Chalk pastels are notoriously messy but so worth it. For the past couple of weeks, we have been working on adobe houses with mountains using chalk pastels on dark blue paper. Since we have been buried in snow for several weeks now, setting these in a wintery setting seemed appropriate. I think some students decided they have had enough snow for awhile and decided to create a a warmer climate. 🙂

We started out by learning about adobe homes, where and how they are built. We looked at some examples of different adobe house styles. Then we reviewed the parts of a landscape and how to begin drawing one by starting with the foreground and working up towards the middle ground and finally the background. Students were given a lot of creative license and created their own adobe homes in their unique landscapes. We worked a lot on layering and blending pastels to achieve bright, rich colors.