LKS2 Topic: Mountains, Rivers and Coasts Block C: River Art Inspired by Monet

Session 4 Painting The River Thames Monet Style

National Art: Create sketch books and record observations; improve mastery of art and design techniques including
Curriculum painting; learn about great artists (Monet and Impressionism).
Teaching To gain a deeper understanding of the work of Claude Monet and paint a picture of the River Thames in his
Objectives Impressionist style.
Resources
3 or 4 good examples of the Impressionist paintings created by the class last session; Colour printouts of the 4 photographs from the
session 4 resource (enough for 1 per child); An A4 canvas board (or sheet of high quality art paper) per child; Soft pencils
Selection of acrylic paints; Selection of brushes in different sizes; Dimple pallets for mixing; Water pots; PowerPoint presentation of
the life of Monet (Hamilton resource).
Whole class: Remind the chn of the paintings we created last session. Tack 3 or 4 good examples to the whiteboard (or visit your
display of them). What style of art were we exploring? (Impressionism). Which artist’s work gave rise to that name? (Claude Monet).
Why did Monet and his friends become known as the Impressionists? (Because they created paintings that gave an impression of a
scene rather than showing it in sharp detail like a photograph). Show the 1st slide of the session PowerPoint and discuss this river
painting by Monet. Who likes it? Why? Why not? What is the mood of the picture? Would you like to go there? The art critics did not
like Monet’s work when he was young and very few people wanted to buy them. That meant that Claude and his wife Camille were
very poor. But let’s find out how his story continued. Show slides 2 -8 of the PowerPoint. Talk through the content with the chn. Now
show slide 9. Here are some photographs of the River Thames in London today. Which of these views look similar to the Thames that
Monet would have known? Which look different? Why? (New buildings like the London Eye and the City Hall, the glass dome shaped
building seen beyond tower bridge in the bottom right photo, are quite new and have changed the view since Monet painted his River
Thames series.)
Hard/Medium/Easy
Your task this session is to paint your own Impressionist picture of The River Thames at sunset. You will use one of these photographs
as your inspiration (use photos from session resources). Before we start let’s remind ourselves of Impressionist style. Ask the chn to
give the class some tips, e.g. it can look blurry or out of focus, there are no hard lines or sharp edges, it’s not like a photograph, the
light and colour are very important, try to capture the mood, look for light, shadows and reflections. Remind the chn of the skills we
learnt in the previous 3 sessions: mixing and matching colours and shades carefully (session 1), looking closely at a small section of
water, with horizontal brush strokes to show ripples that get smaller as they go up the painting into the distance (session 2) and
creating an impression by using your finger (session 3). We have learnt a lot of skills and techniques in this block and now it is time to
use them to create a stunning final piece. Introduce the canvas board (if using) to show the texture (similar to that of Monet’s
canvas). We are using acrylic paint again instead of oil paint like Monet because it gives a similar effect but takes much less time to
dry. You can use your finger or brushes to paint. Remind the chn that it is a good idea to begin with a rough pencil sketch of the main
outlines that can be seen in the picture - but don’t include any detail! Give each child a colour printout of one of the photographs
(from the session 4 resource) and allow them to begin.
Teacher to support as needed
Plenary Make a quick display of all the paintings, e.g. by laying them on the tables so the chn can move around them as a
temporary exhibition. Encourage discussion as they view. Which have successfully captured the mood of the scene? Does
standing back make a difference? Which paintings have captured the light and colour of the sky or the water? Are there
any reflections? Do they give an “impression” of the River Thames at sunset? Praise all the chn for the quality of their
work. You are all Impressionist artists painting in the style of the Great Claude Monet! Claude Monet’s work taught
people that a painting did not have to be like a photograph – crystal clear and exactly like the scene it represented but it
could be something much more interesting: an artist’s personal response to a scene, their own impression of it!
If you have time you could make a wall display of all the paintings and each child could create a label for his/her work of
art with a chosen title and his/her name. You could then have a private view of the exhibition with French refreshments
and invite family members to admire.
Outcomes Children will
 Learn more about the later life and work of Claude Monet
 Develop a clearer understanding of Impressionism
 Create a painting of The River Thames at sunset in Impressionist style
 Understand the contribution of Claude Monet to art

© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users.
We refer you to our warning, at the foot of the block overview, about links to other websites.