Chagall-inspired dream drawings

La Mariee, by Marc Chagall (1912)

I and the Village, by Marc Chagall (1911)

About the Artist: Marc Chagall (1887-1985), pronounced Sha-gall, was a modern artist on the forefront of surrealism in Europe in the early 20th century. (Surrealism is a style of art which attempted to express the workings of the subconscious mind, often creating images with really weird associations). Born in Belarus, he was Jewish and highly affected by the horrors to which the Jews were subjected to in the lead-up and during World War 2 in Europe. His works are characterized by a beautiful dreamlike quality, full of emotion.

Discussion Questions: Using the powerpoint presentation here, choose one Chagall painting (maybe the one that is most interesting to you) to discuss with the kids, letting the discussion be very open-ended - with the KIDS doing 90% of the talking. Remember, the goal with the discussion is to let the kids really look at the painting and connect with it, not to inundate them with facts they will soon forget. There are no wrong answers to any of the following questions. Encourage the kids to formulate their own opinions and then follow up, if applicable, with "what makes you say that?" so they have the opportunity to back it up.

• What's going on in this painting? 
• What makes you say that?
• What more can you find?
• What parts of the scene seem real, and what elements seem dream-like?
• What emotions do you notice in the painting?
• How does the color affect the mood, or feeling, of the painting?

Materials: (thickish, if possible) drawing paper, sharpies, markers. (You might want to put a mat/old manilla folder down under the paper, to protect each desk) 

Activity: (This activity is adapted from a great lesson found here. Thank you, Art Class Curator!) With a pencil, divide each paper with 2 diagonal lines to create 4 triangle sections on the paper. (I think I'll do this before the lesson for younger grades, but older kids could totally just do it). Have the kids start with one section, and draw a picture including animal(s), building(s) and people. It can get as weird as they want! After they fill one section, have them turn the paper and then fill in the next section. Each section will be a different direction, creating kind of the surreal-dream-like effect. When they are done drawing, have them color in with marker. Note: some kids will ask to make their drawing in pencil first. Don't let them! They'll NEVER finish in time! Hopefully their pictures will end up being so busy, any little mistakes they make won't even be noticeable to them. 

Examples: 

Corn-dinsky

(This lesson is inspired by a genius post over here)

Artist: Wassily Kandinsky

Squares with Concentric Circles, 1913

Materials:

 paper, sharpies, liquid watercolor (red & yellow & blue), yellow, red and green tempera paint, small paintbrushes or qtips, paper cups, pencils with flat erasers, Indian corn for a visual aid, a square of toilet paper per kid

About the artist:

WASSILY KANDINSKY (1866-1944)

Squares with Concentric Circles, 1913

Pronounced: Can-Din-Skee

Art Style: Expressionism, Abstract Art

Art Terms: primary colors, complementary colors, abstract

Powerpoint Presentation Here

Meet the Artist: A couple of brief articles about the Russian Kandinsky - considered by many to be the "Father of Abstract Art" here and here. Something especially interesting: at an early age Kandinsky’s father realized his son had an extremely unique gift, something called synaesthesia cognate. This means that he could see sounds and hear colors. He left law at age 30 to become an artist, hugely moved by the work emerging from the French impressionists. Color was always the focus of his art rather than subject, and he is thought to have created some of the earliest completely non-representational and abstract paintings in modern art.

Discussion Ideas: As you look at Squares with Concentric Circles, ask the discussion questions: (1) What's going on in this picture? (2) What makes you say that? and (3) What more can you find?

Other ideas you may want to bring out in your discussion: (1) Kandinsky thought that colors and music were very much alike and that colors had sounds. For example, to him yellow sounded like a loud trumpet. What would this painting sound like? (2) Kandinsky was a pioneer of abstract art. Abstract means that the picture doesn't have a recognizable subject. What do you think is the subject of this painting? (3) Color: using the color wheel slide you can briefly explain the color wheel. Primary colors are red, blue, yellow. Kandinsky liked to play with colors, choosing combinations that were interesting to him. Opposite colors together (complementary colors) make the other one pop out more (red/green, blue/orange, violet/yellow). Sometimes it's fun to have kids wearing these colors come up and stand back to back. Have the kids point out combinations of color in Kandinsky's painting that demonstrate this.

