Pairing Paintings and Poems Revisted

Yes! I did get to teach my pairing paintings and poems lesson! I thought it went very well. I began by displaying Rousseau's Surprised! (shown above) and brainstorming with the class everything we saw in the painting. Then we decided the main idea of the painting.

Though I had found a poem that matched this painting pretty well, I decided it was a little out of reach of some of my students. I wrote a poem (at the end of the post) to go along with the painting and we read it together. We compared the poem with the painting and looked for common details.

When I asked the students to complete this activity on their own with a different painting and poem pair, they were able to do so with little difficulty. The kids enjoyed the activity in part because I gave each student an individual print out of his or her painting (in color!) and poem. The students were excited to get to hold and study the paintings up close.

I recommend this activity. It was a hit with my class. If you would like a copy of the worksheet I used, email me and I'd be happy to send one along.

My tiger poem:

Tiger

A hungry tiger in the rain

crouched in windblown grass

and growled

and scowled

and bared her teeth

and waited for prey to pass.

Soundlessly she prowled

as lightning lit the sky.

Then thunder crashed

and forward she dashed,

determined not to let her prey slip by.

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Create Your Own Picasso Painted Collage

Pablo Picasso’s art spanned many styles as he grew as an artist. I have posted about Picasso before and recommended that you try your hand at a music collage in his style. At the beginning of the summer I went to an art exhibit that had one of Picasso’s painted collages. Today’s project was inspired by that painting.

Note: My aunt created the jazzy painting with the brown background, and I painted the picture of the dog walker with the blue background. We used a lot of small pieces because we wanted to have fun with the project, but you can use as few or as many shapes of any size. It would be interesting to create a collage painting using only circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles. You would really start to notice the way objects are just made up of shapes stuck together.

You will need two sessions to complete this project.

Supplies Needed:

Poster board shape tracers
Pencil
Foam board or heavy paper in the color of your background
Craft paint
Paintbrush
Water

The fun thing about this project is that two people will use the same shapes to create completely different paintings. My aunt and I both wanted to use all the shapes available so we could show this to you. You can pick which shapes you want to include in your painting and which you want to leave out.
Choose a sheet of paper or a piece of foam board in the color you’d like your background to be. You could also paint a solid color over the entire paper. Trust me; it’s a pain to paint the background after you’ve traced your image onto your paper. If you decide to paint your background, remember to let it dry before you go on.

Arrange the tracers into a picture on your paper. Move them around until you create an image you like. This seems like it would be difficult, but the shapes will form into pictures if you move them around enough. Remember, the color of the tracers doesn’t matter because you’re going to paint later.
When you’re happy with the layout, trace each shape with your pencil. This is the trickiest part of this project because the shapes can move if you aren’t careful. Take your time.
This is a good place to take a break if you need one.

The final step is to paint. At this point, you’re basically filling in a coloring book page. It’s much more satisfying, though, because you drew the outline yourself.

Allow your painting to dry and then compare it to the paintings your friends made using the same group of shape tracers. What similarities and differences do you notice?

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Create Your Own Rainy Day Masterpiece

It’s a rainy day here in Maryland. We’ve been having a lot of those lately and I know that a lot of you, at least in the U.S., have, also. So today, or the next time it rains, look out your window at the trees. Don’t they look dark and gloomy against the green and blue-grey background of the leaves and rain?

I must admit that I did not think of this project on my own. I saw it in a school where I worked last week and was so impressed by the artwork the students created that I knew I had to share it with you.

I recommend this project for upper elementary students as the paper cutting can be a bit tricky. It can be adapted for younger students though. Instead of keeping the black paper in one piece, just cut out individual tree shapes and glue them down.
Supplies Needed:

Watercolor Paper
Watercolor Paints
Paintbrush
Water
Black Construction Paper
Scissors
Glue Stick
Gather your materials and cover your workspace.

Begin by cutting tree shapes into your black construction paper. Leave a border around the edges. This will keep your paper in one piece. You’re just trying to create the impression of trees; they don’t have to be perfect.
Set your tree paper aside and turn to your watercolor paper. You will use cool colors (blue, green, purple) to cover your paper. Paint with broad strokes and layer your colors on top of each other.
Let your paper dry. This shouldn’t take too long.

