blue heron 5 · heron. this line goes from the neck to the bottom right corner of the paper. from...

Blue HeronVALUE, TEXTURE & DECOPAUGE

TIME REQUIRED: Two sessions @ 40 minutes

D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E S P A R K L E R S C L U B !2

If you’ve ever seen a great blue heron in the wild,

you’ve surely been witness to the quiet, graceful

beauty that they exude. In this mixed media lesson,

students will draw a lone blue heron and découpage

with tissue paper to create the layered, overlapping

background. They will also explore layering

brushstrokes with watercolor paint to create different

values and texture in

their blue heron.

ABOUT THE BOOK The book Scoot by

Cathryn Falwell is a

great way to

introduce this lesson

to your students.

The mixed media illustrations are phenomenal and can

familiarize students with blue herons.

You can use the book as an opportunity to squeeze in a

little bit of art criticism into the opening of the lesson,

which will encourage students to closely examine and

critically think about the artwork.

Some sample questions you could ask:

Description: How would you describe this artwork to

someone who could not see it?

Interpretation: Why do you think the artist created this

artwork? What makes you think that?

Analysis: What is happening in this artwork? What else

could be happening? How do you know?

Evaluation: Do you like this artwork? Why or why not?

Give specific reasons.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

12” x 18” white sulphite

paper (2)

Pencil and eraser

Black oil pastel

12” x 18” sheets of tissue

paper (green, blue, violet)

Liquid glue and water mixture

Medium round paintbrush

Watercolors

White

acrylic

paint

Plastic fork

Blue Heron mixed media


Begin with a piece of 12” x 18” sulphite paper

turned horizontally. From the top left side, place

the heel of your hand on the edge of the paper

and measure in one hand-length. Draw the eye at

the end of your fingertips.

Next, draw a backward “S” shape that starts

above the eye and curves down toward the

bottom of the paper. This will be the beginning

of the neck. For the beak, draw a horizontal line

that extends from underneath the eye toward the

left side of the paper. Draw a long beak, as

herons have long beaks used for catching fish.

Refer to the

drawing guide

on page 7.

The final step is

to add the

long, tapered

crown feather

on the head. It

should start

above the eye

and extend out

past the back of

the head, ending in a point. You can erase the

line where the head and the crown feather

overlap, or you can simply paint over it in the

next step.

Trace all pencil lines with a black oil pastel. Color

in the center circle of the eye black.

Drawing the Blue Heron


While painting the heron, students will explore

creating different VALUES with watercolor paint, as

well as using brushstrokes to create the feather

TEXTURE.

Start by using a light VALUE of blue

watercolor to paint the base layer of the

feathers. This is achieved by loading up

the paintbrush with a lot of water, then

dipping it very gently into the blue watercolor pan

and producing short vertical LINES to represent the

feathers. You can hand out or project a photograph

of a blue heron to help students identify which areas

they need to paint and which can remain white.

Next, students will use a darker value of

blue, achieved by using less water and

more blue paint, adding more

brushstroke feathers on top of the light

blue feather. Be careful not to completely cover the

light blue feathers.

For the last layer, add violet brushstrokes.

These can be created with less water on

the paintbrush to create more of a

scratchy, or dry-brushed look. There

should be fewer violet brushstrokes than blue, as

they should layer on top of the blue, not cover them.

The final step is to paint the crown feather

and the beak. These can be painted

normally with blue and orange

watercolor.

Painting the Heron

1

2

3

4


DECOUPAGE with tissue paper for the background adds

a beautiful layered look to this project, and mimics gently

moving water.

Mix up a batch of watered down liquid glue to the

consistency of whole milk.

Start with full sheets of 12” x 18” tissue paper in COOL

colors. Line up the tissue paper in a neat stack to cut, two

to four pieces at a time. Cutting several pieces at the

same time is actually easier than one piece at a time. Cut

a gently curved line from one side of the tissue paper to

the other. Repeat as many times as necessary.

Place one strip of tissue paper on a piece of 12” x 18”

white sulphite paper turned horizontally, extending all the

way across the page. Start at one end of the strip and

paint on top of the tissue paper with the watered down

glue mixture all the way to the other side.

Set the next strip down across the paper,

OVERLAPPING a portion of the first strip.

The dry tissue paper will stick to the wet

tissue paper to help keep it in place.

Paint with the glue mixture.