Kandinsky once said, "everything starts with a dot." So does the painting work in this fall project.

Activity:

1. Have the kids draw the shape of a corn, with a sharpie, kind of big

2. have them draw a grid on the corn (not too tiny of squares as they need to paint inside each one separately)

3. Have them fill in the grid with an array of yellow orange red brown watercolor (encourage mixing of colors but try to also encourage a little space between the kernels so it doesn’t turn into one big blob of brown!)

4. Using the flat eraser of a pencil like a stamp, have them stamp tempera paint on their painted kernels to make circles. (The TP is to clean their eraser if they switch colors)

5. Using tempera paint, add the husks on the sides of the cob

Frank Stella

Frank Stella, Harran II, 1967

Artist: Frank Stella

Materials:

paper, sharpies, markers, circle templates from cardboard or lids of various sizes (or protractors), scissors (or, even better, a small paper cutter), construction paper, glue

Frank Stella is a contemporary artist still working and living in New York City. He was born in 1936 and graduated from Princeton. Stella started his career making non-representational art (art that's not meant to mean anything other than what it is on the surface: a calculated combination of elements like line, color, and shape). He gained early acclaim in his career, as the Museum of Modern Art in New York City purchased a painting from him when he was only 23. He has made many important series of paintings over the years, including a series of black line paintings (the Black Paintings), and colorful, flat paintings made with bright colors using protractors (the Protractor Series).  See this powerpoint presentation (made by educators from the public schools of Robeson County) for more information.

Activity:

(*This is a project that I found at artroomblog - thank you for a great lesson!) 

Using the powerpoint slideshow, introduce the kids to the work of Frank Stella. The slideshow is LONG and is largely for you to get a familiarity with the artist. Instead of trying to go through the whole thing with the kids, I would suggest choosing just maybe three slides to focus on (the ones most relevant to this lesson are at the end - from the Protractor Series), asking our discussion questions: what do you see? what makes you say that? what more can you find? Things to draw out in the discussion could be:

-what elements of art does Mr. Stella use? (line, color, shape)

-do the paintings look like they are moving?

-do you see any repetition in the art? (when something, like a line or color, is used over and over)

Using sharpies, have the kids create a geometric design using either the circles/lids, or protractors (protractors might be a great option for older grades). Then, have them color the shapes in with markers (they should take care to not use the same colors right next to each other).

After it is all colored in you can, depending on time, either leave it like this:

OR, cut the piece into fours (this would be great if you had an extra adult and a small paper cutter!), and then have the child glue the pieces on a piece of colored construction paper, rotating their images to find a combination they like, creating an end result like this:


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Blue Dog- George Rodrigue

In 1990 a new art subject burst onto the American art scene. The famous art work is the Blue Dog series by George Rodrigue. Here’s a sample and a slide show that reads like a short story. 

This art lesson is a fun discussion topic AND the visual experience makes most kids feel happy. It is suitable for kids from K-8th Grades. For younger kids, noticing the bold colors, varying backgrounds, and quirky eyes of the dog are such funny things to see. For older grades (5th+), it can be a discussion on how the different subjects surrounding the blue dog can be a reflection of commercialism and modern events. It can also be a way to point out that something as simple as a bright blue dog, can bring joy to an otherwise “boring” image. 

Questions we discussed were:

1. What do you notice that is similar in all the pieces?

2. What do you see that is different?

3. How can you create a piece that represents something for you or about you?

Supplies: 

⁃pencil

⁃white paper

⁃tempera paint in blue (any shades)

⁃black sharpie

⁃markers

⁃coloring pencils, crayons, or markers for the background

Activity: 

The dog is drawn with sharpie and filled in with tempera paint. 

