Warm/Cool Color Study...con't

COLOR STUDY - TAKE TWO

First, we started with 2 ABSTRACT paintings.
One using only warm colors, the second using only cool colors.

Next, we ripped, cut and glued the two paintings, creating one awesome abstract!

Look at these!  2 very different results, both super interesting!

Warm/Cool Color Study

Teaching your students about warm vs. cool colors is a great way to expand their art vocabulary.

Warm colors...think summer, sun, campfire...reds, yellows, oranges, pinks....

Cool colors...think winter, icicles, water...blues, greens, purples...

COLOR STUDY - TAKE 1

First, we began by painting two ABSTRACT paintings.

One in only warm colors.  The second in only cool colors.

Next we wove the two painting together!

Here are some examples...

Monet's Waterlillies

Inspired by Monet's Waterlillies paintings, we wanted to create our own!

Materials needed:

-Heavy weight water color paper

-Tempera paint, only blues, greens, and white for mixing

-Paint brushes

-Green construction paper

-Tissue paper

-Pencils

-Glue

Directions:

1.  Show examples of Monet's Waterlillies.  Talk about the softness of the paintings, soft edges, soft colors.

2.  Have the students paint the water first.  Encourage color mixing; shades of blues, greens.

3.  While the paper is drying, have students draw and cut out 3 lily pads.  You can offer them a template to trace, if needed. 

4.  For the lily pad flowers, have little scraps of tissue paper that students can wrap around the eraser end of a pencil, dip in a little glue and then stick it to the middle of the lily pad.   A few tissue paper flowers per lily pad is perfect.

5.  Once painting is dry, then glue the lily pads to the painting and voila!   A mini-masterpiece!

Get Smart, Make Art!

In one of my searches for inspiration online I came across an American painter and ceramic artist named Fred Babb.  He believed art is supposed to be cheerful and bright.  He encouraged unbridled creativity and unfiltered self-expression.  His art always had a message.

"It flows because it is the natural expression of who you are.  If what you makes happens to please someone else, that's great.  But always make art to please yourself first."

Well I wanted the kids to understand his messages.  Some kids, when they get a certain age can be overly concerned with doing it right, staying in the lines, not "messing up".  I cringe a little every time a student says, "I messed up."  Partially because art supplies are costly and I can't give everyone a new piece of paper every time they "mess up" but mostly because I believe THERE ARE NO MISTAKES IN ART...sometimes things don't go according to plan, sometimes there are happy accidents, sometimes things work, and sometimes they don't but no matter what, just go with it.   Just the act of making art can be a wonderful time of expression and exploration.

So, here is what we painted, just using Tempera paints, inspired by Fred Babb...

Rothko

Mark Rothko
1903-1970
Born in Latvia!  My parents are from Latvia so I get very excited when I hear about any fellow Latvians making contributions to the world!

Rothko went to Yale University thinking he wold become an engineer or attorney.  He eventually moved to NYC and began taking art classes.  He fell in love with painting.
He thought simple shapes were the best for showing feelings.  The large scale of his paintings are intended to pull you in and make you FEEL the color and emotion that is in front of you.  He wanted you to stand real close to them and be consumed by the feelings.

He said "...You paint a larger picture, you are in it."

What feelings do you think this student artist was having?

Claude Monet Sponge Painting

Claude Monet
French Impressionist painter
1840-1926


Materials -
- White paper
- Various pastel colored paints
- Sponges (I used regular kitchen sponges from the dollar store and cut them into smaller 1"x2" pieces
- Examples of Monet's paintings
- Pencils (optional)
- Real flowers for inspiration (optional)

Directions -
1.  Show examples of Monet's paintings, (Water Lilies, Bridge at Giverny) and discuss his painting style.  Monet's paintings have a softer feel.  The paintings look fuzzy upclose but you can really tell what the picture is when you hold it farther away.
2.  Demonstrate how to paint using only the sponges, and not dragging the sponge, just "dip and dab" the sponge onto your paper.  (Children may want to sketch their painting in pencil first)
3.  Encourage the children only paint organic shapes and images - flowers, trees, etc.  Talk about how Monet would go outdoors to paint and was very inspired by nature!

