Discovering
Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great
Masters by MaryAnn F. Kohl and Kim Solga is a great book targeted
for children aged 4-12 but can be used by anyone (to order the book,
click on the cover). The main focus of the book is to explore art
by learning about the Great Masters and imitating their styles. Each
activity introduces an artist with a short biography and example of
the art they created. Then there is an art project in the style of
the artist with step by step instructions. The focus is on using creativity
and exploring different techniques and materials, not necessarily
on the finished product. The book is organized chronologically and
has an excellent Chart of Contents outlining page, artist, lifetime,
art activity, artist style, art technique, child difficulty level
and adult prep time. Here are two art projects taken from the book:
Project
#1 Morisot (1841-1895) Textured Paints
Berthe Morisot was encouraged by her parents to become a painter and
was one of the original French Impressionists. She worked with Édouard
Manet at his studio where she met her husband, Manet’s brother,
Eugene. Although women artists were not taken seriously in the art
world at the time, Morisot was always respected and often sold more
paintings than Monet or Renoir. She created paintings with thick brush
strokes, heavy globs and bright colors.
Materials:
Tempera or poster paint
Jars for mixing
Texture materials (like glitter, sand, sawdust, salt, flour, crushed
eggshells or wallpaper paste)
Heavy paper or pieces of matte board, foam board or white cardboard
Paintbrushes
Popsicle sticks
Process:
1. Fill mixing jars with about 1/8 cup of liquid tempera paint in
each. Use a different color for each cup.
2. Stir one texture material into each cup.
3. Use the texture paints to paint a picture on the heavy paper or
matte board. Explore the use of different paint brushes and popsicle
sticks to apply the texture paints.
4. Dry the painting for several hours.
Project
#2 Warhol (1930-1987) Lots of Me!
The American artist Andy Warhol was famous for paintings of celebrities.
He often started with a photograph and painted the same image repeatedly
in different ways and colors.
Materials:
Photograph of the artist
Photocopier
Scissors
Pencil and ruler
Colored pencils, crayons, markers
12” x 18” sheet of heavy paper
Glue
Process:
1. Use a copier to enlarge a photo of the artist so the face of the
artist can be trimmed to make a 6” square. Make 6 total copies.
2. With adult help, measure the copies to 6” squares and trim
them so they’re all the same size.
3. Lay out the identical six faces on the heavy paper.
4. With colored pencils, crayons or markers, color each of the six
faces differently. Move the copies into different positions while
working. Cut some of the copies differently, such as cutting all the
background out of one copy, or cutting the face out of another and
leaving only the background.
5. When your child is happy with the design, glue the six copies in
place with edges touching like a checkerboard to make a Warhol-like
photo collage.
Happy Exploring!
