Art Lesson Plan: Watercolor Stained Glass Windows

Over the years, I have implemented a variety of classroom art projects using watercolors to create faux stained glass windows. The technique presented in this lesson plan can be modified to serve several objectives. First is a purely aesthetic exercise, in which children develop the skill to create beautiful artworks which appear to be composed of translucent panes. Second, artistic concepts such as color theory can be taught in conjunction with the project, resulting in paintings with even greater beauty and harmony. Finally, the lesson can reinforce curriculum learning, in which children research a subject for their watercolor project. So, at many levels, this lesson plan provides students with simple techniques to produce their very own masterpiece in about three to four hours of class time. After the basic project is painted, additional embellishments can be added to create stunning artwork for display.

Grade Level: I recommend this project for students in fourth grade and older. Younger students may not have the motor skills for painting geometric shapes without crossing the lines. The project works well for small to large classroom sizes, as long as enough helpers are present to dole out supplies and assist with drawing and painting. I have even done this on a grade-level basis, with over forty children participating. I was also successful implementing this project for a family education program involving both students and their parents.

Subject: One way to begin the project is with a word, for example: the child's name. In a religious school setting, I have used the child's Hebrew name as the focus for the painting. Children learn the correct spelling of their name with Hebrew letters and use Hebrew letter stencils or freehand their name in block letters on the page.

Another variation of the project revolves around a theme, for example: the rainforest. Each child might choose a plant, animal or other aspect of the rainforest and develop a simple picture or graphic design to represent their theme. That picture is drawn simply on the page, without too much detail.

Color theory: Students are encouraged to apply the theory of analogous color themes to their stained glass windows. For example, warm colors (yellow, red, orange, pink, brown) are kept on one palette, and cool colors (blue, green, turquoise, violet) on a separate palette. Students can color a portion of their picture in one color scheme, for example the word or graphic design, and use a different analogous color scheme for the stained glass background.

Planning: Before beginning the lesson, teachers should choose a theme and decide which elements will be the focus of the lesson. The plan should include the words or possible subjects for children to represent, or a separate lesson could precede the art in which students research and choose their own theme. Graphics, books and stencils can be collected in an idea bank for the project day, so that students have some inspirational ideas to fall back on.

Supplies:
* Medium to heavyweight watercolor paper

* Tube watercolors (recommended for their translucency, coverage and hues)

* Watercolor brushes in various sizes and shapes (either flat or tapered)

* Inexpensive plastic palettes for mixing watercolors ~ two per child is ideal, but one per child can also work

* Plastic cups for water, one per child

* Paper towels

* Stencils and other books or materials for design inspiration

* Rulers, pencils and erasers

* Sharpie or other permanent markers

* Gold leafing pens (optional)

* Heavyweight construction paper for making frames (optional)

Execution: As described above in "Subject", students spend several minutes sketching their theme, whether word, name or graphic on a piece of scrap paper. Then, they use pencil to lightly sketch the graphic on watercolor paper. After sketching the subject, the student uses a ruler to draw geometric patterns around the theme, but never intersecting the theme. Lines can radiate in various directions and intersect each other to form squares, diamonds, triangles and other geometric shapes. Ideally, shapes should be moderate in number and size to form an aesthetically pleasing composition. Please see my sample project photos to see various window designs.

Next, students choose either a warm or cool color palette. I like to buy a large watercolor set with 18 or 24 colors in it. That way, palettes can include lots of variation in hues, which makes the finished project more multi-dimensional. Also, I provide a squirt each of white and black on the palette for mixing. I encourage students to create even more analogous colors by mixing together different hues, for example turquoise and cerulean blue. It helps to add the paints to palettes before the lesson time, so students can pick up a palette and get to work quickly.

Students can either leave the subject unpainted, which will make it pop in the finished painting. Or, they can paint the subject with one color palette of their choice. When finished, students use the other color palette to paint the stained glass window panes.

Technique: Students learn how to adjust the amount of water needed to thin the watercolors to the right consistency. More water will make the panes translucent; less water results in opaque hues. White and black pigments also add opacity to the hues. The key is to make the graphic subject relatively simple and without a lot of small details. Also, students are just filling in the shapes, not outlining them, in this phase of the project.

Finishing: When all the areas of the painting are filled in with color (or left blank for effect) the painting should dry thoroughly, preferably overnight. The next class, finishing touches are made either by the student or teacher. Finishing touches include outlining all the pencil lines with black Sharpie markers to create the leaded effect of stained glass. Also, gold leafing pens can be used to highlight a small portion of the painting.

To frame the finished artwork, cut a window in a larger sheet of construction paper which is slightly smaller than the watercolor artwork. Then, tape the artwork on the back of the construction paper with the painting peeking through the window. I like to frame the paintings slightly off center for a more dramatic effect.

This project is actually a lot of fun, but takes more time than you might imagine. Plan at least three to four hours for the watercolor portion of the project. The larger the artwork size, the more time students will need to fill in the details. Not only is this project fun, students will learn a lot from the process and likely experience a new medium (watercolor pigments from a tube) which they have not yet used. I hope you enjoy using this lesson plan in your classroom.