Saturday, October 27, 2012

An Art History Lesson with the help of Vincent van Gogh's Cat



We devoted three sessions studying the work of famous artists.
The book Vincent van Gogh's Cat was used as an inspiration for this mini art history lesson.
This book was illustrated by the Second Grade Students of East Washington Academy in Muncie, Indiana.

The adventurous cat in the book is exploring the paintings of famous artists as he travels from one famous painting to another.

The students chose their favorite work from the book and did a mini research on the artist. 
The chosen works were: "Four Cut Sunflowers" 1887; Vincent van Gogh. "Waterlilies" 1908; Claude Monet.
"Exotic Landscape" 1908; Henri Rousseau. "Hermitage" 1918; Paul Klee. "Tree of Life" 1905-1909; Gustav Klimt. "Woman in Front of the Sun" 1950; Joan Miro. "Green Dancer" 1880; Edgar Degas. "Three Musicians" 1921; Pablo Picasso. "The starry Night" 1889; Vincent van Gogh.

We made copies of the chosen works, and every student had the opportunity to discuss the different elements found in the work. We looked for details, discussed colors, inspiration, and brushstroke. We looked for similarities and differences among the different artworks. We finally discussed what elements contributed to the "mood" of each artwork. 

Each student created a template for her/his cat.
We used black sharpies, markers, oil pastels and water colors.



The Starry Night Vincent van Gogh





Tree of Life Gustav Klimt





Waterlilies Claude Monet 



Exotic Landscape Henri Rousseau 





Green Dancer Edgar Degas





Three Musicians Pablo Picasso





Hermitage Paul Klee





Four Cut Flowers Vincent van Gogh 





Woman in Front of the Sun Joan Miro




Saturday, October 13, 2012

Creating pumpkins in the style of Yayoi Kusama



Last year I introduced our Kindergarten students to the work of the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.
Please click Here to view the post. 

The students loved her colorful work with polka dots, and this year I decided we should have more fun creating pumpkins based on her style.  Both grades (KG, and G1) viewed Yayoi Kusama's work, concentrating on her colorful pumpkins. 
Some Kindergarten students used finger painting to create the dots, while others choose to use brushes. It was interesting to watch the students trying to hold the brush completely vertical in an effort to create the "perfect" dot. 

The first graders decided to use pencils and colorful sharpies for the drawing part or the project and water colors for the background. 

Yayoi Kusama surrounded by her colorful pumpkins.














Yayoi Kusama


















Yayoi Kusama













Yayoi Kusama