Finally, use a glue stick to glue the trees on top of the watercolor paper.
Hang and enjoy!

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Mom's Chocolate Painting Inspired by Ms. Julie

My mom has become so annoyed by my lack of posts that she went ahead and created her own. I guess you guys missed me.

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I have been looking at your chocolate painting post for so long now that I decided I needed to give it a try. First I needed to pick something to copy and I was inspired by “Parrot Paradise” on Ms. Julie’s Place – She however is much better at creating art than I am. Next I printed out her picture at a size that will fit the cheesecake it will grace. I then taped the picture to the back of a piece of parchment paper, traced a circle the size of the cake top and set it into a cookie sheet




I next collected all the different colored chocolate melts that I had and decided which colors to use as I did not have any purple. I have found from past experience that you really can’t make different colors with these melts. They are not pure colors so you mostly end up with different browns.



I then started filling in the various sections letting it cool and harden between colors. I used some drip painting to represent the leaves as it is quite difficult to paint with too much detail (artistic license?). A white chocolate background would look better with this picture so I painted a border around the edge with the intention of pouring the rest of the chocolate to hold it all together.

Then I put the picture in the refrigerator to harden. I have now discovered that white chocolate doesn’t melt thinly enough to pour so I had to spread it with a knife which had the unfortunate effect of smearing some of the painting. And there for next time I will use a true chocolate background.

Now I must go make the cheesecake!

To Peter: My chocolate art won’t last long either. But I did make it 24 hours ahead of the cheesecake, so it should last at least that long.

Create Your Own Art Garden

Happy first day of spring! I promise to share more illustrators with you but today I want to celebrate spring. Today, create your own art garden by painting terracotta pots in the styles of famous artists.
Supplies Needed:

Three terracotta pots
Three terracotta saucers
Paints
Paintbrushes
Spray bottle

This is a messy one. If you’re having nice weather I recommend taking your whole art studio outside today. Wear old clothes and, no matter what, cover your workspace.

The first pot we’ll make is in the style of Jackson Pollock. If you don’t remember him, go refresh your memory.

I did my splatter painting in the sink, but it still made quite a mess:
You want to use a dry brush for this. A hard-bristled toothbrush would be better than a paintbrush. Squirt some paint onto the end of your brush. Aim the brush at the pot and run your thumb across the bristles. This will send the paint flying in all directions. That’s why you’re outside and wearing old clothes!
Rinse the brush and then squirt a new color onto the bristles. Splatter the paint across the pot. Continue adding colors until you are happy with your pot. Do the same with the saucer. It will save you some time and brush washings if you do the pot and the saucer at the same time.

The second pot is in the style of Piet Mondrian. Remember him? Paint squares, lines and rectangles in blue, red, yellow, and white until you have covered your whole pot. I left the lip clean but you may paint it if you wish. Let the pot dry.
When the pot has dried (about 30 minutes), paint black lines between each square, rectangle, and line.

The final pot is in the style of Morris Louis (sort of). Remember his stripe paintings? Place your pot in a box lid or some other container to catch the water and paint runoff. Stand the pot in the container with the lip down. Dab paint around the edge of the pot. Use a spray bottle to spray the paint down the side of the pot in stripes.
You may want to let the pot dry and do another coat of stripes in the opposite direction (from the lip to the base). I chose not to.

Use the same method to paint the saucer. Dab paint half way around the lip of the saucer. Then use a spray bottle to spray the paint into and across the saucer.

When your pots are dry, plant seeds, water, and watch spring bloom in your art garden. I’ll post pictures of my flowers when they bloom.

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Create Your Own Morris Louis Stripe Painting

Morris Louis created his paintings a little differently, but you can create your own stripe paintings like his.

Supplies Needed:

Cookie Sheet
Heavy Paper
Washable Paints
Paintbrush
Spray Bottle
Tape
Paper Towels

This project is a lot of fun, but it can get messy. Make sure you cover your work space and have paper towels handy.

