Painting Watercolor Landscapes

What You Need:

• Sheet of white paper
• Watercolor paints
• Paintbrush

What You Do:

1. Grandma Moses didn’t start painting until she was in her 60s! Help your child learn more about Grandma Moses' fascinating life story by conducting research online or at your local library.
2. Many of Grandma Moses’ works depicted rural scenes, and often showed holiday celebrations and family gatherings. Invite your child to pick a season to use as inspiration for their painting.
3. Now your child can think about the layout of their painting. Most of Grandma Moses’ paintings were landscapes, showcasing a foreground, a middle ground, and a background. The foreground is the part of the landscape closest to the viewer; the middle ground is the items in the middle, and the background is what’s farthest from the viewer.
4. Invite your child to use a pencil and a ruler to lightly sketch where they would like each part of their landscape to be located.
5. Now your child can start painting their landscape, including houses, nature, people, or animals – whatever they'd like! While they're working, they can look at their favorite Grandma Moses painting as inspiration!
6. When they are finished, your child’s completed landscape painting can be proudly displayed somewhere in your home!

Did you know? Grandma Moses began by selling her paintings out of a local store for $3 to $5 each. She lived to be 101 years old!