Funny birds like James Rizzi

I came across this great lesson for our first graders on Deep Space Sparkle. What a fun our students had, making these cute little birds in the style of James Rizzi!

James Rizzi was born in 1950 in Brooklyn. He studied art in Florida (Gainesville), where he started experimenting with printing, painting and sculpting. Rizzi’s work often shows his birthplace New York. His paintings look sometimes childishly naive, with the bright colours and brilliant gaiety. In the art press Rizzi is often described as "Urban Primitive Artist '. Rizzi himself says he is influenced byzelf Picasso, Klee and Dubuffet.

Show some paintings of Rizzi and discuss the characteristics:

• bright colours
• no gradations within colours
• evertything is outlined with a black marker
• the artwork is full and busy
• background is full and busy too

You need:

1. white drawing sheets A4 size cut lengthwise
2. markers
3. scissors and glue
4. blue cardboard A1 size for background

Discuss birds in Rizzi's artwork (google onRizzi + birds) and ask students if the typical Rizzi features are in the bird artworks too. 

The goal for this lesson: 

Use oilpastel to draw a bird just like Rizzi did. Use watercolour paint and paint the bird in one or two colours. Paint the background with several colours.

Artworks made by students of grade 1

Sheep in the meadow

Made by a student of grade 2

You need:

1. drawing sheet 
2. tempera paint
3. stippling brushes
4. masking tape
5. black and white construction paper
6. glue

Make a fence on the sheet with masking tape. Draw a horizontal line above the fence. Stamp with different colours the meadow. Do not mix the paint. Stamp some spring flowers too.

Stamp the air in the same way with white and blue.
Remove the masking tape. Do this when the paint is still wet.
Cut some clouds for the body of the sheep out of a white sheet. Cut heads and feet out of black paper. Paste the sheep before the fence. Draw eyes and beak with white pencil.

Source: Artsonia. 

Stacked birds

 

Made by students of grade 3/4

You need:

1. drawing sheet 20 by 40 cm
2. crayons
3. liquid watercolour paint
4. brushes

Inspirated by a picture on Pinterest.
Draw at least three birds sitting on eachothers back. The birds have to get smaller while getting higher. Colour with crayons.

Paint the background with liquid watercolour paint leaving an edge from about 1 cm. 

The best nest

1. drawing sheet
2. oilpastel
3. liquid watercolour paint
4. brushes
5. 3D tape

The best nest for birds in winter is a colourful one! This birdhouse will protect birdies against snow and cold.

Students draw a birdhouse and colour it in with oil pastels. Perhaps there's also a  peanut pendulum on the house. Draw  snowflakes (white oil pastel) and also a layer of snow on the house.
Paint the background with liquid watercolor. Leave about 1 cm white on the edges for an extra winter look. Draw (or print) a bird on another piece of paper and cut it. Paste it in the house using 3D tape for a spatial effect (the pads that are used to create 3D cards).

Made by students of grade 1/2

Patterned tree

Made by a student of grade 6

You need:

1. drawing sheet 21 by 27 cm 
2. ruler
3. pencil
4. colour pencils
5. fine black marker 

Draw a grid from 3 by 3 cm. Trace a sourcer for a circle. Draw a tree and be sure the branches are within the cirle. Draw patterns in the the tree using a fine black marker. Colour the squares in the circle in warm colours and the other squares in cool colours. Be sure the difference between under and above the horizon line is visible.

Source: Tiny Artroom. 

Autumn birches

Made by a student of grade 6

You need:

1. drawing sheet
2. masking tape
3. tempera 
4. stippling brushes
5. charcoal
6. chalk pastel 

See photos of birch trees and discuss the salient feautures : the long white stem, the gray black lines as a result of the horizontal peeling the bark, the many autumn colours of the leaves. Talk about the colours of the leaves on the floor: in front uou see a lot of different colours, and looking further away they merge into one colour.

Explain how to work with a stippling brush: no mixing colors, but put the brush in several colours at once and then stamp lightly. 

Paste from above a number of strips of masking tape on the sheet in various lengths. Draw a horizon line. Stamp the bottom in several autumn colours, merging into one colour near the horizon line. Stamp the remaining leaves in the trees. There may be green there too! Leave the artwork to dry and then colour the sky with chalk pastel. Pull the masking tape off carefully . Draw with charcoal the specific birch dashes .

The man with the big mouth - Paul Klee

Made by a student of grade 3

Benodigdheden:

1. drawing sheet A2 size
2. brushes
3. tempera paint
4. pencil
5. black marker
6. scissors
7. glue
8. coloured wallpaper

Paul Klee (1879 – 1940) is a German/Swiss painter. His work belongs to modern art. Klee developed mainly as an autodidact and left more than 9000 artworks. In 1912 he saw the work of Picasso and Malevich and met Robert Delaunay, who believed colour is the most important element in a painting. After a trip to Tunisia in 1914 Klee started to paint more colorful and abstract. He painted landscapes, portraits, animals, mythology, mysterious machines. In his work he combined abstract and figurative shapes. Klee 's work cannot be described in one single word. Surrealism, cubism, abstraction are terms which are applicable to his paintings. He is classified by expressionism. (Source: Wikipedia)

Show the painting 'The man with the big mouth' on the digital board. Write 'yes' on the left and 'no' on the rigth. Type the following sentences on the board:

• He has a big mouth
• His nose is exactly as long as his chin
• He has curls
• He can smell good
• He is afraid
• His nose looks like a knife
• The eyes are blue
• He doesn't seem nice
• He looks pissed off
• He has no ears
• He has white teeth
• His face is composed of puzzle pieces
• The colours are bleak
• I only see bright colors

Have students drag the sentences one by one to the right spot.

The students draw a face from the side. The nose has to be as long as the chin. Draw two eyes. Divide the face in surfaces. Colour each part with tempera using only mixed colours just like Paul Klee did. Only the eyes should be painted in clear blue.
Wait until the work is dry and outline all color patches with a black marker. Cut and paste the artwork on a coloured piece of wallpaper.

This project was done in grade 3/4. For higher grades: draw the face with only one line, so without lifting the pencil.

 Door Zahra, groep 5

Source : Paul Klee voor kinderen, by Birgit Brandenburg