Use a small piece of tape to attach your paper to the cookie sheet.

Dab blobs of different colored paint in a line across the top of your paper. You don’t need a lot of paint to create stripes.

Set your spray bottle to a wide spray. Water should mist out of the bottle. Angle your bottle downward and spray the paint blobs until they begin to run. Continue to spray until most of the paint has run down the page.

Use a paper towel to catch the extra water. You may also want to use a paper towel to blot the bottom of your paper.

Voila! Your very own stripe painting!

Tomorrow I’ll show you how to use this technique to make fun, homemade Christmas cards.

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Create Your Own Shimmer Painting

This project is a lot of fun and the result is an eye-catching, shimmery masterpiece. You actually don’t need any paint to create this “painting.”

Supplies Needed:

Aluminum Foil
Water
Cup
White Glue
Paintbrush
Tissue Paper
Glitter
Sequins
Cover your workspace. Ask an adult to cut a piece of aluminum foil for you. Pour a little water into your cup and add about the same amount of glue. Mix the glue and water together. You don’t need a lot of this mixture.

Use your paintbrush to spread a little of the glue mixture across a section of your aluminum foil. Tear off a strip of tissue paper and lay it over the glue. Press it down with your fingers.

Continue to paint on the glue and add strips of tissue paper until you’re happy with your artwork.
Spread another thin layer of the glue mixture over the tissue paper. Sprinkle glitter onto the “painting.”

You may also choose to add sequins to your masterpiece. You’ll want to use glue rather than the glue mixture to stick on the sequins.
Enjoy!

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_________________
My Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:

19246 / 50000 words. 38% done!

Van Gogh X-Ray

I know I should talk about the Olympics opening ceremony but I didn’t see much of it. Yes, I am ashamed of myself for not watching. Not to worry, though—my mom caught it on her DVR so I will get to see it. I hope you all enjoyed that display of art and culture.

I did, however, see that amazing Men’s 4X100 Meter Free Style Relay. If you missed it, go watch it. It was a nail-biter!

Okay, let’s get to the art…

As you may know, Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime. His brother, Theo, paid for his housing and food, and his paints and canvases. But van Gogh never had enough canvases for the paintings he wanted to create. Because of this, van Gogh sometimes painted over older paintings when he didn’t have blank canvases.
It was possible to tell which paintings had been created on top of other pictures, but experts hadn’t figured out to see and recreate the older images. Until now. A group of scientists has used a new x-ray method to find a hidden picture behind a Vincent van Gogh painting.

In late-1884 and early-1885, van Gogh painted a series of small portraits which showed the heads of Dutch peasants in their huts. The paintings are very dark, like much of van Gogh’s early work. The scientists found one of these paintings hidden behind a painting van Gogh created in 1887, Patch of Grass.

This is pretty amazing technology. You can see the uncovered image, and read about how the scientists did it, here.

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Frida Kahlo

Yesterday I mentioned Diego Rivera’s wife, Frida Kahlo. For a long time she was better known as Rivera’s wife than as an artist in her own right. After her death, though, she became very well known around the world. Several movies have been made about her and many books have been written. Today, you’ll learn about Frida Kahlo, the artist.

Kahlo was born in Mexico in 1907. Her life was a painful one. Even as a child she saw suffering and fighting all around her. Her parents argued a lot and were not happy together. Furthermore, the Mexican Revolution for independence from Spain began in 1910. Fighting continued for 10 years. The revolutionaries (the people fighting for Mexico) sometimes hopped the fence around Kahlo’s house and stayed for a meal and a safe night’s sleep.

It was a painful experience that led Kahlo to paint. She was studying medicine until she was in a terrible bus accident. She broke nearly every bone in her body and had stay in bed for a long time. Kahlo’s mother set up a special easel and Kahlo learned to paint. It was one of the only activities she could do from her bed. During this time she painted a lot of self-portraits. She painted more than 50 self-portraits over the course of her life. Look at this self-portrait from 1930 and this self-portrait from 1937

Kahlo was inspired by Mexican Indians, as Diego Rivera was, and she used bold colors. She painted realistic scenes but she was influenced by surrealism. For an example, look at Four Inhabitants of Mexico. Many of her paintings are quite disturbing. Because her life was painful, pain showed up in her art.

