American Artists - Audubon

Every week, we choose an artist from our art curriculum - Great American Artists for Kids book. We are studying American History through Sonlight and it seemed logical, to study American Artists. This week artist was John James Audubon.

We started the lesson by reading a book from the library about Audubon. It talked about his love for bird rather than business.

J worked through a notebook page for the artist to add to her book. She dictated what she wanted to write for the artist, I write it on a mini marker board, and then, she copies it.

J added Audubon to her timeline. Many times, Audubon would sketch birds in the wild. The original idea was to google an image of an animal for J to draw. But, I changed my mind last minute.

I thought it would be a great idea to sketch the ducks in the pond near our house. So, we packed up with our art supplies, some snacks for the baby, and off we went.

Look who we met! This guy hung around long enough for J to sketch him. He just stood there...waiting for her to finish her drawing. That was awesome! Considering that I had a 5 year old and a baby sitting right close.

Here are my two, sketching and coloring away. I love this photo because they are actually getting along right now:)

J's final project. She sketched several of the birds along the pond using the oil pastels that we just bought. I love this just as much I love the birds of our  lake:) I can truly see why Audubon sketched in the wild. J has asked several time since this lesson to sketch more animals outside. I even gave her a journal to draw her animals. I love when she really connects to what we have learned! This is one of the reasons I love homeschooling :) Have a great week....and go wild!

Links

Exploring Florida - has a few reading printables for Audubon.

Main Lesson - has a mini story about how Audubon came to know about birds.

Jimmie Lanely - has a set of free note booking pages for Audubon.

Art Smarts 4 Kids - has a cut paper bird project for Audubon.

Calvert Canvas - if you scroll down some, there are some cute ideas with leaves and cut paper birds. Since it is fall in some places, I thought this would be a good project to do.

Elizabeth Williams - has a photo of a cute bird project. I love the detail on this project but there are no directions, just a photo.

Homeschool Share - has a free printable lap book on birds, if you would like to explore birds more.

Homeschool Share - has a free study on The Boy Who Drew Birds book that we read.