Art Round-Up

Fall Birch Trees

Mrs. Amsler’s 7 Blue art class has been busy this year! You might have seen the Fall Birch Trees hanging up in the halls, but if you haven’t, you can take a look at the attached pictures up above. 

Mrs. Amsler shows her students how to use watercolor and masking tape to create a beautiful and magical forest scene. First, students put down masking tape to form a tree shape on their papers. Then, they paint a background on top with watercolor paints. After they remove the tape, they add details to the branches. 

Mrs. Amsler says that her favorite part about doing this project is that every student gets something they are satisfied with in the end, despite having struggles first starting off. Mrs. Amsler breaks down the project into simple steps, giving specific goals to each step. These goals are later evaluated on the grading rubric. But to her, she says she cares more about the effort put into the project than talent. She does this unique project with different classes year round, showing the forest’s progression through the seasons. Keep an eye out for Winter and Spring Birch Trees coming later this year! 

Mrs. Amsler always tries her project herself before giving it to students, to test for any changes she might need to make. She says that inspiration for this project comes from a similar project done with elementary students, but she tweaked it to give her students more of a challenge. With this project, her students can learn how to show depth in the background– The higher up the tree on the paper, the farther away it is. However, a few struggle spots include adding the tree bark and branches. Making a flat, basic silhouette of a tree into a 3D masterpiece takes quite some practice! Disguising chopped-off limbs to flow more smoothly has also proved difficult.

Mrs. Amsler hopes that the White and Red teams are just as excited for this project as she is, and I know I sure am!

Citations: Amsler, Mrs. Personal interview with the author. Oct. 2023.