One of my favorite art projects is doing a two page spread, it frees students from having to keep their ideas on just one page. To get them started I like to use a landscape artist, for this project we will use Vincent Van Gogh 1888 painting “The Sower”.
Step #1: Open journal to two empty pages with no images on the back of either page. Using a sketching pencil draw the horizon line about a third of the way down from top of the journal.
Step #2: Continue to sketch in the main details; the wheat field, farm house with trees. Then Add the sun rising from the wheat field. Make sure the rays from the sun go right to the edge of the page. See example below;
Step #3: Next choose your medium to finish your work, in the example below I used soft chalk pastels. Chalk pastels or Oil Pastels work the best for Van Gogh landscapes, they give students the tools to mix, blend and layer color.
Step #4: When using chalk pastel you will need to spray the finished work with a final fixative to preserve the work.
Step #5: Create your own two page landscape now that you have been inspired by Van Gogh.
We bought each of the girls art journals so they can start getting their ideas on paper. They have only kept their drawings to one page. They think this is a great idea to have it over 2 pages!