First Grade1a. Night Baseball by Phillips

First Grade1a. Night Baseball by Phillips

The Artist: Phillips

Married to an art collector

Recorded moods of life through landscapes and figure paintings

She was an author

The Art: Night Baseball

When did this take place?

Can you tell which teams are playing?

Have you been to a baseball game at night?

What are some things you notice:

Color? Cool colors/warm colors

Details?

Where do you think you are sitting looking at this picture?

How do you think the artist was able to paint this “action at the game”

Do you think it’s harder to paint a picture or take a picture with camera?

Art Project

Materials needed: large white paper, markers, colored pencils

Use markers or colored pencils and draw yourself playing your favorite sport. Encourage the kids to show the setting. For example: if drawing a baseball player, show the baseball stadium or field in the background. You can explain the concept of “Perspective” where objects/people that are closer are larger and more details can be seen. Objects/people that are further away are smaller and less detailed.

First Grade1b. Ballet Scene by Degas

The Artist

Edgar Degas, 1834-1917. Born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, his family was wealthy and he always had people who paid him to paint pictures for them. He originally went to law school and traveled to Italy to study art. The French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist. A superb draftsman, he is especially identified with the subject of the dance, and over half his works depict dancers. These display his mastery in the depiction of movement. His portraits are notable for their psychological complexity and depiction of human isolation.

The Art

He made a lot of sketches before he started painting or drawing with pastels. He became known for using pastels. This scene was done when he was almost blind. The finished work is large, partly because he couldn’t see well enough to do any more small detailed paintings. Pastels allowed him to sketch and create expression at the same time. This is done on cardboard. 2 things influenced him: First, the introduction of photography. Second the importing of Japanese art showing a different style of painting. He liked both of these new ideas. He organized his artwork as though you were looking through a camera lens capturing the action.

How can you tell that this is pastel and not paint? Degas blended the pastels with his hands and with other colors of pastels to create the look of movement. Can you see any distinct lines? What types of color did he use? Can you tell outlines of people? Degas sat in the theatre to sketch these dancers…can you tell where he sat? Close to the stage? Far away? In the balcony?

Art Project

Materials Needed: Black paper, colored pastels, colored chalk.

Have children draw a picture of something that moves using chalk and pastels. Encourage them to blend colors and to cover most of the paper. You can brainstorm some ideas with them…for example: fish swimming, dancers, a person running, a dog chasing a bone, etc…

First Grade 2. Bathers at Asnieres 1883 by Seurat

Georges Seurat (1859– 1891) was a FrenchPost-Impressionistpainter and draftsman. Born into a wealthy family in Paris. First studied art with Justin Lequien, a sculptor. Seurat attended the École des Beaux-Arts in 1878 and 1879. For the next two years he devoted himself to mastering the art of black and white drawing.

Bathers at Asnières1883(French: Une Baignade, Asnières) Seurat was twenty-four years old when he created the huge oil-on canvas painting Bathers at Asnières, and he was to live for just another seven years. Today it hangs in the National Gallery, London, where it is considered one of the highlights of the gallery’s collection of paintings.

Seurat borrowed from sources such as those of the fresco painters of the 15th century, the French classicism of Nicolas Poussin, and of contemporary Impressionism to create a unified canvas of a suburban, but placid Parisian riverside scene. The isolated figures and their clothes piled sculpturally on the riverbank, together with the trees, and the austere boundary walls and buildings are presented in a formal layout. A combination of complex brushstroke techniques, and a meticulous application of contemporary color theory bring to the composition a sense of gentle vibrancy and timelessness.

Georges Seurat is considered a Neo-Impressionist for his innovative brush stroke techniques. In 1886,he developed the technique of Pointillism, in which small, distinct dots of pure color are applied in patterns to form an image. The colors are not blended, but rather positioned in a manner that enables the eye to blend the colors for the viewer.

Another brush-stroke techniques he developed on this canvas as the balayétechnique, wherein a flat brush is used to apply matte colours using strokes in a criss-crossing formation. These strokes become smaller as they approach the horizon. The balayé technique is not rolled out in a consistent manner across the painting, but is adapted where Seurat thought it appropriate. The foreground—for example—consists of a balayé network of strokes atop a more solid layer of underpaint, suggesting the flickering play of sunlight over the blades of grass. This chunky, cross-hatched brushstroke pattern is in contrast with the nearly horizontal, much thinner strokes that are used to depict the water, and is in even greater contrast with the smoothly rendered skin of the figures.

Discuss how the colors and the scene make you feel.

Art Project

Art Materials: copies of large outlined objects from Art Enrichment drawer, markers, large dot markers

Use markers to color in page with large dots, small dots, and cross-hatch patterns to decorate your object.

First Grade3. Composition (Blue, Red, and Yellow) by Mondrian

The Artist

As a young man, he worked as a draftsman. For fun, he used to paint things he saw in Holland, where he was born – like windmills, flowers, rivers and canals. As the years went on, he would take away the way things looked on the outside and just painted their horizontal or vertical lines. Next he decided that the colors of nature could never be reproduced on canvas anyway, so he gave up “natural color” for “pure color” – the primaries. What are the primary colors? (blue, red, yellow) He believed that the homes and workplaces of the future would be boxes with walls of color and non-color (white, gray and black)

Mondrian decided that true art shouldn’t try to represent something else, but that it should just exist as an object itself…so he started using only horizontal and vertical lines, color and non-color in his art. He didn’t want art to bring about any emotion or feelings.

The Art

Mondrian’s belief that art should not represent any other object influenced the design of buildings and packaging. All around us are examples of Mondrian’s grids and his rectangles of bright primary colors. How many rectangles can you see in this painting? Around your classroom?

