6th  Grade:  Lesson  6  (May)  

Activity: Layered Arizona Landscape

Objectives:

• Students will be able to understand how a work of art can serve as both a historical document and art object.

• Recognize native Arizona plant life, wildlife, and landmarks in the painting.

Definitions:

• Foreground: The portion of the picture plane that appears closest to the viewer.

• Middle ground: The space between the foreground and the background.

• Background: The portion of the picture plane that appears farthest from the viewer.

Art Masterpiece: Chain of Spires Along the Gila River, (1855) by John Mix Stanley

6th  Grade:  Lesson  6  (May)  

About the Artist:

• John Mix Stanley was the first non-Indian American artist to visit and document present-day Arizona. Born in upstate New York, Stanley’s early exposure to local Native Americans motivated his travels to Arkansas, Texas, and New Mexico, and prompted his interest in recording unknown regions.

• In 1846, Stanley was hired to accompany a military expedition from Santa Fe to San Diego during the Mexican-American War. Prior to the wide-spread use of cameras, government surveys employed artists to record images of the plants, animals, and landscape they encountered.

• Throughout this journey, Stanley made detailed sketches of the plants, animals, and landscapes seen along the way. These sketches were later published in the official record of the government expedition.

About the Artwork:

• Chain of Spires Along the Gila River is one of the earliest paintings of Arizona and is based of field sketches Stanley created during his 1846 journey through the Southwest. The location of the scene is approximately 40 miles southeast of Phoenix, north of the Gila River.

• Nine years after making his initial drawings, Stanley returned to his Washington, D.C. studio to bring together his multiple sketches into a single painted composition. The artist chose to depict the region as a lush garden illuminated in golden light. He incorporated native plants and wildlife from where the Gila River once flowed freely.

Discussion:

• Identify the artwork’s foreground, middle ground, and background. • What plants do you recognize? (jumping cholla, agave plant, and

flowering prickly pear in the foreground; palo verde tree, saguaro and barrel cactus in the middle ground)

• What animals do you recognize? (deer, owl)

6th  Grade:  Lesson  6  (May)  

• What landmarks do you see? (Gila River, spires, mountains, cliffs) • Is Chain of Spires Along the Gila River a landscape we might see in our

desert environment today? • Discuss John Stanley’s artistic process of recording sketches on-site

and later (much later) composing them into a painting in his studio. How might Stanley’s working style have influenced his painting? Do you think he might have “idealized” the landscape?

Activity: Layered Arizona Landscape

1) Pass out one piece of white construction paper to each student, and have them write their names on the back. Have them turn their paper to the horizontal (“landscape”) position, and place a paper towel underneath each student’s paper.

2) Explain to the students that they will be doing a watercolor wash. a. The top 1/3 of the paper will be the sky, so it will be washed in blue,

leaving some blank spots to represent white clouds. b. The middle 1/3 should be painted orange, to represent the cliffs,

spires, and desert plateaus of the Arizona landscape. c. The bottom 1/3 should be painted green, to represent the green

shrubs and grass. The watercolor washes do not need to be detailed—long horizontal strokes with a large brush are sufficient.

d. If students wish, they can do an “Arizona sunset” wash, and add some purple and a round orange setting sun to the blue sky.

3) Pass out the watercolor trays, water cups, and brushes. Allow students to complete their watercolor wash, covering the entire page with wet color. Collect the paints, brushes, and discard the cups. Allow the paintings to dry while completing the next step.

4) Pass out scissors, 1/2 sheet of orange construction paper with optional sandstone landscape printed on one side, and 1/2 sheet of green construction paper with optional vegetation landscape printed on one side. Students should cut out both landscapes. They can simply follow the cutting lines already printed on the paper, or they can draw and cut out

6th  Grade:  Lesson  6  (May)  

their own landscape. Only one side will show when glued into place, so the optional printed lines will be covered. Demonstrate how to cut out the center of the orange sandstone arch by cutting through the punched hole to access the cutting lines.

5) Have students layer their orange landscape, then the green vegetation on top of their painted watercolor wash, aligning the sides with the side of the background. The watercolor wash is the background, the orange cutout landscape is the middle ground, and the green vegetation cutout is the foreground. Pass out glue bottles, and have the students glue the construction paper into place. It is okay if the watercolor wash is still damp because the glue will still work (everything will dry together).

6) Pass out 1 small strip of aluminum foil to each student, and have the students create a shiny river to flow through the middle ground and foreground. It can be glued into place on the front, and folded over the bottom edge to secure on the back with a piece of tape.

7) Collect the scissors and glue, and have the students discard the paper and aluminum scraps. Their Arizona layered landscape is now complete. Allow the artwork to dry completely before displaying or sending home.

Materials Needed:

• 9 x 12-inch white construction paper • Paper towels • Watercolor sets • Large watercolor brushes • Water cups • 1/2 sheet of orange construction paper copied with landscape • 1/2 sheet of green construction paper copied with vegetation • Scissors • Glue • 6-inch x 3-inch strips of aluminum foil • Tape to secure foil to back of construction paper

6th  Grade:  Lesson  6  (May)  

Artwork Examples: