The Blazing Banyan Tree

Monday/Tuesday Art Content Objective: I can identify and draw the key structures of the banyan tree. Language objective: I will write out and illustrate the steps for my banyan tree composition.

The Blazing Banyan Tree There is an unusual and amazing tree that originates in India called the “banyan tree.” It is unusual because it has so many trunks. The branches of this massive tree are constantly sending out roots from the top that anchor into the soil below and expand to become additional trunks.

Banyan Tree in India

A single banyan tree may cover an area nearly 1,500 feet in circumference and have nearly 3,000 trunk-like roots If a bird deposits a banyan seed on another tree, the seedling will send tentacles to earth and eventually create a network of roots that will engulf and destroy the host tree.

Banyan Tree in Hawaii

The banyan is sacred to the Hindus. They give it its name, which means “trader,” because markets are held under its vast sheltering framework. The banyan tree is a member of the mulberry family.

Banyan Tree in Florida

Key Vocabulary Oil pastel: color pigment suspended in an oil base. Blending: combining or mixing colors in a work of art to create a smooth transition between colors. Reflection: a transformation which produces the mirror image of an object.

Use a pencil to sketch your thumbnail and your composition then go over the drawing in pen or paint as directed. Remember: My drawings are examples. Yours do NOT have to look like mine! Have Fun! Be creative!

Follow these steps for drawing and painting your banyan tree. 1. Draw the tree’s trunk. The bottom should start about ¼ of the way up from the bottom edge of the paper. I think I look like a reversed parentheses line!

2. Add the outside, lower limbs to the trunk. They should extend off the edges of the paper. Whoa! I’m kinda’ curvy!

3. Draw three more curvy lines between the lower branches.

4. Draw roots from the lower branches down to the same level as the trunk. An extra one can go just part of the way to the water ( I forgot to do that. )

5. Add tentacles to the roots.

6. Draw lines that will create thicker branches.

7. Draw 2 curving lines that start at the tree branches then go off the paper. You may add a few short branches but limit them to only one or two per branch.

8. Draw the arching lines that define the separate sections of the trunk.

9. On the Thumbnail use a black marker to color in the tree and trace over the thinner branches. Use your pencil to draw a light water line just above the ends of the roots and “behind” the trunks.

10. Use colored pencils to practice blending colors in the spaces between the branches. Limit red, orange, and yellow. Look ahead to the nest frame before you start.

11. Use red, yellow, and orange only to color below the branches to the water line. Use a vertical application.

12. Apply colors that match the colors in the branches horizontally while creating wavy patches. Leave spaces for random patches of color from the sky between the low branches and the water line.

13.Ask for a black pencil to create the reflections of the roots and trunks. Start at the base then wide to narrow.

Wednesday Art Content Objective: I can draw and apply tempera paint to the trunk, branches, and roots on my banyan tree. Language objective: I will paint my drawing of a banyan tree.

Let’s Do it! 1.Use a pencil to draw your banyan tree on a 12” by 18” sheet of white paper. Refer to your thumbnail sheet for help. 2.Use black tempera paint and a variety of brushes to paint your pencil drawing. 3.Allow to dry. 4.Slide painted paper into your drawer

Thursday/Friday Art Content Objective: I can apply oils pastels to my banyan tree picture. Language objectives: 1. I can blend oil pastels to create the sky and water in my banyan tree picture. 2. I can use my pastels to draw a reflection of my tree in the water.

TIP: When all areas have been filled with color, go back and touch up your tree with the black oil pastel.