December 03rd, 2021

Oil Pastels in the Outdoor Studio 
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The winds this week have blown  almost all the leaves to the ground, inspiring some conversations in Brown room about the shapes and colors of the leaves. Ellie brought in a bag of leaves she’d collected and proudly exclaimed. “Me have ginkos!”. To that Louisa noticed that “Ginkos are yellow and green!”. Today we brought some of the fallen leaves to the outdoor studio to reflect on and draw the various color schemes we saw represented. We asked children to share their observations about the leaves and then choose one leaf at a time to focus on while they drew.  Each child took their time to represent what they felt was the most vibrant part of the leaf. For some it was the color, for others the shape and for Ragnar in particular it was the serrated edge of the leaf which he referred to as the “cutting part”. ​

​Rawls: I see two colors
Ramsey: I see red and green and blue. Is this a leaf? (Pointing to his shape on his drawing)
Rawls: This looks like a big leaf
Ramsey: Mine is a big leaf too! Is this a leaf?
Rawls: That is a leaf!

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Ramsey's drawing 

Rawls' Drawing 

​Isabelle: Look, look!
Seon: That’s a leaf!
Isabelle: I’m using this one. 

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Seon's Drawing 

Isabelle's Drawing 

Ragnar: This is so yellow. I found one that’s so many red. It’s so soft. Are these from inside? I’m cutting off these parts. Let’s see if it looks like the leaf. I’m adding red. I’m using green. Let’s see what this leaf looks like now cause it’s green. That’s amazing. Let’s try some orange to see if that works!

Ragnar's drawings featuring the leaf's serrated edges 

Ford: Look at that leaf shape! It’s (the colors)  mixed! Yellow and green!
Emma: Leaf has green
Ellie: No here Fay, Fay no here. Me had a tree at home. 
Charlton: I see some brown on that leaf. See all the red is a great white. I’m drawing a great white. 

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In order: Charlton's , Ford's  and Ellie's drawings 

Louisa: Here is a green leaf, and green and green. Green and green and green brown! 
Once she’d added all the pastels to her page she remarked: it makes brown!

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Emma's Drawing 

Louisa's Drawing 

We also wanted to say a big welcome to Win Ackerly who joined us outside today. We are very excited to visit with her again next week and welcome her Brown Room after the holiday break!