DEGAS MOVEMENT STUDIES AND THE BLUE PERIOD

 Edgar Degas created many paintings, in which the subjects are moving, like horses running and his famous ballet dancers. This week, we drew horses running to show movement on the page. I cut out simple stencils of a horse and each kid outlined it a few times on the drawing paper, moving always a little forward. Then, they filled them in or around with crayons.

 



Here is a photo of a Degas sculpture...

Then, I showed the kids also a painting by Picasso from his Blue Period.

Each kid got a small tray to mix a shade of blue: aqua (mix with green), light blue (mix with white), grey blue (with black) and the regular blue. They all mixed with a popsicle stick and then we all shared all the blue shades to create paintings.
We talked about the family in Picasso's painting and that blue in the painting expresses cold and sadness. But at our painting session we had lots of fun even when using blue!

 

 

Note: The ideas for these projects come from a great book I just got by MaryAnn F. Kohl called 'Discovering Great Artists', very recommended for art teachers.



SUNSETS IN WATERCOLOR

The beautiful Tel Avivian sunset from last weekend inspired this week's creations (thanks, Anat!). I taped white paper to the work surface so there would be a frame to the paintings when taken off. First, the kids used pencil to sketch their sunsets. Some did with the sea in front, others with fields and trees. Then, they used watercolor to create their sunsets.



 

When they were finished, I wanted to take the tape off carefully to show them the effect the frame gives to the painting. But, how else, the kids really wanted to take the tape off by themselves! So some edges ripped and tore, but how fun is it for a kid to rip off tape!
The second half of the session was spent with clay. We used long barbeque sticks to create standing sculptures and the younger ones used the sticks to stick into the clay to make 'cakes'.