The background is then added afterwards with coloring pencils, crayons, or markers. 

Using paint to fill the background is also an option, but can be challenging when working with a class. Giving every student a different array of paint colors to fill their background could be quite difficult to keep neat.

Steps to create the project:

• Lightly sketching with a pencil, have the kids follow your instructions and draw (step by step) the blue dog… Fun tip: Tilting the angle of the nose (instead of straight down) will make the dog look like he/she is tilting their head. Thanks to Pinterest, someone created this quick instruction sheet. 

• Optional: The kids, if they choose, can add 1-2 accessories to their dog: scarf, tie, crown, cape, clothing, shoes, etc. The possibilities are endless!!

• Trace the pencil sketch with black sharpie. The blue dog should have a black outline completed BEFORE painting. Don’t forget to fill in the rounded iris in middle of the eyes in black.

• Use yellow marker to fill in the yellow of the eyes

• Optional: If the kids have an accessory on the dog, have them color it in with markers

• Paint the body of the blue dog with blue paint. It is ideal to use flat tipped brushes.

• Kids can now complete the piece by filling in the background. They can use their creativity to make some wonderful and unexpected pieces.

• You’re all done!!

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Roy Lichtenstein: Pop Art

Lichtenstein

STUDENT WORK: VARIATION 1

STUDENT WORK: VARIATION 2

About the Artist: Roy Lichtenstein was born in New York in 1923. He is a pioneer of American Pop Art in America, which is a form of modern art that defies modern convention. For a great intro to pop art, consider showing this 4 minute video made for children by the Tate Museum (even if you don't show it, maybe to watch it before you teach the lesson, it's great!).

Lichtenstein is famous for his large comic-book style paintings using the primary colored ben-day dots used in the newspaper printing process. The large scale of his work allowed him to use the dots not just to create color, but as a specific design element.

With this slideshow (thanks, Cat!) and using the three discussion questions (what do you see? what makes you say that? what more can you find?), facilitate a discussion with the kids about pop art and what they think about Lichtenstein's images.

We have two fun Lichtenstein projects that you can choose from -

Supplies: 
Variation 1:
white paper, colored markers, black sharpies, large household objects with big, bold labels (i.e., Jif Peanut Butter container, Tide, Cheer, Coca-Cola, etc), dot template (if you download this one it's $5)

Variation 2:
white paper, pencils with perfectly round/flat erasers (you'll be using the backs of the pencils to create the dots of color), tiny plastic medicine cups, a classic watercolor tray, cup of water, and small pieces of paper towel (for the kids to use to wipe the pencil erasers as they switch colors), black sharpies

Activity: 
Variation 1:
Inspired by this fun lesson - pass out the household objects (this works really well when the kids are divided into table groups), and have them draw the shape, simply, on the ben-day dot template. Keep the drawing as simple as possible. Trace the simple drawing with a sharpie, and then color the dots in with the markers.

Variation 2:
Inspired by this fun lesson - After your discussion, find the slide in the slideshow featuring "Sunrise," and have the kids draw a simple outline, just like the one in Lichtenstein's painting, of the clouds, sun, and sun rays on their paper with a black sharpie. Keep the drawing as simple as possible. Dip the eraser-end of the pencil into the paints (one color at a time) to add colored dots to create the painting, just like Lichtenstein.

more student examples:

(for 8th grade, I gave them a choice of the Sunrise, or their own simple design)

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Poinsettias Flower Art: Raoul Dufy

Raoul Dufy, Pink Bunch, 1940

student work:

About the Artist: Raoul Dufy (1877-1953), "the painter of joy", was a french Fauvist painter.  Fauvism was an outgrowth of Impressionism (<- think Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir). As a young art student in Paris, Dufy attended exhibits of the Impressionists and was influenced by their loosening use of color and form, but when he saw Matisse's groundbreaking paintings, drenched in bright colors, he knew he'd found his people: Les Fauves ("the wild animals"). Matisse's Fauves emphasized bright colors, wild brushstrokes, bold contrasts, and were a step closer to abstraction than the Impressionists. Dufy's work throughout his career was characterized by its optimism, color, and beauty, even in his later years as he branched off into fabric and stationary design.

