Self portrait like Modigliani

About the artist

Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (1884-1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor. Modigliani's paintings are included in expressionism. He painted nudes and highly stylized portraits. He painted long, oval faces with elongated necks and long limbs, giving the characters a melancholy mood. The skin is often rusty and all forms are outlined. Eyes, noses and mouths in the faces are not on the 'right' place, but still offer a balanced and credible image.

Instruction  
View with the students a number of paintings by Modigliani and discuss the salient features:

• faces are elongated
• faces are often skewed
• use of warm colors
• all shapes are outlined in black

What do you need?

• black construction paper A4
• oil pastels
• colored paper for background

What should you do you?

1. Divide the black sheet into eight sections. 
2. Draw an oval, starting at the middle line to slightly above the center of the top section. 
3. Draw a neck from the head to the middle bottom section.
4. Draw shoulders. 
5. Draw eyes, nose and mouth. 
6. Trace the pencil lines with with black oil pastel. 
7. Color the portrait with oil pastels. Do not touch the black lines with a different colour, it will get messy! 
8. Do the coloring carefully, especially in smaller components like eyes and mouth. If a lighter crayon spots black, clean it in a paper towel. 
9. Colour the background until you don't see any black. 
10. Paste the work on a matching background.

Artworks made by students of grade 5.

Half chicken

In this lesson students draw one chicken together. 

What do you need? 

• drawing sheet 
• oil pastels
• blue liquid water color
• brush
• jar with water

What should you do? 

1. Fold a sheet in half.
2. Draw  half a chicken against the fold. 
3. Color with oil pastels. 
4. Draw with white oil pastel one or more eggs. 
5. Mark with two little lines the places where your classmate has to connect and draw a mark for the hight of the horizon line.
6. Give the sheet folded to your classmate; be sure he doesn't see your drawing. Tell him whether he should draw a head or a body. 
7. When your classmate is ready, unfold the sheet. Hilarious!
8. Paint the whole drawing with blue water color paint and lots of water. The oil pastels will resist the water.

Artworks made by students of grade 3.

Fancy chicken

 What do you need?

• drawing sheet A3 
• oil pastels
• tempera paint
• brushes
• colored paper for background 

What should you do?

1. Draw a horizon line on the drawing sheet. 
2. Draw a chicken.
3. Color with oil pastels in bright colors. 
4. Paint a background with tempera paint.

Works of art made  by students of grade 6.

What's in your egg?

 

What do you need?

1. white drawing sheet A5 
2. charcoal
3. yellow sheet for background 
4. hairspray

Surprise!
Imagine you crack your egg on Easter Sunday and it turns out to contain something completely different than egg white and egg yolk ... Draw this fantasy with charcoal on a white sheet. 

Practice first 
Never worked with charcoal? Then practice on a scrap paper first. 

Draw lines, blur them by swiping with your fingers, create shadows, erase the charcoal with a kneaded eraser. Charcoal stains quickly, so clean your  fingers regularly.

What should you do?

1. Draw two halves of an egg. 
2. Draw in between what you imagine is in the egg.  
3. Draw the surrounding. 
4. Fix your drawing with hairspray. 
5. Paste the drawing on a yellow sheet. 

Made by students of grade 3.

Charming chicken

What do you need?

• blue and yellow construction 
• oil pastels
• glue

What should you do?

1. Draw a chicken on the blue sheet, using the tutorial on How to draw a chicken. 
2. Color in bright colours. 
3. Draw a horizon line and color the ground. 
4. Draw something on the horizon line, for example a fence or farm. 
5. Tear the edges of the blue sheet and paste the chicken on a yellow sheet. 

Drawings made by students of grade 6.

April showers will bring us flowers

What do you need?

1. white drawing sheet
2. water color paint
3. ruler
4. white crayon 
5. paint brush
6. water

Before

Dutch weather in spring is a weather type with showers, alternated with sunny periods. We call those typical spring showers 'Maartse buien' (March Showers), while English meteorologists speak about 'April showers who bring us flowers'. 

In this lesson students have to draw spring flowers (tulips, daffodils etc.) during a rain shower.

