Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters

by MaryAnn F. Kohl, Kim Solga

Overview

Featuring more than 150 activities, this guide teaches the styles, works, and techniques of the great masters—Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780935607284
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/01/1997
Series:	Bright Ideas for Learning (TM) Series , #5
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
File size:	10 MB
Age Range:	2 - 12 Years

About the Author

MaryAnn F. Kohl is the coauthor of First Art and the author of Preschool Art. Kim Solga is the editor or coauthor of several books in the Art and Activities for Kids series, including Art Fun! and Craft Fun!

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

LONG, LONG AGO

Renaissance & Post Renaissance

Giotto 1266-1337

Giotto di Bondone

When Giotto was a young boy tending sheep in the mountains of northern Italy, he drew pictures to help pass the time. A traveling artist discovered Giotto's drawings and offered him an apprenticeship. There Giotto learned how to make paintbrushes and art tools, which minerals could be used to create different colors of paint, and worked on drawings and small parts of paintings. Eventually Giotto left to find work on his own. He became the chief master of cathedral building and public art in Florence, Italy. Giotto is best known for painting people who appeared three-dimensional rather than flat.

Many paintings of Giotto's time were made with egg tempera paint on special panels of wood. There were no art stores, so each artist had to make paint by grinding minerals, clay, berries, or even insects into fine powder and mixing this pigment with egg yolk and water. Egg tempera makes a thin, fast drying coat of bright color. The paint is very strong and long lasting. Giotto's beautiful egg tempera paintings are over 700 years old!

Young artists explore Giotto's technique of painting with egg tempera with a homemade recipe made with crushed chalk.

Giotto's (ZHEE-O-TO) paints were made from egg yolks mixed with clay, minerals, berries, or even ground insects to make colored pigments.

Egg Paint

MATERIALS

• colored chalk (bright pastel chalk works best)

• muffin tin, plastic egg carton, or paint palette for mixing

• egg and some water

• spoon and a fork

• old bowl

• round rock

• paintbrush and paper

PROCESS

1. Break off small pieces of colored chalk and grind them into powder in an old bowl with a round rock. Note: Avoid breathing the chalk powder.

2. Put the colored powders into the cups of a muffin tin, egg carton or paint palette.

3. Crack the egg and separate the yellow yoke from the clear egg white.

4. Put the yolk in a clean bowl and mix it with 2 teaspoons of water. Whip it with a fork until the mixture is frothy yellow.

5. Add spoons of egg-water to the powdered chalk and stir with a paintbrush until you make a smooth, runny paint.

6. Now use the egg tempera paint to make a painting!

Limbourg Brothers 1375-1416

The Limbourg Brothers

One of the most beautiful works of art from the middle ages is a book of paintings made by three men known as The Limbourg Brothers. This is a book called the Tres Riches Heures. The brothers Paul, Herman, and Jean were hired by the rich nobleman, Duc de Berry, to create a book with a calendar, lists of the holy days, and prayers and pictures of the seasons. They did this incredibly detailed creation with paints they made themselves using tiny paintbrushes and magnifying lenses to add detail.

Young artists create a "Book of Days" by drawing calendar pictures of the artist's favorite times of the year.

The Limbourg Brothers (LIHM-BORG) - Paul, Herman, and Jean - created incredibly detailed paintings for a calendar using tiny paintbrushes and magnifying lenses.

Book of Days

MATERIALS

• paper

• pencil, eraser, and ruler

• photocopy machine

• colored marking pens, colored pencils, or crayons

• magnifying glass

• 2 sheets of heavy paper as covers

• stapler or hole punch and yarn

PROCESS

1. Design a layout for the pages of the Book of Days. The Limbourg Brothers used a square topped by a half circle. Draw these shapes on a piece of paper with a pencil and ruler, or invent other shapes to frame the drawings that will be made. When the design is ready, draw over the pencil lines with a black marker.

2. Photocopy the page design. Make 4 copies, one for each season of the year, or make 12 copies, one for each month. Save the original page design to make copies later, if desired.

3. Draw a picture on each of the photocopy pages. Pick a favorite thing about each season or month. Perhaps draw a holiday or sport or how the neighborhood looks at that time of year. Put lots of little details into each drawing, just like The Limbourg Brothers did hundred of years ago. Use a magnifying lens to see the details close up. Write the name of the season or month in the border of each picture.