The finished works of his long series of Compositions are of paint on canvas, but as he got older, he would try out his designs using tape that he could move around. Mondrian tried to achieve balance in every painting. Sometimes he tried to do that with color and sometimes with lines. Do you think this painting looks balanced? This one was made in 1930. Mondrian influenced many pop artists.(Stare hard at where the black lines intersectand maybe you will see them move, or maybeyou will see a small white square where 2 black lines cross) Look around your home, school, stores, and packaging of today and see if you can tell Mondrian’s influence.

Art Project

Materials: White paper, black masking tape or black paper strips, colored construction paper

Create Mondrian art on paper using black tape or strips of black paper. Glue strips of black paper and squares or rectangles of coloredpaper to create geometric art. It’s easier to cut and glue the colored pieces first and then put the black strips on top.

First Grade4a. Girls Watering Flowers by Edvard Munch

The Artist

Born in Norway and regarded as Norway’s most important artist. His mother and sister died when he was very young which may have caused him to use “death” as a theme in many of his paintings for his first 40 years. He used lots of dark blue and violet (the color of night) in his paintings to symbolize the feeling of death. As a child, he showed talent in drawing and painting and attended art school. His “emotional” paintings had a great effect on the German artists of that time. 4 years after he painted this picture he had a mental breakdown. After that, his style changed to a more positive one. After his death, he willed all 1,100 of his paintings, 4,500 drawings, and 18,000 prints to the city of Oslo. They eventually opened a museum to keep all his artwork on display.

The Art

At first – you see the painting for what it is – 2 girls watering flowers. Look at the colors – what kind of a day do you think it is? Sunny? Cloudy? Can you tell how old the girls are? Why doesn’t the artist paint their faces with much detail? Painting without specific detail = impressionism. Do you think he had these girls pose for this painting or is he painting from a picture in his mind? He uses oil paints on canvas, with wide brush strokes. Edward projected a feeling in this painting. It’s not the subject matter that makes us feel sad, or melancholy when you look at it, it’s the colors, lack of detail, and the darkness that creates a mood. Are the shapes you see geometric or organic?

First Grade4b. Young Artists by Carol Sideman

The Artist Carol Sideman was an art teacher before she became a known artist. She went on to further schooling in architecture and illustrating, and then she turned to fine art. She paints in oils and her paintings have been shown around the United States and have won many awards. Carol likes to leave a lot to the imagination. She doesn’t like to put in too many details. She wants her paintings to convey a feeling. Carol likes to paint children in order to capture “childhood” on canvas, she also likes to paint landscapes.

The Art The painting shows children painting at an easel in their preschool. They experiment with colors, they make decisions and solve problems. What are the 2 children in the back of the painting doing? Do they need to communicate and work together in order to create something? What is the artist trying to tell you with this painting? (kids have the ability to create, build, negotiate, work together- school is a place where kids discover and learn how to do all these things) Carol uses bright warm colors to convey a feeling of happiness in this classroom. Do you think these kids are liking school? Does a bright, colorful, sunny room help you to learn better?

What lines do you see in this painting? What shapes are repeated throughout to balance out this picture. (triangles) Lines create a structure and balance to this painting. There are also curves to offset the lines. Where does your eye go to first? Are there certain colors that attract you? Which children are the focus of this art? (The ones closest to us) What style of art is this (no detail in the faces, yet you know what is happening in the painting) – impressionism.

Compare the 2 paintings – you can make a chart on the board and ask the kids to tell you which things are similar about both paintings and which things are different.

Art Project:

Materials – large white paper, tempra paints, brushes, water(pastel chalk optional).

Have children paint with wide brushes (preferably) in the impressionistic style. Encourage them to pick a subject they are familiar with – something that is an every day activity – but show very little specific details. They can also use pastels with the paint in combination. Remind them that their choice of color can convey the mood of their painting. Examples: Kids playing football, kids baking cookies, a dog chasing a cat, a parent driving a car, etc.

First Grade5. Four Seasons by Giuseppe Arcimboldo

The Artist: GiuseppeArcimboldo (1527-1593) was the child of a painter of the Milan Cathedral, who used all sorts of spellings of his first and last name to sign his art. In 1549, he made his debut as an artist by designing several stained glass windows with his father for the Milan Cathedral and other cathedrals until 1558, when his father passed away.

When he was 35 years old, he moved to Vienna, Austria to become the court painter for the emperor in Vienna. During these two years, he painted his first series of Four Seasons. During these years, the great power belonged to whichever European king was also the Holy Roman Emperor. Arcimboldo was so highly regarded by his fellow artists and royalty, that he was invited to move to whichever country the Holy Roman Emperor was elected in (as the Pope is elected from various countries still today). In fact, even when he moved back to his native Milan, Italy, he continued to paint for the Emperor. When he was 64 years old, he created his two most famous paintings, Flora and his painting of the ancient Roman god of vegetation and transformation, Vertumnus.

The Art: Closely study each of the Four Seasons paintings. What are they? Which man looks the youngest? Which looks like he is an old man? What are the subjects of the painting made of? Which painting has the brightest colors? Let’s look very closely at this painting first. Why did Arcimboldo use ripe cherries, berries, plums, cucumbers in his summer painting? What are his teeth made of? Which painting has the most blooming flowers? Which painting has fruits and vegetables we would see at our local farms in the autumn? What season has citrus fruits? Here in Chicago, from where and when do we receive our freshest oranges?

Art Project:

Materials: White paper, and have the students use their colored pencils.

Now, it’s your turn to show your creative mind. If you were to create a mail carrier’s face in a similar manner, what would you use? Select a career, hobby, sport, study, subject. Think about the items used or created. Incorporate them into a drawing of a person’s facial profile.