Impressionism

In second grade, I teach the major styles of art: Realism, Abstract and Impressionism. 

One of my proudest teacher moments came years ago, when I walked past a classroom and heard the teacher starting to teach abstract words.  I noticed the word abstract written on the board, so I hung around to hear more.  Several students related what they had learned about abstract art in my class.  

This is my favorite way to teach Impressionism.

Students read the Mike Venezia book on Monet.  Since the major purpose of impressionism is to show how something looks with the light on it, we color in a heart using impressionist "brush strokes" with oil pastels.  Students choose one color for the entire heart.  They use light colors on one half of the heart and dark colors on the other half.  I show students how to check the color wheel to find the compliment of their chosen heart color.  To keep their colors bright, Impressionists used compliments (opposites on the color wheel) side by side, but usually avoided mixing them. 

 

 

To finish, I let students use paper edgers (we call them "crazy cuts") to trim a paper frame and decorate with scrap paper.  The results are not perfect, but charmingly child-like.  They make a wonderfully colorful display.

 

 

 

Painting to Music

Of course painting to music starts with a lesson on Kandinsky.  I tell my students how Kandinsky liked to paint to music.  He said when he saw a painting he could hear music in it.  I played various types of music and students made one painting per song.  I encouraged them to stop and listen for inspiration, or to let the music move their paintbrush hand.  Can you hear colors too? 

 

 

 

 

Q-tip Winter Tree

Kindergartners LOVE to paint.  I like to keep it simple so clean up is not overwhelming.  So I often use a Q-tip for the paint instead of a brush.  This project reviews rectangle and triangle.  I tell my students that the person who looks at their picture should see snow, but the artist who paints it is CREATING LINES.  According to basic geometry, a line starts with a dot that moves.  And q-tips  make perfect little dots.  Now move the q-tip and create a line!

Paul Klee Hearts

 

After my fourth grade students look at Paul Klee's colorful abstract art work, I show them how to use primary tempera paints (magenta, yellow and turquoise) plus white to get any complicated colors.  I find if I don't give them white the colors get very deep and dark. 

While they already know red and yellow make orange, a little more red makes yellow-orange.  We use egg cartons to mix the colors in.  So one egg cup ean mix three or more colors.  The more colors they make in each cup the more complicated the colors get.  Sharing colors is a great time saver.  It is soon obvious to everyone that analagous colors create brights, while opposites create neutrals.  I wish I had learned this in elementary school instead of college.  Painting 101 would have been much easier.

 

                                   

Koi Fish

The inspiration for this painting came from the artist Aleah Koury "Floating Motion".  The students work came out great.  Their biggest challenge was drawing the koi fish to look like they were moving.  I showed them how I started with a slight S curve in pencil.  We used contrasting color outlines for the fish and the water lilies.  We colored in the fish with warm color crayons.  Then we went over the fish bodies with white crayon to make sure the water colors would not cover them.  Also in crayon, a white spiral or three.

Last we painted the water and the lillies. 

Not a Stick

I read my third graders Not A Stick by Antoinette Portis.  The main character finds many uses for an ordinary stick. ( Brings back fond memories of when my boys were small.)  I then supplied them with a tooth pick, a small paper, pencil with eraser and black marker.  I showed them how easy it is to draw a person in marker, if you draw a stick figure in pencil first.  Some kids had so many ideas they did two.  We mounted them on a piece of black poster paper to hang in the hall.  They were the topic of many water fountain conversations.

More Quilling

I can't get enough quilling.  These are from last year.  We used spring colors.  How cheerful!