Using this simple slideshow of Dufy's work, discuss using our questions: What do you see? What makes you say that? What more can you find? If you have the opportunity in your discussion you might to bring out the following topics:

• color - can you find complementary colors in these paintings? What do they do when they are placed next to each other? How do the colors make the paintings feel?
• repetition - do you see where he uses the same colors or shapes over and over to create a pattern?
• realistic or abstract? Was Dufy trying to paint the way the flowers actually looked? Or the way the flowers felt to him? (Sometimes paint can capture something that words can't!)

This project uses Dufy's loose and colorful flowers as inspiration. The original activity comes from Deep Space Sparkle (click there for more examples).

Supplies: red yellow white tempera paints, blue and green tempera or liquid watercolor paint, paper plates, q-tips, foam brushes, watercolor paper, sponges cut into leaf shapes - 1 per kid (and, totally optional - maybe a real poinsettia plant to use as a visual aid)

Activity: 

• using a q-tip, paint little centers of the poinsettia plants on your papers
• use the leaf sponges, dip into red/white paint and make petals around the centers
• paint a background color with the foam brush that contrasts with the red flowers (green or blue) around your page full of poinsettias

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Andy Goldsworthy: Noticing Nature

Installation, by Andy Goldsworthy

(by a group of 2 kindergartners)

About the Artist: Andy Goldsworthy is a contemporary installation artist who lives in Scotland. Before going to art school he spent time working on a farm in England, and grew to feel that farming was a way of literally shaping the earth, just like artists shape clay. His career has been an elaboration of this idea: he has created a body of work full of pieces both transient and permanent, using nature as his medium. Here's a 3 minute video of him working on youtube... could be really fun for the kids to see (actually, youtube has TONS of these on Goldsworthy, so if you have some time, you might want to check out more of them). here is the slideshow.

Andy Goldsworthy is a great artist to discuss because his work gives us an opportunity to talk about one of the most important skills an artist can have: the ability to notice the world.

Supplies: a camera, a bunch of natural things (I used: white beans, split peas, berries off an ash tree, sticks, little nests, sunflower seeds, and figs because that's what I found/had- but you could use whatever). For prep work, gather your supplies and divide them into containers. You'll be splitting the kids into small groups of 2 or 3, so make enough for each group (I used paper lunch bags to hold the supplies, and filled 11 bags).

Discussion: I had the kids close their eyes and think about things that are beautiful to them in nature. Answers included an acorn, a pet cat with only one eye, and flowers. We talked about what it was about those things that made them beautiful. The acorn, for instance, was little (size). The cat was soft (texture) and imperfect (imperfect things are often more special than perfect ones). The flowers were purple (colors). Then, we talked about how nature makes all kinds of patterns - giraffes, zebras, rows of leaves on a branch, etc. Pull up the slideshow, and after using our discussion questions - What do you see? What more can you find? What makes you say that? - see if you can ask the kids to identify some of the elements of art they came up with initially (size, color, texture, pattern) in the Goldworthy installations.

Andy Goldsworthy, Elder Leaves, 1983

Activity: We went outside the classroom on a patch of cement, and I gave the paper bags with supplies to each small group with instructions to make a design that was interesting and beautiful to them. We talked about maybe incorporating patterns (ABABAB, ABBAABBA) and noticing how the different colors look next to each other.

(These guys above focused on making patterns inside the nest, look closely. For the photograph, which is part of the art, they thought it would look neat to have all their hands shown.)

(This group used sticks to frame their nest, and then made piles by color around the nest. The diagonal stick across was a deliberate choice.)

The last part - I took pictures of all the "installations." (Practical tip: I also made sure to get one picture of each with a piece of paper with names of group members so I can get copies of the pictures into the right portfolios. I would totally forget!)