J and Ansel Adams

Recently we had an opportunity to go to a local museum that was featuring some of Ansel Adams' work. Ansel Adams was known for his beautiful landscape photography--which he produced using black and white film. HERE is more information about him.

With all the beautiful fall colors around us, it was hard to even think about black and white!

In one of the buildings were several works by Folk artist Warren Kimble. He didn't believe in black and white unless you count the cow.

Just before we entered the building with Ansel's works, we found a friend that wanted to pose with J.

J and I very much enjoyed viewing Ansel Adams' photos. We talked about what made the photos "work" even though there was no color. Then, I gave J the camera so that he could see what would and wouldn't work and so we could discuss why.

This first photo was lovely in color, but faded into a bland photo when we put it in grayscale:

This cow made a much better impression in her original psychedelic state:

Some things just photograph better in color. Fruit, for example, looks more tasty in color. In black and white it is less enticing as food, but not too bad as art:

There was a collection of old stoves in another building. J liked this one especially as it looked like a gingerbread house. It was interesting to note that its transition to black and white actually made the distracting background fade:

This guy looked a little rusted and tired. Turn him into a black and white photo and he looks young and strong again. (Perhaps all future photos of me should be in black and white?)

This next photo actually approached "art" when given its grayscale finish. Ansel would have been proud.

Back in the old days we had to wait a L O N G time for the film to be developed, etc., etc. Yay for digital cameras! So many more opportunities to educate with the technology we enjoy now.

J and Jackson Pollock

I've said it before: Modern Art is PERFECT for kids to copy! I'm not saying that the modern artists have no talent--to the contrary. Their willingness to create from within is very exciting. Much of it is really amazing. It also lends itself to encouraging kids to enjoy art!

Jackson Pollock was known for his "paint splatter" style of painting. The video below gives a wonderful mix of actual photos of Pollock and a dramatization of when he stumbled upon the style that would make him famous. (If it doesn't show below, click HERE to watch it on YouTube directly.)

When the weather gets warmer, I am planning on putting a large piece of paper out in the yard and having L and J work together on their own Pollock-inspired masterpiece. L is an artist, so I expect this to be a fun project for them both.

I wanted to give J a chance to "do" Pollock while were reading about him and came across this link. You will love it. Once you enter the site, start creating. (Hint: Left-click to change colors.)

Create like Jackson Pollock

J and Magritte

I can't believe my last post was in December. So, a belated Happy New Year!

To ease into more regular posting, I thought I'd start with something light and fun. We're in the latter part of our art book, Discovering Great Artists. In this section we're covering Surrealists, Cubists, and other "ists" that form the "Modern Arts." We've done Picasso and a few others, but I wanted to share J's efforts in regards to copying the style of Rene Magritte.

You may not know his name, but I bet you've seen some of his work. The two below are representative of his style. He liked to "mix things up" a bit.

This one was one of J's favorites. I've never associated a tuba with "hot" music, but there it is.

After reading the background on Magritte and looking at a selection of his works, I set J up to create his own "Magritte." (NOTE: You would definitely want to choose the photos of his work ahead of time rather than having your child standing there while you look through them. Trust me.)

I put J's tennis shoe on the table in front of him. J decided to give it a bit of an angle and then set to work. After he drew and colored the shoe, he gave it the "Magritte" magic--Little tiny people climbing and standing on the "mountain." Two of the balloons say "hi." The two little guys stuck in a furrow at the toe are calling for help. It is, after all, a very big shoe.

J has decided he likes Modern Art the best. Can you blame him?

Art for Second Grade

Beginning this week we are going to finish up the artists in the book, Discovering Great Artists by MaryAnn F. Kohl. We began this book last year. HERE is a collection of my favorites.

Below is a list of the artists that we will cover. Each page in the book gives a quick synopsis of the artist's life and specific style. Then directions are given for the student to create a similar style. I can't say enough about how much I love this book and how much J has enjoyed it.

You'll notice that I've scheduled a "Gallery Showing" for June. I'm planning on displaying all of his work inspired by this book and perhaps even making it a little bit of an event. For those too far away to attend, I will be sure to report on it right here on the blog.

Second Grade List of Artists:

October: Toulouse-Lautrec, Seurat, Vuillard, Russell

November: Matisse, Munch, Kandinsky, Klee

December: Stella, Escher

January: Calder, Braque, Picasso

February: Duchamp, Chagall, Magritte, Dali

March: Rockwell, Wyeth, Lange, Bourke-White

April: Vasarily, Pollock, Christo, Paik

May: Lichtenstein, Warhol, Ringgold, Van Allsburg

June: Great Artist Cookies (this should be fun--and tasty!) to be served at the Gallery Showing.

