Favorite project ever!! The bright oil pastels with the liquid watercolor wash background really makes these nighttime jungle scenes come to life.We started making our foreground with grasses and focused on making large shapes that repeat to create Rousseau style foliage.
I told everyone that as a matter of fact, Rousseau had never seen a jungle in his life, and got his inspiration from gardens and zoos that he visited.
All the students were like, what?! Well, how could he make such a beautiful painting then?" I said, "Well, he used his imagination! So we are going to make fantasy jungles! Where anything is possible."
I showed them cool plants like Venus Fly Traps, handed out visuals of Jungle animals and a great handout that has the layers of a jungle. Super fun!
