Mona Lisa's Summer Vacation

I love this project so much!  The results are always so fun and whimsical!
I have done it a few times.  You can find another version of the same idea here with a lesson on the Dada Movement in art - http://cinnamonraisintoast.blogspot.com/2010/01/dada-project-with-mona-lisa.html

Here are the results of our latest efforts...

Basically you just need to download a picture of Mona Lisa and then let your imagination run wild!

I asked the kids what they were going to do on the summer break.  Then I told them to pretend you were taking Mona Lisa with you.  Imagine her in that environment.  Mona Lisa visiting the Taj Mahal, Mona Lisa selling ice cream, Mona Lisa at the botanical gardens, on a boat, picking flowers....you get the idea!

Little Blue Horse inspired by Franz Marc

Franz Marc was a German Expressionist painter who was also influenced by futurism and cubism.
He liked bold colors and often painted animals.  I was inspired by this painting "Little Blue Horse" and decided to have my students replicate the bold colors and they were so excited to learn how to draw a horse! (tutorial coming soon)

Materials needed:
- Circle templates for horse drawing (optional)
- Pencils
- Erasers
- Black Sharpie
- Watercolor paint
- Watercolor paper - one piece for the horse, one piece for the background
- Brushes
- Scissors
- Glue

Directions:
1.  I started with a simple tutorial on how to draw a horse, starting with only 4 circles.  (tutorial pics coming soon!)  We sketched the horse, outlined the outside edges with Sharpie and erased all the pencils lines.
2.  Once the horse is outlined, paint it blue, demonstrate how to get darker and/or lighter blue.  Encourage experimentation with getting different shades of blue.
3.  Once dry, cut out the horse
4.  Using Marc's Little Blue Horse as an example, paint the background landscape using bright watercolors to mimic the colors in the horizon, foreground, etc.
5.  Once background is dry, glue horse down.

 Take a look at what we made!  WOW!  They did a great job!

Black & White & Franz Kline

Franz Kline was an American abstract expressionist painter.

I really like the simplicity of his black and white paintings, like Mahoning, painted in 1956.

The students and I looked at his work together and discussed what we saw in them.  Some students said his paintings reminded them of Japanese writing, some thought his painting looked like train tracks.  I would say, all answers are correct!

So then we tried to recreate Kline's simple style using black tissue paper.

Materials needed:
-Black tissue paper (I pre-cut some into small squares)
-Big white watercolor paper (or any paper heavy enough to take a generous amount of Mod Podge)
-Mod Podge
-Scissors
-Pencils

Directions:
1.  Have the students draw with pencil a few lines on the white paper.  I directed them to do 2 horizontal, 2 vertical (all the entire length of their paper) then a shape or 2 of their choosing.
2.  Take one square of black tissue paper at a time, using Mod Podge to "glue' it down on the pencil line.  Repeat Mod Podging the squares, following all the lines.
3.  Once all the pencil lines are covered, apply a generous amount of Mod Podge all over the paper, sealing it and giving it a nice shine and texture.