Magazine Landscape

Middle School students will love this collage lesson project made by recreating their favorite landscape scene using colors found in a magazine! This project covers Common Core Standards for Science for grade 6 which can be found at the end of the lesson.

Grade Levels

6th, 7th, 8th Grades – The examples in this post were created by an 8th grade class.

Objective

In this Magazine Landscape Collage Lesson, students will create a landscape collage using colors found, and cut from images in magazines.

Time

3 – 60 min lessons

Materials

• Magazines
• Pencils
• Scissors
• Glue Stick – Elmer’s Glue Stick (E4062) (7 sticks)
• (Calendar) images landscapes
• 12×12 cut from White – Tru-Ray Heavyweight Construction Paper, White, 12″ x 18″, 50 Sheets

Inspiration/Artist

I was inspired to make this project from this idea: Click Here

Instruction with Questions

Day 1

Students will engage in a discussion about Mixed Media.  (What do you think mixed media is?)   Type mixed media collage onto Google images and show them examples on the overhead.  Describe makes this type of artwork unique?  What kinds of things can you glue onto a paper or canvas?  Give examples about what else can you do to add to the artwork that doesn’t involve glue? i.e. paint, draw, color etc.  (What qualities are unique to mixed media vs. drawing, painting etc by themselves?)

Show them the artwork of current artists who specifically create art, using pieces of color, cut and torn from magazines.

Artist #1: Eileen Downes – Click Here

Artist #2: Kirsty Elson – Click Here

#1

Students choose a landscape image from “Dollar Store” calendars.

#2

Once they choose their image, they will also receive a white 12×12 size piece of construction paper.  I use 12×18 and cut it down.

#3

As a class, lead them in an observation of their chosen image.

• Where do you see color that is almost black in your image? 
• Where is there white? 
• How many shades do you see of each color? 
• What textures can you identify? 
• How can you recreate those textures when you cut your paper? (Are clouds square? Etc.)

#4

Students trace main parts of image from landscape onto white paper using a classroom window. (Please ignore the dead grass in late summer in California 🙂 )  Ask the students to use ONE piece of tape on image…and ONE piece of tape on white paper.  Some kids really try to tape their stuff down and then it is impossible to remove the tape without tearing the paper.  Also, it is nice to be able to lift the paper and see what is happening below.

#5

Students begin identifying colors found in photo and matching them with colors found in magazine images.  I have a bunch of magazines left over from the science subscriptions.  I love that this one is a volcano edition…since there will be an eruption of paper in your classroom once they begin hahaha.

Students are invited to tear or cut paper and slowly build their picture.  (As a rule of thumb J) Magazine pieces must be no bigger than a thumb.  See what I did there?  I give each student a sandwich sized zip-lock baggie to keep their magazine pieces in.  When I collect their art each day, I ask them to lay their calendar image, work in progress project and baggie all together and layer them.  This makes passing them out the next day a snap!

Day 2/3

Students continue to cut/tear paper and glue it to their paper until finished.

Check out these finished Magazine Landscape Collage pieces!

Common Core Standards

6th Grade – Earth Science – Shaping Earth’s Surface

2. Topography is reshaped by the weathering of rock and soil and by the transportation and deposition of sediment. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know water running downhill is the dominant process in shaping the landscape, including California’s landscape.

b. Students know rivers and streams are dynamic systems that erode, transport sediment, change course, and flood their banks in natural and recurring patterns.

c. Students know beaches are dynamic systems in which the sand is supplied by rivers and moved along the coast by the action of waves.