bell and collar.   

Grade 3 and 4

In the 3-4 unit, students will use more complex techniques to create detailed artworks such as the Monet tulip field. In this project, students will have fun creating a colourful patchwork field of tulips using acrylic paint and will use simple mark making techniques and collage to add details in the style of the Impressionists themselves.

Students will love the array of media and techniques offered in the Mary Cassat project, where they will combine collage, sponging with acrylic and drawing with oil pastel to create a whimsical vase of irises.  

Grade 5 and 6

Students in this age group will focus on using traditional media and techniques, as they use soft pastels to create the Degas ballerina drawing. They will focus on perspective, tone, shading and colour selection as they create a delicate pastel artwork of a ballet dancer.

Students will love the way they can apply and layer media to create depth and texture as they emulate the painting style of Monet in the Monet’s Garden painting and drawing project. They will practice mixing and applying colours in various tones to create a serene backdrop before using oil pastel to add detail and make their bridge painting come to life.