7th Grade Silhouettes

I started this lesson by showing examples of professional sunset photographs with many different objects as silhouettes.  We discussed what a silhouette is, and how it is created, when the light source is behind the object.  I also talked about how popular sunset photographs are for professional photographers to create for others to purchase. 
We then created a wet on wet watercolor sunset, using mostly warm colors found in a sunset. I demonstrated adding salt to the wet paint for an added effect. Students were then allowed to make their own silhouette, it just needed to include one plant and one animal.  Silhouettes were painted with black tempera paint, which also gave us an opportunity to discuss opaque vs. transparent paint.