 
What should you do?

1. Sketch some spring flowers on a white sheet. Make sure your lines are extremely thin. 
2. Draw vertical lines with one centimeter between them using a ruler and a white crayon. Make sure your crayon has a sharp point. 
3. Paint your drawing with diluted watercolor paint. Use a lot of water to make bright colors. The crayon will resist the water paint, so your shower will be very clear!

Athletes in motion

What do you need?

• colored construction paper
• white drawing sheet 
• paperclips
• scissors
• cutting mat and cutting knife
• glue
• marker
• printed silhouette of an athlete 
  
  

What should you do?

1. Put three colored sheets together with the printed athlete on top. Fix with paper clips. 
2. Cut out the athlete and the colored sheets at the same time. Keep moving the paperclips to be sure the four sheets stay together. Use a cutting knife for areas the scissors can't reach.
3. Make a composition that suggests movement and stick the athletes on the white sheet. 
4. Use a marker to fill the background with patterns. 

Artworks made by students of grade 6.

Thanks to A faithfull attempt for this great lesson. 

Olympic athletes

Before

Start with the symbol of the Olympics: the colored rings. What do these rings mean? What colors do they have? How are they placed together? 

Ask some students to assume the position of an athlete, for example a skater or skier. Look at their posture: what is the position of their legs, arms and body? 

What do you need?

• scissors
• glue
• white drawing paper A1 size
• cardboard in Olympic colors
• copy of athlete
• compasses

What should you do?

This is a group work for five students. 

Take a big white sheet, cardboard in the colors of the Olympic rings and at least five copies of the athlete.

1. Each group member cuts an Olympic ring, using compasses and scissors. Be sure all rings have to be the same size.
2. Cut the ring in one place. Take a good look at which one should go forward and which should go behind it. Make sure the cut ends up under another ring so that you don't see it. 
3. Cut out the parts of the sports figure. Stick them in different sports positions around, behind, through and in front of the rings.

Patterned hearts

What do you need?

• drawing sheet 
• crayons
• liquid water color
• brush

What should you do?

1. Fold the sheet into 4 rectangles. 
2. Cut a heart out of a piece cardboard. 
3. Trace it four times with a pencil. 
4. Draw patterns in the hearts with crayons: stripes, circles, zigzag lines etc. Draw different patterns around the hearts.
5. Paint the sheet with liquid watercolor. The crayon will resist the ink.
   
   

Connected hearts

What do you need?

1. white drawing sheet 
2. small piece of cardboard
3. scissors
4. oil pastels
5. color pencils
6. watercolor paint
7. brush
8. pink of red paper
9. glue
10. metallic marker

What should you do?

1. Draw a heart on a piece of cardboard and cut out. 
2. Trace the heart several times on the drawing sheet. Make them overlap and draw on the edges as well. 
3. Draw smaller hearts within the traced ones with half cm space between the two lines. 
4. Draw and erase pencil lines of the overlapping hearts as if they weave together: below - above - below - above. 
5. Color the hearts between the double lines with oil pastels. 
6. Paint the sheet with watercolor paint and let dry. 
7. Trace hearts on both sides with colored pencils. 
8. Paste the artwork on a red or pink sheet.
9. Finish the hearts on the frame with a silver marker.
   
   

Valentine's day (with Jim Dine)

Because of upcoming Valentine's day a lesson about hearts today! Basic colors are red and white (and making pink of these of course).

What do you need? 

• drawing sheet 20 by 20 cm
• cardboard 10 by 10 cm
• pencil and ruler
• scissors and glue
• colored pencils
• markers
• oil pastel crayons
• chalk pastel
• tempera paint + brushes
• different types of colored paper (ribbed cardboard, tissue paper, crepe paper etc.)
• watercolor paint + brushes
• red or pink paper for background

Jim Dine

Jim Dine (Cincinatti, 1935) is a sculptor and popart artist. Hearts, ties and tools are recurrent themes in his art. 

Show his artworks and talk about them. 

Organisation 

Divide the different coloring supplies on several tables. Stimulate students to experiment. How can I make my heart pop up from the paper? Can I combine chalk pastel and oilpastel? What happens when I sprinkle water on tissuepaper? 

