Paint Like Paul Cezanne!

Fruit and a Jug on a Table  -  about 1890

"If you see a red tree, paint it bright red." 
~ Paul Cezanne

Paul Cezanne was one of the most influential artists of the 19th century. This French Post-Impressionist artist painted still life subjects that almost always included fruit.


So, in our efforts to paint like Cezanne, we painted fruit!







The children were given very brief instructions on how to draw a bowl and how to draw fruit that is partially hidden inside the bowl. They also learned how to create fruit behind fruit (overlapping) and had plenty of fruit "subjects"  such as apples, pears, and peaches to look at. Then they went to town!


The resulting colors and patterns are amazing... and as a bonus, maybe now they will eat more fruit!

Paint Like Monet!

The Japanese Bridge, 1899

"I would like to paint the way a bird sings." ~ Claude Monet

This week we painted like Claude Monet. First we learned about this French Impressionist and how he saw the world differently that other painters before him. His desire was to paint his impression of a place or a setting - using light and its effects on color to create more than just a reproduction of a place. He wasn't concerned with accurately depicting details. He wanted to portray his overall impression or the atmosphere or the mood surrounding his subject. 




The Japanese footbridge over the waterlily pond was probably one of Monet's favorite subjects. He painted this scene many, many times. Different seasons, different times of the day, different lighting and shadows. 


We decided to paint it too.


Our morning class painted the bridge using oil pastel resist and watercolor. 


Our afternoon class created acrylic paintings on canvas. This was challenging, but the results were lovely as students captured light peeking through trees, dark shadows, glimmering water, and colorful waterlilies.


They painting their bridges whatever color they wanted - artistic license allows you to do that! 

More Paul Klee!

Red Balloon    1922

"A line is a dot that went for a walk." ~ Paul Klee

Here's another example of Paul Klee's work.

Geometric shapes, brilliant colors that are smudged or smeared on, and interesting images that resemble buildings and rooftops.

We used thick oil pastel on white paper, which we covered with thinned black tempera paint for the pastels to 'resist' and pop right through!

Here is our artwork in this geometric Paul Klee style:

Paint Like Paul Klee!

Cottage Garden in Person     1933

"Art does not reproduce what we see."  ~ Paul Klee

This week we "painted like the masters!" We looked at and studied each master artist's paintings while learning about where and when the artist lived, and how their life events affected their paintings. We learned about art movements and styles, such impressionism, abstract art, portraiture, and still life art. We painted with temperas, watercolors, oil pastel (resist), and acrylics on canvas. Best of all, we had a great time!

On Monday we painted like Paul Klee (1879-1940), a Swiss/German Expressionist. His work looked abstract to us as well. He was always trying new, playful images; especially bold lines and strong geometric forms. You can always see 'something' in his images, but different people see different things. This is Expressionism.

What can you see in these paintings?

"A painter should not paint what he sees, but what will be seen."
~ Paul Klee

Beasts!

On the last day of this camp, we created beasts... elephants!

Little artists learned about the differences between African and Asian elephants. Then we made 3-D elephants using sponge painting, collage, and paper folding techniques.












We borrowed this project idea from Mr. Giannetto's art blog.

Older artists created detailed drawings of elephants, then went over them with black school markers (like Crayola, Cra-Z-Art, and Rose Art markers). Then they painted over them with water - and guess what! Their elephants turned a rainbow of 'grayish' colors! Depending upon the brand, black markers will bleed blues, purples, pinks, browns, and greens when water is added, which we found makes awesome elephants! Permanent markers, such as Sharpies, do not do this (so we use Sharpies when we do NOT want bleeding to happen).

Finally, we used watercolors to fill in the background and more markers for details. 

  

Leapin' Lizards!

Little Artists got messy on Day 3 as they created their Leapin' Lizards with pastels. 


First they drew their lizards in black oil pastel, pressing hard! 


Then they filled in the spaces with colorful soft pastels while learning how to blend and soften colors with their fingers. (We had damp towels nearby for wiping off fingers.) 

Blending and blending

Final important step: go over the black lines with oil pastel again. 

My sample (I always like the kids' work better!)

We had a little spare time, so we also made another reptile: a pop-up snake!

Beach Critters!

Tylee's Shark!

Art Smart Kids made awesome watery 3-D scenes on the 2nd and 3rd day of Art Camp. They used Model Magic to create a 3-D image of a portion of their critters, either above or below the waterline.  

This project involved a lot of planning, painting, sculpting, and gluing, as well as creating a display stand. Oh, and applying generous amounts of iridescent glitter sparkles in the water! 

Taylor's Leaping Dolphin

Breaching Humpback Whale

Kemper's Sea Turtle

Abigail's Frog in a Pond with Ducks

Birds!

On the second day of this week's camps, Little Artists learned about rain forest birds and made one-plate toucans! 

We got this great project idea from pinkstripeysocks.com.
 

 

After that, each artist made adorable newly hatched baby birds in a nest... 

Look carefully to find bluebirds, parrots, parakeets, crows, chicks, and doves!