4. Fasten the drawings together with 2 sheets of heavy paper as covers. Staple them together or use a hole punch with yarn ties to bind the Book of Days.

Ghiberti 1378-1455

Lorenzo Ghiberti

In the year 1401, the city of Florence, Italy held a competition to choose an artist to decorate the doors of the beautiful city church. The winner was a young sculptor named Lorenzo Ghiberti. He created a scene from the Bible, with figures that rose up out of the background. Ghiberti had been 1 trained as a goldsmith, and the shimmer of his gold-plated bronze delighted the judges. They liked Ghiberti's calm, elegant people with their softly flowing robes.

Ghiberti worked all of his life on the great Baptistery doors at Florence. Many artists worked under him, carving the scenes, casting the metal panels, and covering them with pure gold. It took 20 years to finish the first set of doors - then the city hired Ghiberti to make even more. Michelangelo later said of Ghiberti's baptistery doors, "They are worthy to stand at the Gates of Paradise."

Young artists create a relief panel using cardboard, string, glue, and aluminum foil to explore the style of Ghiberti, and it won't take nearly so long to complete!

Michelangelo said of Ghiberti's (GHEE-BAIR-TEE) creation of shimmering gold baptistery doors, "They are worthy to stand at the Gates of Paradise."

Florentine Relief

MATERIALS

• piece of cardboard, 6" square or larger

• matte board and heavy paper scraps

• heavy string, yarn or twine

• white glue

• scissors

• heavy duty aluminum foil

• tape

• black ink or tempera paint and a paintbrush

• steel wool

• sheet of colored construction paper

PROCESS

1. Cut some shapes out of the matte board and heavy paper. Glue these shapes onto the cardboard sheet.

2. Glue some string down.

3. Lay a sheet of foil over everything. The foil should be larger than the piece of cardboard so the foil edges hang over the cardboard edges. Gently press the foil down onto the design. Press and rub all over so the shapes and textures of the paper and string show through the foil. Fold the foil edges to the back of the cardboard and tape them down.

4. With scrap newspaper underneath, paint the entire foil surface with black ink or tempera paint. Let everything dry overnight.

5. The next day, rub the surface of the foil gently with steel wool to shine up the high spots. Leave the dark ink or paint in the low spots.

6. Glue the relief design onto a larger sheet of construction paper.

Van Eyck 1395-1441

Jan van Eyck

Jan van Eyck was the most famous painter of northern Europe in the 1400's, over five hundred years ago. For many years, he was said to be the inventor of oil paints; although he didn't actually invent mixing pigments with oil to make paint, van Eyck was the first artist to really master this new material. Unlike egg tempera paints used in earlier times, oil paints could be applied in thick coats or in very thin glazes and could create rich, velvety colors that seemed to glow from within. Van Eyck was a master oil painter. He painted religious scenes, portraits of wealthy people, and even pictures of himself.

One of van Eyck's most famous paintings is an altar piece called a triptych, which is a wood framed screen made in three parts. There are pictures on the outside of the screen when it is folded shut, and more on the inside when it is opened up. Young artists can create a triptych panel out of stiff paper or cardboard, drawing pictures to decorate both its open and closed surfaces.

Over five hundred years ago in the 1400's Jan van Eyck (VANIKE)was the most famous painter of northern Europe and was said to be the inventor of oil paints.

Triptych Panel

MATERIALS

• white cardboard, foam board or stiff paper

• ruler and pencil

• scissors or an adult helper with a craft knife

• watercolors or tempera for painting

• roll of dark colored duct tape or wide masking tape

• markers, crayons, or colored pencils for drawing

PROCESS

1. A triptych has three panels as shown in the illustration: one wide panel in the center, and two narrower side pieces that can fold over the center one. The tops are often rounded. It's easy to make a cardboard triptych by measuring and cutting two identical center pieces, rectangles with rounded tops. Then cut one of these pieces straight down the middle to make the two narrow side panels. (See illustration.)

2. Place the cut panel on top of the whole panel and tape the outside edges. Now, with the tape as a hinge, stand the cardboard up and fold them open. Add more tape on the inside, if needed, or tape all around the panels to create a frame, if desired.

3. Now the fun begins. Design a scene on the open faces of the triptych. For example, draw a picture in the middle with two smaller pictures on the side panels. Or make one large picture that goes across all three panels. The decision is the artist's. Sketch the picture.

