Cherry Trees - Beginnings

Today we began work on a favorite spring project - Cherry Trees!

We started with a drawing demonstrations. Trees are complicated and can be overwhelming to try to draw. We simplified the structure of the tree down to a few simple shapes. The -almost- parallel lines of the the trunk and the "Y" shape of the extending branches. The kids also did worksheets practicing the shapes of various kinds of leaves and flowers.

After practicing, each child had a chance to work in his or her sketchbook to put all the pieces (tree, leaves and flowers) together into a sketch.

 And finally, we painted the background of our painting for next week. We will be using what we learned this week about the structure of trees to paint a cherry tree, complete with spring blossoms!