In 1929, as you know, Kahlo married Diego Rivera. Their relationship began as a friendship. Kahlo liked Rivera’s art and asked him to help her with hers. About a year later they were married.

Kahlo continued to paint until she became too sick. She created nearly 150 paintings. Frida Kahlo died in 1954.

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Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera and his twin brother, Carlos, were born in 1886 in the mountains of Mexico. Rivera’s parents helped poor people live better lives. This helped shaped the way Rivera painted.

Rivera began to draw when he was only three years old. He drew on everything: floors, furniture, walls, and paper. He loved to draw huge pictures on walls (murals) so his parents covered his bedroom walls with paper.

When he was 10, Rivera began to use paints. He took art classes after school. It wasn’t long before he decided to become a painter.

Rivera studied art at the San Carlos School of Fine Arts where he learned about the art of the Mexican Indians. He loved their paintings of people at work and Rivera began painting similar subjects. Rivera also learned from a teacher who enjoyed painting the differences between rich people and poor people.

He then went to study in Europe, first in Spain, then Paris. He made friends with many important artists. At this time, cubism was a growing style. Rivera painted some cubist paintings (such as Portrait of Martin Luis Guzman, shown below) before moving toward a post-impressionistic style. He began to paint large, simple shapes and used bold colors. He developed his own style while he was in Paris and his paintings started to attract attention. Rivera’s paintings were very popular and sold well. Check out Flower Festival for an example. Notice the difference between that painting and the one shown below.

In 1922, Rivera married his first wife, Guadalupe Marin. She was a model and a novelist. The marriage didn’t last and in 1929 Rivera married Frida Kahlo. She was also an artist. I’ll post about her tomorrow. When Kahlo died, Rivera married a third time. His final wife was Emma Hurtado, his agent (the person who sold his paintings).

Rivera became famous for his large frescoes. He liked creating art that would be seen by many people; murals were the perfect form. He painted 27 murals for the Detroit Institute of Arts. He also painted murals in New York City, San Francisco, and Mexico.

In 1955 Rivera fell ill. He died in 1956.

Go to Olga's Gallery to view more of Rivera's paintings.

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George Bellows

George Bellows was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1882. He went to Ohio State University where he excelled at baseball. He was even encouraged to play professional ball. But his heart wasn’t in baseball; he was a painter. So in 1904, when he had nearly finished his degree, Bellows left the university and moved to New York City.
He enrolled at the New York School of Art and became interested in painting the grittiest and dirtiest details of American life. There was a group of artists in the early 1900s who painted mainly city scenes that showed the lives of the poor. The artists, members of the Ash Can School, only showed their work together once and, at that time, Bellow’s paintings weren’t included. The term “Ash Can School” is used today for artists who painted in New York City during the early twentieth century and portrayed city life. Above is Cliff Dwelers, below is Men of the Docks and Steaming Streets.
Bellows gained fame when he helped organized a show of city landscapes. His fame grew as he showed his work at judged art shows across the country. As he became a recognized artist, wealthy art lovers began to ask for portraits. Bellow continued to paint city scenes but he also painted many portraits, like the one shown below, Portrait of Emme in Night Light.
When the U.S. became involved in World War I, Bellows deeply and publicly supported the decision. He enlisted at age 35 but was never sent abroad to fight. He used his art to show his passion and began painting war scenes. These paintings are very intense and so I will not show any here.

What he was best known for, though, were his boxing paintings. These were painted later in his life and you can see that he had learned how to paint realistically. You can see even the sweat on the muscled bodies as they push against each other. One of his boxing pictures appeared on a U.S. Postal stamp. Below is the painting on the stamp, Shag at Starkeys.
Besides painting, Bellows helped to spread the art of lithography. A lithograph is a copy of a painting made by applying the painting to a smooth, hard surface, and using certain chemicals to transfer the image to paper. Bellows had a lithography press in his studio and used it to create about 100 images.

George Bellows died in 1925.