4. Next color or paint the scene or picture on the panels. Dry completely.

5. When the center picture is finished and dry, fold the side panels over the middle and there will be another surface to decorate! Draw and color, or paint a picture on the two outside panels of the triptych. Dry completely.

6. Display the triptych in a home or classroom on a table or shelf. Leave it closed with just the outside pictures showing most of the time. Then, on special days, open it up for the full inside scene!

Angelico 1400-1455

Fra Giovanni Angelico

Fra Angelico da Fiesoie was an Italian monk who was one of the greatest painters of the early Renaissance. Fra was not his name — it was his title in the monastery, meaning "brother", like being called Mr. or Dr. Fra Angelico learned drawing and painting by illuminating manuscripts at the monastery, hand lettering pages of books, and drawing pictures to illustrate stories. He was asked to paint on the walls of his monastery, fresco paintings made on wet new white plaster. Angelico painted inspiring scenes from the Christian Bible. His pictures are very beautiful, filled with delicate colors and a feeling of peaceful serenity.

Artists of this era often gave halos to the angels and people in their paintings. This golden ring around a figure's head was meant to show an inner goodness shining out for everyone to see. Halos were often made with real gold, not with gold paint. Gold metal was pounded into a very thin sheet called "gold leaf", then glued onto the wall or canvas with varnish. Young artists paint beautiful pictures with "silver leaf" decoration using everyday aluminum foil.

Fra Angelico (AHN-JEH-LIH-KO) painted golden halos around a person's head to show an inner goodness shining out for everyone to see. Halos were often made with real gold, not with gold paint.

Painting with Silver Leaf

MATERIALS

• construction paper, dark sheet

• pencil or chalk for sketching

• aluminum foil

• scissors

• white glue

• tempera paints and brushes

PROCESS

1. Choose a dark color of construction paper for this project, such as o rich

purple black midnight blue red

2. Sketch a large design on the paper with the pencil. Draw the face of an angel, like Fra Angelico, or draw any other subject desired, such as -

a fish with shiny silver scales a crown with jewels a robot from outer space an abstract design of foil and color

3. Next, cut pieces of aluminum foil to fit some of the areas in the drawing and glue them down. For example, on a fish design, the head, fins and tail could be shiny silver foil. For an angel design, a silver halo would be effective. For a robot design, foil parts of the head and body and buttons to push. Use imagination to select the foil areas.

5. Paint around the shiny foil pieces with tempera paints. Outline the foil, if desired, but try not to get too much paint on the shiny sliver areas. The foil should look like a jewel glittering against the colorful paint and dark background of the paper.

VARIATION

• There are many kinds of shiny metallic paints that are fun for kids to use in their paintings and designs. Gold and silver tempera, metallic acrylic, metallic printmaking ink (the water-soluble kind) and even gold and silver marking pens are available. Good sources are school supply stores or art supply stores. Choose materials that are child-safe and non-toxic.

Masaccio 1401-1428

Tommasso Masaccio

Masaccio is famous for his portraits during the Renaissance Period in art, a time when new ideas and new ways of thinking were just awakening. Masaccio liked to add fancy details in his portrait paintings, such as hats, jewelry, and highly ornate decor. Portraits can be drawn or painted in many ways, but the approach used in Profile Portrait assures the perfect full side view of a person's face, just like Masaccio enjoyed painting. Adding an abundance of detail and decoratives helps the young artist paint the way the great Renaissance artist, Masaccio, painted portraits.

Masaccio (MAH-SAH-CHEE-O) liked to add fancy details in his portrait paintings, such as hats, jewelry, and highly ornate decor.

Profile Portrait

MATERIALS

• slide or overhead projector

• white paper

• masking tape •pencils, crayons, pens

• glue, optional

• two people: one the model, one the artist

• paints and brushes

• matte board scraps for framing, optional

PROCESS

1. Ask a friend to model for this side-profile portrait. The model should stand near a blank wall, standing so he is facing sideways.

2. With adult help, shine a slide projector or other bright light on the model so the shadow falls on the wall. Tape a sheet of white paper to the wall to catch the shadow of the model's head and shoulders. Trace the shape of the model's face and head, neck, and shoulders with the pencil. Then turn off the bright light, and move the paper from the wall to the work table.

3. For a realistic portrait, ask the model to sit down beside the work table so the artist can look at the model's features while painting or drawing. If the portrait is going to be more imaginary, the model may no longer be needed.

