Lesson Plan for teaching Foreground, Middleground and Backgrond

Mrs. Johnson: Art

Grade 3: Seascape

Foreground, Middleground and Background

Objectives:

Students will be able to

§          produce a watercolor painting depicting a foreground, middleground and background.

§          verbally identify foreground, middleground and background in a piece of artwork.

§          identify the artwork titled Van Gogh: Seascape at Saintes-Maries by Vincent van Gogh

Vocabulary: Foreground, Middleground, Background, Horizon Line, Seascape

§         Background is the area of the picture that is behind most of the objects in the picture.

§         Foreground is the area of a picture that appears to be the closest to the viewer.

§         Horizon line is the imaginary line that divides the sky and the ground.

§         Middleground is the area of the picture that is farther away from the foreground and closer to the background. (Between the background and foreground)

§         Seascape is a picture of a view of an expanse of sea.

Materials:

Print: Van Gogh: Seascape at Saintes-Maries, Pencils Erasers, Watercolor Paints, Water Containers

Vincent van Gogh
Painting, Oil on Canvas
Arles: June - early in month, 1888
Van Gogh Museum
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Europe
F: 415, JH: 1452

Van Gogh: Seascape at Saintes-Maries

 

Introduction:

§          Show students van Gogh seascape.  Ask students what they see in the painting.

§          Introduce vocabulary to students using van Gogh painting with foreground, middleground and background clearly labeled.

§          Teacher will demonstrate drawing the horizon line.

§          Next teacher will draw the foreground (rocks in the front of the paper)

§          Teacher will then draw sailboat in the middleground (middle of the paper). 

§          Teacher will then draw mountains and a lighthouse in the background (back of the paper).

 

 

 

Procedure:

§          Students will use a ruler to draw the horizon line.

§          Students will draw the foreground (teacher will show examples.) i.e. rocks, sand

§          Students will draw an object in the middleground. i.e. sailboat, island with trees

§          Students will draw the background. i.e. mountains, hills, clouds, sky

§          Students will paint their picture using watercolor paints.

 

 

Closure:

§          Teacher will revisit learned vocabulary.

§          Teacher will display student artwork around the room. 

§          Teacher will have students identify the foreground, middleground, background, and horizon line in their own artwork. 

Assessment: Teacher Observation, Rubric