Art Update for Mid-August

Since the last art update, we have covered Joan Miro, Piet Mondrian, and Jackson Pollock. To see our art lesson plans for the quarter, please click here.

Our Surrealism lessons did not end with a reading of the BFG as planned, but I'm still happy with our project. I had great plans to use ideas from either ART with Mrs. Smith or Deep Space Sparkle, but it turned out that doing our own thing worked out better. First, I showed the girls the original Running Man
Then I had them draw a stick man with black crayon. I instructed the girls to bend their men at the elbows and knees. Then I told them to draw circles and simple stars with dots at the points. The last step was to paint with watercolors. The black crayon held the paints in place nicely.

Maggie's Running Man:
Annie's Running Man:

Ella's Running Man:

The girls found Mondrian a fascinating and accessible artist. We did end up trying the Mondrian cake, but it was not a pretty product. Again, the planned lessons on Mondrian were not working for us, so we came up with our own way to recreate the art. First, the girls used a ruler to draw four vertical lines.

Then they used the ruler to draw three horizontal lines. I tried to encourage them to not space their lines evenly.
Next, I let the girls pick either horizontal or vertical orientation, and I had them draw a few more lines. The rule for this step was that the lines could not go all the way from left to right.

The final step was painting with watercolors.

Maggie's work:

Annie's work:

As a mathematician, I really appreciate the vocabulary that comes with a lesson on Mondrian. We were able to review horizontal, vertical, perpendicular, parallel, right angle, and rectangle while making some really fun art.

If you were to ask the girls what their favorite lesson so far has been, they would say Jackson Pollock without a doubt. Not only is Pollock an interesting person with an interesting technique, but the marble painting we did captivated them. It was messy and colorful, and it used what Maggie called "real art" because I was able to get a 3' by 2' canvas on sale at Michael's. Maggie and Annie worked for about an hour to produce the picture that now hangs above the love seat in our living room.