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Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 1- Painting

This will be the first post in a series on ancient Egyptian art. Today, I’ll focus on paintings.

Not just anyone could paint the pictures that appeared inside ancient Egyptian tombs and monuments. Those paintings were extremely important and had to be done perfectly because they were meant to help the dead in the afterlife.

Painters usually worked as teams with one master craftsman overseeing the work of several apprentices. First, a grid was drawn on a piece of papyrus. Then the image was drawn on top of the grid. In ancient Egyptian art, each figure had to be a specific size. For example, a grown man was always 19 squares from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head.

Egyptian art was standardized. Not only were certain figures always the same number of squares tall and wide, but the there was a formula for the way to draw figures. When you look at Egyptian paintings (and carvings) you’ll notice that the face is always sideways, the upper body always faces forward, and the legs and feet face sideways. This is not a natural position. You’ll also notice that the one eye that shows is always painted on the side of the face. The Egyptians wanted to show only the most important parts of the body and they wanted to show those parts in the most attractive way. They painted the eye on the side of the face so it could be shown looking straight out. Feet don’t look like feet from straight on so the Egyptians painted them from the side.

When the drawing was perfect, a thin layer of plaster was spread over the area to be painted. It was sanded and smooth until it was shiny. Some of the apprentices would then use cords dipped in red paint to create a grid on the wall. The image was then painted onto the wall in red paint by the apprentices. They had to be careful to paint the figure exactly the way it looked on the papyrus. The master craftsman corrected the pictures in black before the apprentices filled in the figure with colored paints.

Egyptians used only eight colors, all mixed from natural materials likes rocks and plants. The colors have stayed bright in some place because the sun doesn’t reach the inside of tombs to bleach away the paints.

Sometimes paintings were done on papyrus scrolls instead of on walls. The figures still followed the same formulas.

Check back tomorrow for the next post in this series on Egyptian art!

EDITED TO ADD: Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 2- Carvings, Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 3- Sculpture, Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 4- Amarna Art, Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 5- Fayum Portraits

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Painting Demonstration

I have been quite busy this week, finishing up the school year at the middle school where I have been working, making last minute Christmas preparations, and getting ready for a trip to Florida where I will spend the holidays with my family. These things add up to a short post today. I didn't want to leave you completely art-less so here's something I have been waiting to share with you at the right moment.

I came across a website a few months ago where some painting demonstrations had been posted. I found it very interesting to see all the steps that go into creating a realistic painting. Notice that the artist, William Whitaker, first drew a rough sketch of the painting and then slowly filled everything in, layering paint onto paint. It must have taken a long time to fully polish a painting like this!

There are a few other demonstrations on the site but you should look at this one especially. It seems that you would paint the background first and then layer the girl on top but that's not the best way to do it, as you can see in the demonstration. If you were to paint the background first, the colors and textures of the paint would show through the foreground subject (the girl).

Tomorrow I'll post on a related topic.

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Paint Your Own Christmas Ornament

Today’s Christmas craft is a simple one, guaranteed to produce beautiful and unique ornaments every time. And it can be enjoyed by crafters of all ages.

Supplies Needed:

Glass ball ornament
Glass paint
Yes, that’s it. Gather your supplies and cover your workspace with newspaper. I chose to use red, green, and white paints and I think my ornament came out well. You can use any colors and glass paint comes in more colors that you can imagine. Silver and gold would be good additions to any ornament. Go crazy!

Remove the top of the ornament, the part that allows you to hang it on the tree, and set it aside.

Hold the ornament so the opening is angled, though still with an upright tilt. Squeeze some paint into the ornament so it runs down the inside. Glass paint is rather thick and will take a while to make it to the bottom of the ornament. There’s no need to wait for it to finish its journey before adding the next color. Squeeze as many colors into the ball as you’d like, rotating the ornament each time for a paint-free space.

Now cover the opening with your thumb and gently tap the ornament against your other palm to speed the paint along. Turn the ornament so the paint runs across the entire inside and there is no clear space left. Add more paint if you need to.

