ART PROJECTS BY ARTIST

Mondrain – try to recreate a Mondrain-esque piece of art using only 3 black lines, and 2 or 3 red, yellow and blue squares of different sizes. Try to make it balanced and pleasing to the eye.


Klee Paul – using 4x6 piece of watercolor paper, make a picture of anything you want – using ONLY geometric shapes – triangles, squares, circles paint with watercolors


Hicks, Edward – Describe a dodo bird to the children without showing them a picture. “It’s a bird. It has a fat body like a turkey. It has curly tail feathers. It has short wings and cannot fly, etc. Have them draw the animal they are imagining, then show the pic. Talk about how hard it must have been for Hicks to paint a lion or a cheetah without ever seeing one.


Renoir, Pierre – using drawing paper, draw something that is special to you while playing happy music on CD.


Remington, Fredrick - Butcher paper (5-6 ft long), crayons, tape
Draw a mural of lots of people doing lots of things (i.e. recess or the circus) have children take turns coming up to the board (several at a time) to draw their part of the mural
Have them practice what they will draw on paper at their desk before they come up. Or draw a horse…step by step



Michaelangelo – have the children tape a piece of paper the the underside of their desk and try to draw a picture while laying on their backs


O’Keefe, Georgia – using a small piece of drawing paper (taped to a regular piece of scratch paper-to avoid mess on the desk) and pastels, draw a flower from your imagination. Fill the page – the flower should be off the edges of the drawing paper


Chagall, Marc – talk about how Chagall tried to paint from his imagination, not reality, tried to relay memories or dreams…sometimes we fly or float in dreams – not weird at all.
Also colored how objects made him feel, not their true color. Try to draw a dream. Color according to feeling, not reality.

Breughel, Pieter – play I spy – then draw your favorite season

Picasso, Pablo – using cut and/or torn scraps of paper and glue, make an abstract picture on a piece of construction paper (Popsicle sticks for glue spreading)

Homer, Winslow – talk about how lines = color. Thick vs thin close together vs far apart, experiment with different lines, then try to copy Homer’s seascape.


Seurat, Georges – construction paper , tempera paint, paintbrushes, plates for paint Pour circles of each color paint on plate, have children paint a picture with the END of the paint brush – ONLY DOTS – NO LINES.


Rembrandt - pasta maker, well inked ink pad small Styrofoam plate, scissors scrap paper and a pencil –
Using scissors, cut as big a square out of the center of the plate as you can, etch a simple picture into the dull (NOT SHINY) side of the foam square and your name or initials (backwards!). Press the
etching into the inkpad. Place a piece of scratch paper over the inked etching and run it through the smallest position in the press. Should make several copies with only one inking!


Sargent/Cassatt – using drawing paper & ebony pencils, draw your neighbor. When the children are done have them hold up the pictures and have class guess who is in the picture.


Durer, Albrecht – etch your initials into ½ of a small potato using a (nail? Paper clip? Pencil?) Remember that the letters must be backwards and you want to carve away everything except the letters. Dry off potato and use stamp pad & scrap paper to see how well you did.


Hopper, Edward – use paper, pencil and rulers to find and draw the vanishing point for a house & telephone poles. Step by step instrux



Bingham – After looking at all the triangles formed in his art, try to draw a picture of your own using this formation. (we are usually very linear – house, tree, swing set – all the same size & in a row) Use watercolor pencils if desired. When finished, have the class show their work and find the triangle in each piece.






Vermeer – talk about the color wheel and how to balance color in a picture. Try it.

Van Gogh - Using black or navy construction paper, use pastel chalk to create your own starry night



Degas give each child a .5’x2’ piece of modeling clay. Try to create a replica of your index finger. Notice the knuckles, where and how the finger bends, how the nail is shaped. Harder than it sounds


Cezanne Paul – tear several pieces of tissue paper and layer over a ½ piece of white cardstock to look like a sunset. Glue all over to make a mosaic.



Miro – Give each child a ½ piece of brightly colored cardstock, 2 paper clips, 2 pieces of pipecleaner, 3 buttons, ribbon, a few pompoms, 2 starbursts, glue, and anything they want to use from their desk to create a “found object” piece of art. Name it and show it off. SUPER FUN


Wyeth – using Styrofoam shapes in the closet and a charcoal pencil, practice shading…if you bring in a desk lamp to make the shadows more pronounced, it will be easier.