Students have to color their hearts and backgrounds by using as many supplies and techniques as possible. They may walk around in the classroom to choose the place with the art supplies of their choice. The only restriction is: are all chairs occupied, choose another supply first. 

What should you do? 

1. Divide the sheet in four sqaures of 10 by 10 cm. 
2. Fold the cardboard, draw a half heart against the fold and cut out. 
3. Trace this heart in the four squares. 
4. Color the hearts with different coloring supplies. 
5. Paste the 4 hearts on a red or pink sheet. 

Works of art made by students of grade 5/6. 

Valentine's hearts like Burton Morris

This is one of the most visited posts (and most copied 😉) posts of my blog: Valentine's hearts like Burton Morris.
In 2011 I received an email of the artist: he had googled himself and came across my lesson! How cool is that! 

During our USA trip in the summer of 2009, I visited the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta  and saw the artwork of Burton Morris for the first time: five paintings of cola bottles in pop-art style surrounded by light blue bubbles. So beautiful! Now I found a way to do this in school. And I think I'm the first blogger with a Morris lesson! 

Burton Morris (Pittsburgh, 1964) is an American pop-art artist. He is influenced by artists from the 60's and 70's, like Warhol, Lichtenstein and Haring. Morris's work shows a contemporary twist to traditional pop-art. His characteristic lines with the bright colors give his work a fantastic energy. Morris's work is known of tv-series like Friends and also appears in major advertising campaigns by U.S. companies like AT & T, Pepsi and Heinz.

Source: www.burtonmorris.com

What do you need?

• construction paper several colors
• black cardboard 20 by 20 cm
• colored sheet 20 by 20 cm
• scissors
• glue
• black thick marker

Before

Show artwork of Morris and discuss the features: bright colors, black outlines, little detail, movement by little lines, white lines that suggest light and the distinctive black star shape in or around much of his work. 

What should you do?

1. Take two colors cardboard: black for the rug and one for the background. 
2. Cut the edges of the background cardboard in a wavy shape, creating a kind of rug. 
3. Cut a large heart from colored construction paper. 

4. Cut some smaller hearts from several colors of construction paper. 

5. Cut white 'light lines' and paste them on the small hearts, all on the same side.
6. Paste the big heart on the cardboard rug. 

7. Paste the light lines on and around the heart.

8. Cut long triangles from the sides of the rug, the 'flashy stripes'. 

9. Paste the rug on the black cardboard.

10. Paste the small hearts around the big heart. 

11. Outline the hearts with a black marker.

12. Cut the black background away, leaving about 2 mm on the edges.

13. Paste the work on a colored sheet and cut it into a square.

Also like Burton Morris is this lesson about pumpkins.

Works of art made by students of grade 5 and 6.  

Snowglobes

What do you need?

• tempera paint
• light blue and white drawing paper
• ribbed cardboard
• compass
• black fine marker
• brushes
• glitter
• glue

What should you do?

1. Use a compass to draw a circle on the blue sheet.
2. Draw a winter (or Christmas) scene in the circle. 
3. Paint with undiluted tempera paint. 
4. Let dry.
5. Outline the drawing with a fine black marker.
6. Cut out the circle. 
7. Draw on the white sheet a circle 1 cm larger than te drawing. 
8. Paste the drawing on the white circle. 
9. Cut a stand from ribbed cardboard.
10. Paste both parts on another sheet.  
11. Sprinkle glitter in small dots of glue around the drawing.

Made by students of grade 5. 

Winter trees glimpse

What do you need?

• three colors cardboard 15 by 20 cm
• ruler
• pencil
• cutting blade
• cutting mat
• double sided foamtape

What should you do you?

1. Draw a rectangle on the three pieces of cardboard 2 cm from the edges. 
2. Draw wintertrees in the rectangles. The trunk on the bottom, the branches must reach the left, right or upper edge. 
3. Cut the parts between the branches/trunk and the frame. 
4. Use double sided foam tape to paste the three windows together. The lightest color in the front, the darkest color on the back.

Works of art are made by students of grade 6.