Tropical Fruit Still Life

This project was a hit with my first and second graders; they LOVED using tape resist to paint a colorful geometric background!

I think this project works best with second grade and up.  The first graders had a great work effort, but laying out the tape resist got a bit wacky-– tape and lines everywhere!  So I did a mini-lesson to help them slow down, and really think about shape.  Kiddos, how do we make a shape?  The lines have to meet! How can I close the shape?  We played a little game where I drew lines on the dry erase board until they said “STOP!” and I followed their commands until I made geometric shapes.  They loved bossing my hand around, haha! Then off they went to look at the tape on their artwork, and they changed clusters of lines into shapes!  The rest of the project was overall smooth for them.  And here’s how it went…

Lesson One:  Tropical Fruit of Cuba

I took my students on an imaginary field trip to Cuba.  We looked at the country on a map in relation to where we live. We learned about its tropical climate and its agriculture.  I used a PPT as an anchor to prompt discussion.  We talked about tropical fruit and looked at artwork by Cuban painter Amelia Peláez.

Amelia Peláez, Bandeja con frutas (Sandía) (Tray with Fruits [Watermelon]), 1941. Private Collection, Coconut Grove © Amelia Pelaez Foundation. Photo credit: Sid Hoeltzell.

Students defined "still life" and were prompted to draw a tropical fruit.  After a demonstration, practiced drawing the fruit in different ways. They could break down the fruit into composite shapes, using stencils. Next, I prompted them to draw this method again, without stencils.  Providing differentiation, I prompted some students to make a contour drawing of the fruit (outline only, without using composite shapes).  Students learned how to draw from observation a variety of ways, with an emphasis on breaking down the larger picture into more approachable parts. They completed a drawing of their fruit, 2-3 ways, over 1-2 class sessions.

Lesson Two:  Geometric and Organic Shapes

On a stations day, we defined and explored geometric and organic shapes.  When we returned to the unit, we reviewed the concept and talked about the organic shape of fruits.  In the background, students were prompted to make straight lines to create geometric shapes.  They looked at a demo video, then used thin washi tape to get to build their geometric backgrounds. This demo video turned out a little rough, but it got the job done and the kids loved watching it--especially the fast forward painting!

Lesson Three:  Paint Resist Background (starts at ~6:45 in the video)

After laying out the tape for the background, we talked about the word “resist” and how the tape will block the paint on their paper.  Then students watched the rest of the demo video, and got to work on painting their backgrounds.  Looking back, I also see an opportunity here to talk about color schemes.  We could look at “tropical” color schemes that are often put together (e.g. in marker and paint sets) and explore “Why are these colors tropical? How do you think the colors relate to a tropical climate?” 

Lesson Four:  Color Pencil Techniques

Using this worksheet and website as a resource, I gave a mini-lesson to my students on ways we can use color pencils.  It worked well to print color copies of the worksheet and do a “Follow-Me” for them to try out some basic blending.  I then prompted students to use the back of the worksheet to explore blending different colors on their own. When they felt ready, they could start coloring their fruit.  I made a quick and fun video demo to show the color pencils technique at work on a tropical fruit still life (my cats make a special guest cameo):

Student Art Gallery

This is a great unit for fans of color! The art brightened up our hallways, and the students felt so proud of their work: