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The craziness of Halloween is over, and I am excited for Thanksgiving! I love the warm orange and yellow hues along with the smells of cinnamon spice and apple crisp. I also love sitting around the kitchen table and painting with my kids for Thanksgiving.
Last week, my 2nd and 3rd grade students made these beautiful still-life gourd paintings, inspired by Doris Lee’s painting, “Thanksgiving.” We briefly talked the narrative in this piece. Who were the characters? What were they doing? What were they cooking? Do we still cook these foods today?
Next, I showed the children a small gourd and pumpkin still-life set up on a table. I mentioned that pumpkins and gourds are traditional fall foods that we eat or decorate with at Thanksgiving. We discussed the shapes of the pumpkins and gourds and how they overlap.
Materials
- Strathmore Watercolor Paper
- Watercolor Paints
- Paint Brushes
- Pencil
- Pumpkins and gourds (real or fake)
Make A Watercolor Pumpkin and Gourd Painting
- Look at a pumpkin and gourd still-life and draw what you see with a pencil. Make sure to overlap the shapes.
- Identify the darkest and lightest areas of the pumpkins and gourds. The lightest area is called a highlight and the darkest area is called a shadow.
- Take a medium size paint brush (number 6) and dip it into a cup of water. Next, pick a color from the paint palette. Use a light amount of color.
- Paint the colors that you see. Gradually add darker colors where you see shadows.
- Make sure to also paint a table so the pumpkins and gourds don’t look like they are floating in the air.
These beautiful gourd watercolor paintings are wonderful to introduce kids to the idea of still-life painting. Moreover, they will look wonderful framed on a wall or make to give to someone special on Thanksgiving.
If you have any questions or comments about this project, leave a message below!