Painting with scissors like Matisse

made by students of grade 4

You need per student:

1. 1 sheet white drawing paper
2. 1 sheet colored construction paper 
3. 1 sheet colored construction paper from which you cut 7 cm 
4. 1 sheet blue construction paper 
5. leftovers of colored paper
6. glue
7. scissors
8. black marker

Who is Matisse?

Matisse (1869 –1954) was a French artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was primarily known as a painter.

Matisse didn't care if stones were blue, he just chose the colors he liked. Some people thought is art was very ugly: someone who paints blue faces and green noses is a fool and Matisse was called 'Fauve', which means: wild. This is how the word Fauvism came into being for this art movement, art with bold colors. 

After a surgery Matisse spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. He wasn't able to paint anymore, but could still paint with his scissors.

View various artworks of Matisse. 

Then few the artwork Oasis. What stands out? 

• no straigh lines 
• organic shapes
• bright colors
• What is an oasis and why is this artwork called so?  

How to make it 

Step 1

Take the two colored sheets: a whole one and one with 7 cm cut off. Paste the smaller sheet on the large one. The strip at the bottom is the table for the fishbowl. 

Step 2

Cut Matisse shapes and glue them on the small sheet. Let them fall of the sheet and cut away the outer pieces.

Step 3

Fold a white sheet in half on the long side and cut out a fishbowl. The center line of the bowl is the fold of the sheet. Trace around the bowl with a thick black marker.   

Step 4

Cut 'water' out of the blue sheet, slightly smaller than the bowl. Paste it in the bowl. Paste the bowl on the colored sheet with organic shapes. 

Step 5

Cut two or three fishes and some water plants and paste them in the bowl.

Elements of art: shape, color. 

Portraits like Rembrandt

You need:

1. drawing sheets A4 size
2. charcoal
3. paper towels
4. black construction paper for background 

Chiaroscuro is a tecnnique in artworks which display an extreme contrast is between light and dark to create a dramatic effect. 

Titus, son of Rembrandt van Rijn (Rembrandt, 1660)

Narcissus, the man who fell in love with himself, Caravaggio (1597-1599)

Show these two paintings. What do you see? Where are the dark parts, where the light ones? Why is that? What's the artists goal? What do you feel when you see these paintings?

Students sit in pairs facing each other and create a portrait of each other using hatching and swiping techniques. Of course the background is dark, the face light.

by students of grade 4  

Vincent van Gogh's chair

You need:

1. for prints: colored paper 14 by 14 cm 
2. for background: colored paper 
3. linoleum 12 by 12 cm
4. carbon paper
5. lino knife
6. flat piece of glass 
7. block printing ink
8. lino roller
9. lino press
10. glue

The painting The chair is from 1888 (The National Gallery, London). View this painting and discuss it using elements of art. What do you see? What stands out? What do you on the chair? What can you say about the perspective? What materials did Van Gogh use? What do you think about the colors? Do you like the painting or not, and why is that?  

Print the drawing below as a picture of 12 by 12 cm. 

Transfer the lines from the image to the linoleum using carbon paper and a pen. 

Cut out the lines.

Make two prints in colors you like. You can mix them too! Let dry. 

Stick the works on a matching colored sheet. 

Elements of art: color, space, line. 

On Monet's bridge

You need: 

1. drawing sheet A3 size
2. tempera paint
3. brushes
4. white construction paper
5. scissors
6. oilpastels
7. glue

Claude Monet (1840-1926) is considered one of the most important painters of Impressionism. 

 Typical for Impressionists:

• they choose subjects from ordinary life 
• special attention for light and color
• work in the open air
• smooth brushstrokes
• dashes resemble a sketch
• it's about the impression!

Discuss the term impressionism. Show some paintings by Monet and zoom in on a work with water lilies in Arts & Culture. Do students see the characteristics of impressionism in this artwork?

Monet had a large garden with a pond and a Japanese bridge in Giverny France. He liked to paint in that garden. His works of water lilies are therefore famous and are the basis of this lesson.

Lesson 1

Draw a horizon line above the middle of your sheet. Paint the pond and the sky with short brush strokes, like Monet did. Do not mix the paint, but take two colors on your brush.  Make sure the blue color of the pond is not the same color as the sky.

Paint trees on both sides of the sheet in the same way. Paint water lilies in the pond. Be sure that they are larger in the front of the pond than in the back.  

Lesson 2

Have someone take a picture of you that shows you all the way. Print the photo and cut it out. 

Cut three parallel arcs from about 1,5 cm wide from the construction paper.  Then cut four straight pieces of 1,5 cm wide. Paste the photo on the work and paste the bridge over it. 

All artworks are made by students of grade 6

Source: MaryMaking.blogspot.com

Van Gogh's bedroom

        by a student of grade 6 

You need:

1. for prints: black and white sheets 18 by 14 cm 
2. for background: black and white construction paper 31 by 19 cm
3. linoleum 16 by 12 cm
4. carbon paper
5. lino knife
6. flat piece of glass 
7. block printing ink
8. lino roller
9. lino press
10. glue

The painting The bedroom is from 1888. View this painting and discuss it  using elements of art. What do you see? What stands out? What do you see on the wall? What can you say about the perspective? What materials did Van Gogh use? What do you think about the colors? Do you like the painting or not, and why is that?  