Place the top back on and enjoy your one-of-a-kind ornament. Add a piece of ribbon as a hanger if you choose, or just use a metal one.
A side note: You can use regular craft paint for this project since you won’t be washing the ornament or eat off of it, however, eventually the paint will begin to separate. The ornament pictured below was painted about ten years ago, by my estimation, and you can see that pigment (that is the color) is separating from the binder (the liquid that the color is mixed with to create paint). I still like it though, and hang it on my tree every year.
Click the following links for a paper ornament project, and a candy cane ornament project.

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Create Your Own Mondrian Masterpiece

Piet Mondrian wanted to find the heart of the things around him so that he could paint it onto his canvas. As he grew older, he art became simpler. The result, for you, is an easy-to-copy style. Today, learn to make your own Mondrian-inspired painting.

Supplies Needed:

Heavy sketch paper (white)
Paints in red, yellow, blue, and black
Paintbrush
Water (for rinsing the brush)
Ruler
Construction paper
Scissors
Pencils

Begin by drawing lines on your paper with your pencil. Use your ruler to make sure the lines are straight horizontal or vertical by measuring from the sides and marking several points along the line before drawing it. Use your imagination to decide where to draw the lines.

Next, fill in some of the squares formed by your intersecting lines with red, yellow, or blue paint. Make sure to leave some of the squares white. If your colors aren’t perfectly within the lines, that’s okay; you’ll paint your black lines next and they’ll cover the edges.

You will now paint over the pencil lines with black paint. The other colors need to dry first and in the meantime, you can make a stencil for painting the black lines. This will make them look crisp.

Cut a sheet of construction paper in half. Place the outer edges together. The edges that you just cut will be to the outside now. Cut a strip from another sheet of construction paper and then cut the strip in half. You’ll use this strip to connect the two halves of your construction paper.

You want to leave an opening about half an inch thick so measure a half an inch somewhere in the middle of the strip and mark it off. Do the same to the second strip. Now tape one strip to each end of the half-sheets of construction paper with the straight edges faces into the gap.

Mark the center of the gap by drawing a line on each strip. Now line up the pencil lines on your painting with these lines and use your stencil to paint black lines where the pencil lines used to be. You may need to fill in your lines a few at a time and let them dry before filling in a few more. You don’t want to set your stencil in wet paint.

Alternatively, you could use a thick black marker to draw the lines but paint will look better.

After you have painted all the lines, your masterpiece is complete! Let it dry, hang, and enjoy.

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Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian was born in the Netherlands in 1872. He was influenced by many artistic styles and even helped found an artistic movement called De Stijl. He died in 1944, have created about 250 paintings in his lifetime.

The paintings that Piet Mondrian is most famous for are rectangles of white and primary colors, dissected by black lines. He did not always paint this way, however. Mondrian’s first paintings depicted scenes found in real life. They were done in a style similar to impressionism. As his style grew and changed, he stopped using any colors besides the three primaries: red, yellow, and blue. The painting shown below is Avond. This is the first painting in which Mondrian used only primary colors but you can still see the influence of impressionism.

Mondrian soon became interested in cubism. Cubism, which I have not yet posted about, is an artistic style in which the subject is broken into meaningful pieces and rearranged in a new order to show the most important parts of the object. The painting shown below, Still Life with Ginger Pot, was painted by Mondrian in the cubist style. Because of the influence of cubism, Mondrian’s paintings became more and more abstract. Mondrian moved to Paris in 1912 so he could further study cubism.
In 1914 Mondrian returned home just before World War I broke out. He was stuck there for the duration of the war (1914-1919). During this time he became friends with some other artists and together they began the new movement, De Stijl, which I posted about yesterday. The movement was called De Stijl because that was the name of the journal that Mondrian and his friends started. They called the movement neoplasticism and today both names are correct.
The members of the De Stijl movement were searching to paint an even more honest truth than the cubists. They believed the essence, the foundation of all things could be found in the simplest form: straight lines and primary colors. So Mondrian began painting pieces like the one shown above, Composition.

Tomorrow I’ll teach you to make your own Mondrian-inspired painting.

EDITED TO ADD: Create Your Own Edible Mondrian Painting,
Create Your Own Mondrian Masterpiece

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