2nd Grade! Wanna create a crazy landscape with me?!

While we're all a bit stuck at our houses that doesn't mean we can't imagine new and fantastical places. Dr. Seuss is the perfect place to look to help us in imagining some far away lands. Let's create some strange and fantastical places together!

Earlier in the year we looked at Oh, the Places You'll Go! and The Shape of Me and Other Stuff while we were working on our hot air balloon projects. Let's take a look at some of his other books and explore his landscapes a little more.

While we look at landscapes in various books pay special attention to the lines that Dr. Seuss uses to draw his illustrations. How would you describe the lines he uses?

Let's start by reading the book Horton Hears A Who. This is a classic tale of compassion and determination that proves any person, big or small, can choose to speak up for what is right. ( You don't have to read the whole book, it's a bit long, but it is very good! )

Click the book cover on the left to listen to a reading of Horton Hears A Who

"A person's a person, no matter how small"

Pay attention as you listen to the book and try to notice the shapes of things. Look at the different ways that Dr. Seuss depicts (shows/represents in a drawing) nature and buildings. How is this different from how they look in real life? What does he change about objects that makes them look a little less real? How could you do the same in your drawing?

Let's Practice

Before we get started on creating our own version of a Dr. Seuss landscape let's take some time to practice and explore some more of his artwork. To create in a similar style to Dr. Seuss we need to use a lot of curved lines and some odd angles. Try to draw a few buildings and then come up with some trees or other natural objects. Below you'll find some additional inspiration images. If you have some Dr. Seuss books go grab them! Let's experiment and try to create some kooky, zany, designs of our own!

Practice, Practice, Practice!

What do you want to include in your landscape? Remember, a landscape is an artwork that mainly focuses on natural elements, such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, etc. Some newer definitions of landscapes also include urban landscapes which includes buildings and other manmade structures. I just love the architecture that Dr. Seuss creates with his buildings that I had to include them in my practice. If you don't like them, or are having trouble focus on nature. Curvy lines and odd angles are used throughout his work, whether in a building, bush, tree, or an animal! Have fun with it!

Below you'll find my practice sheet and in the files section I've added the pages above from a Dr. Seuss coloring book that I found super helpful when I was practicing!

I practice a lot before I start a project! I like to have a lot of ideas before I begin trying to put together a whole picture!

(I practiced in pencil! I only traced it to make sure you could see it well)

I'll show you soon how I use my practice images to start on my final drawing