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.

What do you need?

• white drawing sheet
• tempera paint in red, blue and yellow
• small brushes
• paper towels

Instruction

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. You see the sun reflected in the water and the sun's rays point left, up and right. 

Exercise before you get started: 

• Practice painting short dashes 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 dashes by turning/not turning your brush.
• Clean the brush with a paper towel for a new color, do not use water!

What should you do? 

1. Fold the sheet in half lengthwise, this is the horizon line.
2. Draw a semi circle on the horizon line: the sun.
3. Paint the sun. Apply red and yellow to your brush. Do not mix!
4. 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. Leave a bit of white between the strokes.
5. Make the reflection of the sun in the water. The direction of the brushstrokes must be horizontal now, just like the water.
6. Paint the sky with blue and white (add two colors to the brush). Use white to make a lighter blue. Follow the direction of the sun's rays. Leave again a bit of white between the strokes.
7. 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.

Stained glas animals

 

made by students of grade 5

You need:

1. black construction paper 
2. wax paper in several colors
3. white pencil
4. ruler
5. cutting mat 
6. cutting knife
7. glue

A stained glass window is a window in which several pieces of (mostly colored) glass are stuck in frames of lead. Stained-glass windows were made in times when it wasn't possible yet to make a window in one piece. We see those stained glass windows in old houses, but especially in churches. The light from outside enters in multiple colors into the church. 

View stained glass windows and tel about their origin and the effect of the colored light.  

Use a white pencil to draw an animal on the black sheet. Draw at least three lines from the animal to all edges of the sheet. Divide the animal into some surfaces. 
Make all lines 1 cm wide. Hatch the surfaces between the 1 cm lines with the white pencil.
Cut the white area's. When ready, use the black sheet as a template to draw the pieces of wax paper. Cut them out with an extra 0,5 cm and stick them behind the window. Make sure that there are no two same colors next to each other. 

Elements of art: line, shape, color. 
Technique: cutting.
Connecting with: history.