Peaceful Pastures

Peaceful Pastures

Green grass in the summertime

Golden in the fall

Purple mountains far away

Blue skies over all

The pasture is a peaceful place

That wandering horses share

The air is warm, the grass is sweet

For the stallion, foal, and mare.

We try to do an art project related in some way to farm animals shortly after the fair.

This year we painted a lovely landscape of happy animals in a peaceful pasture. 

My original idea involved cows, horses, sheep, etc. Most of the kids chose horses but a few choose other creatures with more suitable environments, such as this little goat under a canopy at the fair.  

We started by drawing our animal. I provided some simple drawing steps for the horses and a few other animals. Most of the kids drew them using their own style and drawing experience. 

Then we drew a horizon line and painted in our distant mountains along the line, using liquid temperas. 

We added the sky above the mountains the green pasture below it, leaving the animal unpainted. 

Both the mountains and pasture required a lot of color mixing to achieve these beautiful tints and hues. (We almost never use the colors straight from the jar or pan.)

Then we painted a dark green tree line along the horizon line that overlapped the pasture and the mountains to show distance.

This artist chose a dessert home for his camel, so he mixed all his own colors for this arid landscape.

At last, we painted in our animals. Those painting horses looked at a variety of horse breeds and colors before deciding which one to paint. 

We focused carefully on details because the animal is the center of focus for this painting. 

Here is an appaloosa. 

Even our youngest artists could successfully create this painting!

 

A camel in the dessert.

Notice the other horses in the distance. 

Another appaloosa, and lots of color mixing!

A bunny family! Notice the lovely clouds between the mountains.