Chinese Bamboo Painting- 4th grade

In Fourth Grade we are learning about different types of Chinese Art.

One type is Chinese brush painting of Nature. Some things that are popular are bamboo, orchids, chrysanthemums, and plum blossoms.  We watched a powerpoint to see what examples looked like.

We spent a class practicing how to paint Bamboo plants.

We each had sumi-e brushes, black paint, and water.  We made a value strip to see how to make different shades from gray to black.

Making an "ink" value strip.

There were four different parts to a Bamboo plant.

We learned how to hold our brush upright except when making the stalks. We put our finger on the brush to get a wide stroke.

Other parts of the Bamboo were the leaves, nodes, and branches.

We did a worksheet to practice what we learned before painting our final Bamboo.

Painting our final Bamboo painting.

Each students painting came out so unique.

Making the stalks. Leaving room for the nodes inbetween.