If tissue paper extends over the edges of

the paper, just cut off the excess once the

paper is dry.

TIP: Do not let the background dry on top

of a messy mat or another piece of paper. The glue mixture will make it stick to whatever it is on top of

as it dries. The best way to dry is to place it directly onto a drying rack.

Making the Background


Finishing TouchesCut the blue heron out along the black oil

pastel outline.

Glue the body portion of the heron to the

background first, making sure the bottom of

the heron aligns with the bottom of the

paper.

Once the body is glued on, flip the head and

neck up and add glue to the back. Turn back

over and press down to glue.

The final step of the project is adding the

light and airy TEXTURE of the white feather

plumes along the neck and back of the blue

heron.

Dip a plastic fork into white

acrylic paint. Set the fork tines

down flat along the outer

edge of the heron’s neck.

Slowly pull the fork away

from the neck to leave lines

for texture. Dip into the

paint again and repeat

along the neck, back and

wing.

TIP: If students are having trouble with this

step, ensure that they are squishing the fork

down flat on the paper before they pull it

away.


Add a long, triangle-shaped beak in front of the eye.

From the neck, draw the curved back of the heron. This line goes from the neck to the bottom right corner of the paper.

From the bottom of the beak, draw the other side of the neck of the heron. Finish the line by drawing to the bottom of the page.

Add the heron’s long crown feather from its eye extending past its head. Add an upside-down “U” for the wing.

Blue Heron D R A W I N G G U I D E

Begin the heron with its eye. Draw the eye one hand’s length (fingertip to wrist) in from the top left side of the paper.

1

3

5 6

4

2

From just above the eye, draw a big“S” shape down to about a third of the way from the bottom of the paper.

ANIMAL ART B U N D L E


CREATING Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work — Combine ideas to generate an

innovative idea—Demonstrate diverse methods to approaching art making

Organize and develop artistic ideas and work — Experiment and develop skills in multiple

techniques through practice—Show craftsmanship through care

Refine and complete artistic work—Create artists statements using art vocabulary to

describe personal choices in art-making

Presenting/producing Analyze, interpret and select artistic work for presentation— Define roles and

responsibilities of a curator—explaining the skills/knowledge needed to preform curation

Develop and refine artistic work for presentation — Develop a logical argument for safe

and effective use of materials and techniques for preparing and presenting artwork

Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work —Cite evidence of how an

exhibition in a museum presents ideas and provides information about specific concepts

Responding Perceive and analyze artistic work- Compare interpretation of art to another’s

interpretation—Analyze cultural associations suggested by visual imagery Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work — Interpret art by analyzing form, structure,

context information, subject, visual elements, and use of media to identify mood and ideas

conveyed

Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work— Recognize differences in criteria used to evaluate

works of art depending on styles

Connecting Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art- Apply formal and

conceptual vocabularies of art and design to view surroundings in new ways through art-

making

Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding- Identify how art is used to inform or change beliefs, values or behaviors of

an individual or society

NATIONAL CORE ARTS STANDARDS-fifth grade

X

X

X

X

X


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.2 Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats,

including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

By having students closely examine the artwork in the book Scoot, and participate in art criticism

based on the illustrations, they are analyzing the images closely and summarizing the information

that they see in the images as they participate in the discussion.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

As students complete an artist statement (located in Teacher Aids), they are supporting claims

about what their artwork means. This requires them to build their answer based on how they

created the work as evidence pointing toward the composition’s meaning.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or

speaking.

You can emphasize to students the importance of using conventions of standard English grammar

when writing their answers to the artist statement worksheet This is a wonderful way to help

students see cross-curricular connections between subjects!

Common core standards for BLUE HERON

I CAN STATEMENTS FOR BLUE HERON

• Today I will learn about LINE and SHAPE so that I CAN draw a realistic BLUE HERON.

• Today I will learn about TEXTURE so that I CAN use DECOUPAGE for my background and a

scraping method with acrylic paint and a fork to create feathers.

• Today I will learn about VALUE, so that I CAN create light and dark blues and violets using

WATERCOLOR.


ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST

Student Name:

Did the student create different values of blue and violet with watercolor paint?

Did the student overlap and fill their paper with tissue paper while making their background?

Did the student create a feather texture by using the scraping method with paint and a plastic fork?

Main Ideas from:

BLUE HERON

blue heron 5 · heron. this line goes from the neck to the bottom right corner of the paper. from...

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