Ton Schulten Inspired Landscapes

(my experiment)

The first time I saw the work of Dutch artist, Ton Schulten, I fell instantly in love with his bright, rich color palettes and the way his landscapes look like building blocks of color intersected vertically and horizontally.

This was a a simple and quick lesson for my students to do in our last 25 minutes of class, inspired by Schulten's work. We used long black sheets of construction paper. White would be great, and would give this project a softer feel. I had the children choose between black or white oil pastel to create a simple landscape with trees and hills. I had them divide their work a few times horizontally and at least once vertically. They could switch colors (using chalk or oil pastels) when their shapes were divided or could keep the same color. Several children asked to add an outline of glue to their finished work to create even more of a bold line. I like their playful compositions and bold use of color. (ages 6-9)