Print the image below on 12 by 16 cm for each student. 

Transfer the white lines from the image to the linoleum using carbon paper and a pen. Cut out the white lines and parts. 

Cut out your name in mirror writing at the bottom left. 

Make four prints: two with white paint on black paper and two with black paint on white paper. Let dry. 

Stick the white sheets on black paper and the black sheets on white paper. Use 1 cm of the sheets to stick them together.

all artworks of grade 6

Elements of art: color, space, line. 

Starry Night like Vincent van Gogh

Show during both lessons hVan Gogh's painting Starry Night.  

Tell about Vincent van Gogh. Show Starry Night. Zoom in on the painting with Arts & Culture. 

The artwork students are going to make, will take two lessons.  

You need for the 1st lesson:

1. black construction paper 
2. aluminium foil
3. piece of cardboard or a clay plate
4. painter's tape
5. tempera paint in blue and white 
6. cotton swab
7. brushes
8. plate

Lesson 1

Wrap the cardboard/clay plate with aluminum foil and tape it on the back side. 

Step 1: For each pair of students there is a palette with blue and white paint. Students paint spiral shapes ons the aluminum foil with a brush and / or cotton swabs.

Stap 2: Make a print by placing a black sheet on top of your painting and pressing it.  

Stap 3: Remove the black sheet and let dry. 

 You need for the 2nd lesson:

1. oilpastels in black, grey and purple
2. tempera paint in yellow and white 
3. black construction papier
4. brushes
5. scissors
6. glue
7. plate

Step 4: Draw and color the mountains with oilpastels. Draw the wavy movements in the air. The lines must run parallel to each other and also go in the same direction during a movement.

Show students that you can fade the colors by smearing the oil pastel. This way you can also make the colors darker or lighter.

Step 5: Determine where the large dark cypress should be and cut it out of black paper. (In grade 3 we gave students a shape to trace for the cypress.)

Step 6: Cut houses and glue them on tje painting. Draw lighted windows with oilpastels.  

Step 7: Paint moon and stars with tempera. 

Artworks are made by students of grade 3.

Elements of art: color, line, nuance, texture.

Water lilies on a plate

 

By a student of grade 1

Claude Monet (1840-1926) is considered one of the most important painters of Impressionism. 

 Typical for Impressionists:

• they choose subjects from ordinary life 
• special attention for light and color
• work in the open air
• smooth brushstrokes
• dashes resemble a sketch
• it's about the impression!

Monet had a large garden with a pond and a Japanese bridge in Giverny France. He liked to paint in that garden. His works of water lilies are therefore famous.

Discuss the term impressionism. Show some paintings by Monet and zoom in on a work with water lilies in Arts & Culture. Do students see the characteristics of impressionism in this artwork?

You need:

1. paper plates
2. tempera paint in blue and white 
3. stencil brush
4. white drawing sheet 
5. tissue paper in green an light green 
6. water and sponge
7. tissue paper in pink and yellow
8. mold of a water lily leaf
9. glue
10. scissors

Step 1:

Dab the plate with blue and white.  

Step 2:

Wet the white paper with a sponge. Cut squares from the green tissue paper. Place them on the wet paper and let the bleed. Let dry.

 

Step 3

Remove the tissue paper. Trace the mold of the lilyflower leaf and cut it out.  

Step 4

Fold the tissuepaper for the lily twice diagonally. Cut a flower shape. 

Step 5

Grab the flower shapes in the middle. Crumple them into a flower. Put a drop of glue on the lily leaf and stick the center of the lily on top. Roll a wad of leftover tissue paper and stick it in the center of the flower.

Elements of art: texture, color, space. 

Paint like an impressionist

This lesson is an exercise for painting an impressionist work.

You need:

1. white drawing sheet
2. tempera paint in red, blue and yellow
3. small brushes
4. paper towels

View impressionist paintings, for example from Claude Monet or Van Gogh. Zoom into Starry Night from Van Gogh using this link. 

What do you see?

• the painting is made out with loose dashes.   
• the dashes indicate a direction or movement, they are not just placed.
• you can see the canvas between the dashes. The color of the canvas is therefore part of the painting. 

View a sunset picture. 

What do you see?

• the sun is reflected in the water 
• the sun's rays point left, up and right
• the horizon is half way the photograph 

Exercise before you get started: 

• Practice painting short strokes on a scrap. To do this, always lift the brush from the paper.
• Practice with two colors on your brush; do not mix!
• Make narrow / wide strokes by turning / not turning your brush.
• Clean the brush for a new color with a paper towel, do not use water!

