Elephants of India

Fourth grade art classes have been learning about the art of Asia.  India is our first stop with a study of local celebrations using brightly painted and decorated elephants.   
Students watched a youtube video of the elephant celebration showing how the elephants are painted and decorated. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp5OS7hNtQs
We discussed the culture of India and compared how it is different to living in Las Vegas, Nevada.  
I asked students to do a Macro, front view of the elephants with the focal point on the headdress.  Short brushstrokes were used to blend in colors.  After the painting was dry, oil pastels were used to draw the detailed decorations onto the elephants,  Two versions of this lesson were created for variation in my classes and the students are able to express themselves more!