They even had an art show at the end with refreshments!
First the curator at the gallery gave a short talk on Monet and presented three different artworks for them to discuss. I think the kids found it interesting that Impressionism was once revolutionary. I think they found it even more interesting that during the time Monet was painting was the first time paint was offered in tubes which opened up the door for artist to really go outside to paint.
And so once the curator handed the day over to me, we talked quickly about what the students noticed about Monet's paint style and then we went off to do artwork inspired by the man of the hour himself, Monet. Then like Monet, we headed outside to paint.
It's hard not to be inspired when this is the view right outside the gallery.
I mean like ten steps outside the gallery!!!
It doesn't get much more inspirational than this view. Monet would of been envious even.
Deep Cove, outside of Seymour Art Gallery, British Columbia
Don't you feel sorry for these children? Forced to go outside and paint this?
Actually it had the potential to be quite overwhelming, but I told them as artist they got to pick and choose what they liked from the scenery. That by no means, should they try to draw EVERYTHING!
We did some sketching with pencil and I instructed them to work on composition and shape, not detail. They would put that in when they started painting. I think between worrying only about shape and having the knowledge they could pick and choose what they wanted to include made them much more comfortable.
And here's the results, inspired by Monet and the beautiful scenery at Seymour Art Gallery
10 year old
I love the clouds and the kayakers this artist chose to include in her painting.
Another student focused on this large tree in the park. I think unknowingly she was channeling not only Monet, but also Van Gogh. What do you think?
8 year old
11 year old
Not only were there kayakers, but also sailboats. Oh yes, feel very sorry for the ugly scenery these students had to endure on an absolutely gorgeous morning in Deep Cove.
10 year old
So here's where I'm thrilled to see a student really understand "artist interpretation". Below is one of the kayakers that we all found so inspiring and then her interpretation of that kayaker. I love that she added a rowing crew in her painting inspired by the kayaker.
We were outside mid morning and the sun was making the most beautiful reflections on the water. When the students were looking at the different boats moving through it, I had them pay particular attention to what the water was doing behind the boats and in the above painting, and all the paintings with boats, you can see how the artist chose to capture that movement and light behind the boats.
The mountains in the distance were a beautiful shade of blue. A blue this student below captured quite lovely in her work. How awesome is that sailboat in the water? If that doesn't say impressionism, I don't know what does!! And there's that water trail again.
7 year old
One last beautiful artwork inspired by Monet and the view outside in Deep Cove. You want to move here now, don't you?
10 year old
Finally, I am quite frustrated with myself. Somehow I overlooked one artist at the end of the day and did not capture an image of her final work. I was so proud of her because her sketch was quite complicated. She had the playground, the marina, the street light, all the mountains and trees..basically the entire first photograph in this post. I knew I had to get her to edit down her idea and I asked her what the favorite part of her drawing happened to be. She pointed to the "drooping" tree and the park bench she had drawn.
(see photo above, if you know what kind of tree that is please let me know otherwise it is the "drooping tree" I thought it was a willow but the branches are so short.)
So I showed her how to crop into her picture and asked her to draw it again. She did a wonderful job, but I'm not going to lie, I don't think she was completely sold on the new composition but I asked her to trust me and that she would be glad she made the edit when she started painting.
She was glad and her artwork was wonderful. I'm just so sorry I don't have it to show you because I was so proud of her knowing the work she put into her original sketch and the trust she put in me when I asked her to edit the sketch and simplify.
All in all, it was a very fun day. How could it not be with a location like this on a sunny morning? At the end when I asked if they liked painting in the style of the Impressionist, the response was a resounding, "YES!"
It doesn't get much better than that.
A quick reminder that fall classes and should school not start on time due to the strike, a full day camp until it opens, are on the website at Kudzustudio.com.
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