This term we are studying Van Gogh. Why did we choose him you may ask? Well, last year Walmart had a bunch of prints for $1 each. They are a print about the size of a 5 x 7, but look more like an 8 x 10 with the border, that are on a piece of cardboard. I've left them in their sealed plastic for protection and ease of use. I think I have about 7 different Van Gogh pieces and a few from several other artists. I'll work my way through the artists whose works I have before moving onto others.
Sunflowers is the first print we studied. I had them study it one week by looking at it and telling me what they saw. Colors, what kind of flower, etc. All during that week it was hanging on the front of the fridge. Then the following week, we did our own Sunflowers using watercolor crayons. I really enjoyed the way these turned out. You use the crayons to draw and color first, then take the wet paintbrush and go over it afterward. It wasn't runny but blended nicely. In order from left to right the artist are Pooh, Tigger and MasterpieceMom. I think we did pretty good for a first go around. Pooh very nicely arranged his flowers, Tigger added a dramatic splash of color (very Van Goghy) and Mom did surprisingly well with the flowers on the right side of the pot. (I wasn't happy with the left side. LOL)
Van Gogh painted something like 16 different portraits of sunflowers. I have no idea which one this is.
Since then we've also done chalk pastels of Van Gogh's Roses but I don't know that they'll show up very well as the colors are so light and I've covered them in saran wrap to avoid having chalk dust everywhere. I wasn't so thrilled with that idea. LOL If I manage to get some decent photos, I'll post them separately.
4 comments:
Oh, I love this. I think you all did great. Have you tried some spray fixative for your artwork. I got me a spray can and spray all our creations. The back of my can says its good for pencil, charcoal, pastel, chaulk, marker, opaque, water color, tempera, etc.
Keep sharing, love following along.
Great job on this! I love the idea of posting the reference picture on the fridge. I will have to try that with the artist postcards we have.
FYI Hairspray will work as a fixative in a pinch. Not archival quality by any means (it may yellow over time), but it does keep the pastels from smudging or smearing all over the couch. :)
Cool! I've been wanting to pick up some good cheap prints. I'll have to keep my eye out for something like this!
I'm new and I'm going to keep reading, I love your Charlotte Mason style!
All drawing are beautiful. Pooh's drawing is particularly delightful to me.
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