Snowmen at Night

Inspired by the recent (and never ending...) snowy weather and the book Snowmen at Night, 5th grade artists drew wintery scenes of snowmen at night participating in a variety of winter activities! We thought about how the concept of value that we have been learning about can be applied with color, not just gradations of black and white as we had been using previously.

First, we read the book, paying particular attention to the illustrations. We noticed that even though one would assume the snowmen are all white, since they are made of snow, the artist used many different colors to help give them a 3D form. There were warmer colors, like yellow and orange, where the light source hit the snowman and darker colors, like blue and purple, in the shadows.

We also discussed how to make a flat shape, starting with a circle, into a 3D form by adding highlight areas and shading to create a sense of roundness. 

Then, we sketched ideas for what our snowmen could be doing. Some students chose to draw one snowman and some drew a scene featuring multiple snowmen. Some snowmen were skiing, playing hockey, having a snowball fight, or drinking hot chocolate by the fire. The inclusion of a light source was also really important, so we could use that to decide where it might be lighter and darker.

Using chalk pastels, students thought about how to use value to create areas of light and dark on their snowman's body before moving onto the background and adding details. Students worked hard to give their snowmen a round, 3D form and thought about where the shadow would be according to their light source.

Here are some examples of our finished snowmen at night drawings!

Taylor, 5th Grade

Ariana, 5th Grade

Vincent, 5th Grade

Mackenzie, 5th Grade

Ciaran, 5th Grade

Claire, 5th Grade