Along with the artists, we'll also do some "grid drawing" using books like the one below (click on the picture to see other titles):

J and the Impressionists

On Saturday we will be visiting our local museum at which they are exhibiting several works by Mary Cassatt. They also have paintings by Monet, Manet, and Degas that are permanently on display.

In preparation, we have been lightly discussing each painter's background and specific style, and identifying the paintings we will be seeing. We've also done some artwork in which J either copied a painting or did his own in a style specific to each artist.

I found a series of books with titles such as What Makes a Cassatt a Cassatt, and What Makes a Degas a Degas. (Click on the titles to see the books.) Each book is short and to the point and talks about how the person became an artist and how he or she developed individual style. The very last page pulls out the specifics of that painter's style...what makes the painting clearly one by that artist. Here's an example:



With that information I was able to show J several paintings by the four artists we're studying all mixed together and he did well with identification. Now we're looking forward to seeing the real ones!

This is a Monet painting called Haystacks in the Afternoon. J was four years old when he did this one. I decided not to do another since we had three other artists to cover:

In the art book that I'm using (Discovering Great Artists), directions are given for experimenting with a style or a medium used by the particular artist. J didn't copy the works for Cassatt or Degas--he made his own similar creations.

Though Mary Cassatt is known for her paintings of mothers and children, she evidently enjoyed using a technique called a Monoprint, as well. J chose to paint the three tempera paint bottles and scratch out their letters (backwards at my suggestion) on the back of a cookie sheet. Then he placed the paper over it while wet and gently pressed, transferring the image.

In this one the focus was the appearance of motion. Degas was very interested in movement which is why his favorite subject was dancers.

Finally, I had him copy one of Manet's paintings. This one is entitled, "The Grand Canal, Venice." I thought this would be fun to copy because of the poles.

I've created a booklet for J showing many of the paintings we will see. I'm using it as a sort of matching game since it makes it more interesting to "discover" something rather than just look at it--at least when you're only six years old!

I'm really looking forward to seeing the originals. Impressionist art has always been a favorite style of mine, Mary Cassatt especially, and it is exciting to get to see these up close.

Tomorrow, we immerse ourselves in beauty.

Our Plans for Studying Art

When J was 4 ½ years old, I began to introduce him to artists. He didn’t study them in any depth (of course!), but it was fun for him to play with the different styles and at least become familiar with their names.

At that time our local museum had an exhibit of Georgia O’Keefe paintings. I tried to prepare him so he would know some of her work (making it more interesting for him when we visited the museum). Below are just two of his "copies" and his comments about them.

This picture is called Back Door With Snow. When asked what he saw in the painting, J said, "There's a black door. She painted brown. Let's go inside--what's inside?"



This picture's title is The Tent Door at Night. Below I typed J's comments in italics and L's questions in parentheses. See if you can keep up with the 4 1/2 year old logic!

(What do you see?) There's a triangle and a vertical line. The doors are black. (What's outside?) Sky and blue and gray. (What's at the bottom?) Black. (What's in the tent?) Toys and books and drawing paper. (What toys?) A slide and a swing. (Where's the artist?) In a tent. (Where was the tent?) Outside. (Where in the U.S?) Florida. (Why was she there?) To play.

We've continued to touch on different artists since then. Another very fun one was the artist Chuck Close who divided his pictures into small squares and painted a design of some sort in each square creating a pixilated image. I drew the bear and J did the work himself, box by box. Between the two is a rectangle that shows a closeup of how the artist created his work.

This school year I plan to do more of the same. We will "study" one artist a week. By study I mean that I will give J some background on the artist and then we will do a project using that artist’s style.

Following is my plan for this school year. I started with the Impressionists because the same museum currently has their paintings which we will go to see in September. I'm sure you know we'll be posting the results as we go along!

September: Cassatt, Monet, Manet, Degas
October: Limbourg Bros., Ghiberti, Van Eyck, Angelico, Masaccio
November: Botticelli, DaVinci (3 different lessons)
December: Durer, Raphael, Michelangelo
January: El Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt
February: Linnaeus, Gainsborough, Blake, Constable
March: Hokusai, Courbet, Morisot, Homer
April: Renoir, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Rousseau
May: Audubon, Rodin, Gauguin, Toulousse-Lautrec