Still life drawings

2n, 3rd and 4th graders got to go outside into the courtyard with pencils, paper and clip boards in hand. We found interesting looking leaves. We learned about the various parts of a leaf including the petiole, the midrib and the blade. We talked about how artists draw still-lives to get better at drawing and most importantly to learn how to see. We tried to see a line or a shape in the leaf first, and then try and draw that particular line or shape. We looked for, and drew all the little details-- like a curved petiole (stem) or a hole in the leaf. To make our leaves look really real we, lastly, added a drop shadow on the same side of all the leaves. Some classes had to do this inside because of the weather, but we all drew real leaves--no tracing or leaf rubbings allowed. We finished our leaves by blending and layering warm colors of watercolor pencils.