4. With paints and brushes or other drawing tools, add facial features to the pencil portrait, such as eyes, eyebrows, mouth, ears, and hair. Paint or color-in the further details of the model (or of an imaginary person such as a princess, clown, alien from outer space, or other character).

5. Add other ornate ideas and details too, such as, a hat, jewelry, glasses, fancy clothing, background wallpaper, and so on. Dry the profile portrait overnight. Note: Sometimes it is necessary to let some of the details painted dry a little between applications so they don't run together, if the artist is concerned about this. Otherwise, the running together of paints and colors can be artistically pleasing too. Or, use colored markers to avoid drying time.

6. To frame, go to a framing store and ask for framing scraps or matte board scraps. Glue these around the portrait, if desired, to frame.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Discovering Great Artists"
by .
Copyright © 1996 MaryAnn F. Kohl and Kim Solga.
Excerpted by permission of Bright Ring Publishing, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Chart of Contents

3 Dedication&Acknowledgments
4 Introduction
5 Art Resources
6-7 Icons
8-10 Chart of Contents

11-36 Chapter 1 Long, Long Ago
Renaissance&Post Renaissance

12 Giotto 1266-1337 Egg Paint
Gothic
13 Limbourg Brothers 1375-1416 Book of Days
Gothic
14 Ghiberti 1378-1455 Florentine Relief
Renaissance
15 Van Eyck 1395-1441 Triptych Panel
Renaissance
16 Angelico 1400-1455 Leaf Painting with Silver
Renaissance
17 Masaccio 1401-1428 Profile Portrait
Renaissance
18 Botticelli 1445-1510 Art in the Round
Renaissance
19 Da Vinci 1452-1519 Drawing Things Apart
Renaissance
20-21 Da Vinci 1452-1519 Da Vinci Invention
Renaissance
22 Dürer 1471-1528 Wood Block Print
Renaissance
23 Raphael 1483-1520 Mother&Baby
Renaissance
24 Michelangelo 1475-1564 Fresco Plaque
Renaissance
25 Michelangelo 1475-1564 Lie-Down Painting
Renaissance
26 El Greco 1541-1614 Drawing Tall Figures
Baroque
27 Rubens 1577-1640 Chalk Light Face
Baroque
28 Rembrandt 1606-1669 Making Faces!
Baroque
29 Rembrandt 1606-1669 Shadowy Faces
Baroque
30 Linnaeus 1707-1778 Botanical Illustrations
Naturalist
31 Gainsborough 1727-1788 Portrait on Landscape
Romantic
32 Blake 1757-1827 Hand Colored Prints
Romantic
33 Constable 1776-1837 Cloudscape
Romantic
34 Hokusai 1760-1849 Surimono Greeting
Ukiyo-e
35 Audubon 1785-1851 Nature Notebook
Naturalist
36 Courbet 1819-1877 Palette Knife Painting
Realist

37-56 Chapter 2 Sunny&Free

Impressionists&Post Impressionists
38 Manet 1832-1883 Still-Life in Melted Crayon
Impressionist
39 Monet 1840-1926 Dabble in Paint
Impressionist
40 Degas 1834-1917 Resist in Motion
Impressionist
41 Degas 1834-1917 Chalk on Cloth
Impressionist
42 Morisot 1841-1895 Texture Paints
Impressionist
43 Homer 1836-1910 Wilderness Watercolor
Impressionist
Impressionist Impressionist
45 Renoir 1841-1919 Mixed Media Still-Life
Impressionist
46 Van Gogh 1853-1890 Impasto Post
Impressionist
Impressionist Impressionist
48 Cézanne 1839-1906 Seeing Shapes Still-Life Post
Impressionist
49 Rousseau 1844-1910 Jungle Prints Post
Impressionist
50 Rodin 1840-1917 Carving Clay Post
Impressionist
51 Gauguin 1848-1903 Surprising Colors Post
Impressionist Nabis
52-53 Toulouse-Lautrec 1864-1901 Event Poster
Post Impressionist
54 Seurat 1859-1891 Pointillist Color Cards Post
Impressionist Pointillist
55 Vuillard 1868-1940 Artist’s Studio Post
Impressionist Nabis
56 Russell 1864-1926 Western Sunset
Impressionist

57-82 Chapter 3 Wild&Wacky
Expressionists, Abstract, Abstract-Expressionists, Cubists, Dadaists,&Surrealists