And now the artwork:

• Fold your drawing sheet in half lengthwise, this is the horizon line.
• Draw with pencil a semicircle on the horizon line, this is the sun.
• Paint the sun orange: apply red and yellow to your brush. Do not mix!
• Paint the sun's rays with yellow and very little red. Put something on your brush of both colors and make short strokes by lifting the brush from the paper each time. Also leave white between the strokes.
• Also make the reflection of the sun in the water. Beware: the direction of the brushstrokes is now horizontal, just like the water.
• Make the sky with blue and white (again add two colors to the brush). Use white to make a lighter blue. Follow the direction of the sun's rays. Don't make the sky completely full, you have to keep seeing paper.
• Paint the sea with blue, white (and maybe green). Do not mix! The direction is horizontal here. Think of the white space between the lines.

Elements of art: line, color, nuance.

Mondrian, a bit different

 You need:

1. white drawing sheet
2. markers
3. ruler
4. pencil

Draw a Mondrian, but change one of the elements of art. For example: 

• do not draw squares and rectangles, choose another geometric shape
• do not color with primary colors, choose maximum four other colors

Draw your alternative Mondrian and color it with markers. Outline with black marker. 

Elements of art: color, shape, line. 

Mondrian in chalk pastels

 You need:

1. black construction paper 
2. pencil
3. ruler
4. chalk pastels 
5. Elmer's glue 
6. fixing spray

Look at and discuss about the artwork of Piet Mondrian.

Draw squares and rectangles on the black sheet using a pencil and a ruler. trace the lines with Elmer's glue. The glue will become transparent when it has dried. 

Color the squares and rectangles with soft pastels in white, black, red, yellow and blue. Instead of black pastels, you can leave some areas open. Be sure you don't get two areas of the same color next to each other. 

Fix the work with hairspray or fixative spray. 

Elements of art: color, shape, line. 

Still life with fruit

door leerlingen van groep 5

You need:

1. corrugated cardboard
2. scissors
3. white drawing sheet
4. tempera paint
5. brush
6. glue
7. colored construction paper

Vies and discuss still lifes of fruit in different styles (for example Caravaggio and Cezanne). How is the fruit arranged? Why at that way? Which parts are light and which parts are dark? What does that mean? 

Provide each group of students with a bowl of different fruit types. Students paint the fruits (no drawing first!) after a good observation. 

Cut a fruit bowl out of the cardboard. Cut out the fruits with a small white edge. Stick the fruits on a colored sheet, be sure to let them overlap each other. Stick the cardboard bowl. Some fruits will partly disappear in it. 

Elements of art: space, color, value. 

Keith Haring figures on tissue paper

made by students of grade 3

You need:

1. colored tissuepaper
2. white drawing sheet
3. jar with water
4. brush
5. scissors
6. templates of Haring figures
7. pencil
8. black marker

Choose 2 or more colors of tissuepaper. Fold them in 16 squares. Cut out. 

Take a sheet of drawing paper, make it wet with a brush and water. Lay the pieces of tissue paper on this wet sheet and see how they bleed. Fill the whole sheet and be sure to use enough water. 

Let dry and remove the tissue papers. 

Cut two or more Haring templates and outline them with a pencil. Trace those lines with black marker and trace them again to make nice bold lines. 

In 'The Factory' of Andy Warhol

made by students of grade 1

You need: 

1. colored paper 12 by 12 cm
2. black construction paper 50 cm by 15 cm 
3. tempera paint
4. brushes
5. apples
6. glue
7. black marker 

Tell about Andy Warhol's Factory. 

First lesson: "We are going to work today in the factory of Andy Warhol. Choose four colored sheets. Make apple prints in complementary colors: on a blue sheet you print an orange apple, on a red sheet you print a green apple etc."

Let dry and paste the colored sheets on black construction paper.

Second lesson: make a second print in a complementary color: on the orange apple you print a blue one etc. Let dry. Outline the apples with a black marker and add seeds and stem. 

Pumpkins like Yayoi Kusama

made by a student of grade 4

 You need:

1. black construction paper
2. colored paper
3. black marker
4. black fineliner
5. scissors
6. glue
7. white pencil

Yayoi Kusama (1929) is a Japanese artist. She creates paintings, sculptures and large installations with mirrors and lots of light symbolizing infinity. All her artworks have one thing in common: polka dots. That's why she's affectionately known as 'the princess of polka dots'. 

From an early age Kusama wanted to make art, but her traditional Japanese parents didn't like this. That's why Kusama left for NewYork and joined artists there, including Andy Warhol. 

By adding all-over marks and dots to her paintings, drawings, objects and clothes she feels as if she is making them (and herself) melt into, and become part of, the bigger universe. She said:

‘Our earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos. Polka dots are a way to infinity. When we obliterate nature and our bodies with polka dots, we become part of the unity of our environment’.

View and discuss artwork of Kusama. 

• use of large and small polka dots 
• backgrounds are often filled with triangles
• use of bright colors
• her installations suggest infinity

Draw three pumpkins on the colored sheets and cut them. Draw bigger and smaller dots on the segments with markers. Draw triangels on the black sheet with a white pencil - start with a zigzag line. Paste the pumpkins on the black sheet.