"The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration."  - Claude Monet

DaDa project with Mona Lisa!

The Dada art movement only had one rule - Never follow any rules!
Marcel Duchamp is one of the most famous Dada artists.
He asks the question - What is ART?  He hoped to challenge people's perceptions of what art could be.
His famous painting is of Mona Lisa with a moustache.

I thought it would fun to take the infamous painting of Mona Lisa, that kids of all ages will most likely recognize, and see what happens when we give her a new identity.

Materials - 
- Color copies of the Mona Lisa, can be found online
- 8x10 or 11x14 white paper
- Glue sticks
- Pencils, markers or paints - your choice!

Directions -

1.  Each child will get a color copy of the Mona Lisa.  We discuss the original painting first then I begin to talk about DaDa, explaining that there are no rules and show Duchamp's example.  We talk about creating a new Mona Lisa, giving her a new body or new environment...maybe she's a butterfly, maybe a firefighter....whatever their little hearts desire!
2.  The children begin by cutting out Mona Lisa's face, using her hair too is optional.
3.  Each child then glues down her face on their white paper and begins to sketch their idea for the new Mona Lisa
4.  Once their sketch is complete they add color.
Remember - there are no rules...so if they ask, can Mona Lisa have 2 heads instead of one?
You simply say YES!

Edvard Munch and "Things that make us want to scream!"

Edvard Munch
Norwegian Expressionist painter
1863-1944

His best known painting is The Scream.
His art explored many topics such as life, love and fear.


Materials:
- Heavy white paper (11x14)
- Cardboard pre-cut by teacher into a tracing shape for the body of "The Screamer"
- Rulers
- Pencils
- Tempera paint and brushes
- A copy of The Scream

Directions:
1.  Look at the copy of The Scream and start a conversation about what the guy in the painting might be thinking.  Is he screaming because he is scared or annoyed or mad?  Ask the kids to start thinking about the things that would make them scream.  Some of the funniest responses for me were; "My brother", "Broccoli", "Republicans", "Homework"...you get the idea.
2.  Start by having the kids turn their paper vertically and trace the pre-cut shape of the body, front and center 
3.  Older kids can then use the ruler to help create and mimic the shape of the bridge in the original painting.
4.  Point of the people in the background of the original, the deep orange in the sky and the shades blues in the water
5.  After they kids have their pencil sketch then they can apply paint. Encourage color mixing to get those unique, beautiful colors.
6.  While the painting is drying, help the kids make out a list of "Things that make me want to scream!"  Then you can attach that list to the back of the painting when you send the project home.  It is sure to get some laughs.

Mondrian Style Painting!

Piet Mondrian
Dutch Painter
1872-1944
He is best known for his non-representational paintings that he called "compositions", consisting of rectangluar forms or red, yellow, blue, white or black, seperated by thick black lines.


Materials needed:

• BIG white paper (heavy enough to handle paint)
• BIG black paper, pre-cut into long strips (approx. 1 inch wide)
• Tempera paint in red, yellow & blue
• Paint brushes
• Glue sticks
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Show the children examples of Mondrian's work.  This may be a good project for introducing the concept of PRIMARY COLORS (red, blue, yellow) vs. complementary colors (purple, green, orange)
2. Have them first glue strips down on the white paper, arranging them either vertical or horizontal, creating squares and rectangles.  Point out that Mondrian does not use diagonal lines.  Kids can cut the strips to fit them onto their paper.
3. Next, the kids can pick out a few squares or rectangles to paint, choosing between the 3 colors.  Reminding them that we are only using primary colors, not mixing the colors.  Encourage them to leave a few spaces white.

Using BIG paper really makes an impact.  The end result is always simple but awesome and ready for display!