58 Matisse 1869-1954 Story Color Collage
Post Impressionist Fauvist
59 Munch 1863-1944 Clay Facial Expressions
Expressionist
60 Kandinsky 1866-1944 Painting Music
Abstract-Expressionist
61 Mondrian 1872-1944 Straight Line Design
Abstract DeStijl
62-63 Klee 1879-1940 One Line Designs
Expressionist
64 Stella 1880-1946 Mixed Media Lines
Abstract
65 Escher 1889-1972 Tessellation Design
Abstract
66 Calder 1889-1976 Standing Mobile
Abstract
67 Moore 1898-1986 Carving Stone
Abstract
68 Braque 1882-1963 Cubist Collage
Cubist
69 Picasso 1881-1973 One Color Painting
Cubist
70-71 Picasso 1881-1973 Fractured Friend
Cubist
72 Rivera 1886-1957 Giant Projector Mural
Social Realist
73 Duchamp 1887-1968 Happy Accident String
Dadaist
74 Arp 1887-1966 Muse of Chance Collage
Dadaist
75 Oppenheim 1913-1985 Wacky Work of Dada
Dadaist
76 Chagall 1887-1985 Scenery Mural
Surrealist
77 Magritte 1898-1967 Giant Tennis Shoes
Surrealist
78 Dali 1904-1985 Dream Photographs
Surrealist
79 Giacometti 1901-1966 Sticks ‘n Straws
Surrealist
80-81 Kahlo 1910-1954 Special Self-Portrait
Surrealist
82 Wright 1867-1959 Box House
Architect Modern

83-106 Chapter 4 Art Today Everyway
Pop, Op, Folk, Modern, Cartoonists, Photojournalists,&Children’s Book Illustrators

84 Grandma Moses 1860-1961 Busy Folk Art Scene
Folk Art
85 Rockwell 1895-1978 Tell-a-Story Illustrations
Romantic
86 O’Keeffe 1887-1986 Close-Up Flower Painting
Realist
87 Wyeth 1917-2009 First Snow Realist
88 Lange 1895-1965 Photo Story Collage
Photojournalist
89 Bourke-White 1906-1971 ABC Photography
Photojournalist
90 Lawrence 1917-2000 Series Drawing
Realist&Modern
91 Smith 1906-1965 Cubi Structure Abstract
Expressionist
92 Vasarély 1908-1997 Dizzy Op Art
Op
93 Pollock 1912-1956 Action Spatter
Abstract Expressionist
94 Cornell 1903-1972 Portrait Box Collage
Surrealist
95 Nevelson 1900-1988 Scrap Box Art
Abstract
96 Rauschenberg 1925-2008 Combines
Pop
97 Chamberlain 1927- BIG Junk
Pop
98 Kienholz 1935-1994 Walk Through Sculpture
Op
99 Christo 1935- Transformations
Modern
100-101 Paik 1932-2006 Robot People
Pop
102 Lichtenstein 1923-1997 Comic Dots
Pop
103 Warhol 1930-1987 Lots of Me!
Pop
104 Ringgold 1930- Quilted Work
Modern
105 Davis 1946- Comic Creatures
Cartoonist
106 Van Allsburg 1949- Glowing House
Children’s Book Illustrator

107-126 Chapter 5 Make It&Play It
Games&Child-Made Activities

108 Great Artist Cards
card game
109 Masters Match
matching game
110 Master-Puzzlepiece
puzzle game
111 Masters Scrap Book
cataloging activity
112-113 Smart Art Cards
matching game
114-115 Great Art Cookies
cooking activity
116-117 Great Art Dominoes
matching game
118 Great Art Coloring Pages
coloring activity
119 Great Time Line
sequencing activity
120-121 Happy Birthday, Mr. Picasso
party activity
122 Gallery Walk
exhibition activity
123 Masterpiece Montage
drama activity
124-125 Map of Honor
geography activity
126 You&Me Notebook
cataloging activity

127-144 Chapter 6 Resource Guide
128-132 Great Art Words
glossary and art terms
133-135 Materials Index
index by art materials
136 Great Art Techniques
index by kid art technique
138 Great Art Birthdays
list of artist birthdays
139-140 Great Artists&Activities
index by artist and activity
141 About the Authors
biography of authors
142 Bright Ideas for Learning
other book information