We looked at several artworks by several different artist to discover color blending. I also had the campers pay attention to how the artist used their brushes.
Then together we created a still life composition in the middle of the table.
I have a shelf of collected items to choose from along with some fresh flowers and pears I had used earlier in the week. Once we were all OK with the final grouping, the campers created a sketch of a composition they liked. I stressed they could draw as much or as little of the set up as they wanted too.
Once they were done we quickly reviewed the many things they had observed in some of the paintings and how they should find their own unique way to use to brush to create color blending.
8 year old
This 8 year old artist decided to use her brush sideways as she dotted the colors side by side to create the color blending. While she was working by chance the background on the right side was much darker than the left. She was working hard to get it to "match" and I excited told her how interesting her lighting was in the background and that she might consider leaving it and then doing the opposite lighting combination for the pear. When I make suggestions to the young artist, they always know it is their decision whether or not to do it but in this case I'm so happy she decided to give it a try.
I had the flowers in a vase, but she wanted to lay them around her pear. She was uncertain how to start painting the flowers and I quickly showed her how just a few strokes of the paintbrush, along with paying attention to putting in the dark and lights would register flower. I also showed her a color wheel and had her figure out the complimentary shade of yellow to use for her dark, instead of black, to make her flowers more "alive". Again she readily took all the information I shared with her and implemented it into her painting.
If only my own children listened to me so well......
6 year old
How charming is this sweet still life created by one of the youngest artist in the class? She literally lined up the items from the still life and placed them on the paper. We have the case of flowers, the pears, the old wasp nest, and a pinecone. I think her color blocking on the background is quite brilliant too. Love how only the flowers are against the red.
8 year old
I was so impressed with how bravely this artist embraced color blending. It is hard to accept that just by laying red and blue next to each other, instead of mixing them together, you can create purple. Yet here it is, she created a background that reads purple simply by placing the two colors next to each other. And love her vase of flowers, just with a few simple strokes of white paint in front of the stems and we all know they were placed in a glass jar.
11 year old
This 11 year old artist was the only one to use the feather we had added to the grouping. She was quite concerned how it would work against the dark background she had already put in and it was a great exercise for her on working with just value. In the end, she handled the task and challenge before her with great success. I love the teal vase she created for the flowers and the hint of blue light behind it in the background. This style of painting is a big challenge for her and I was very proud that she not only embraced it but conquered it in the end.
5 year old
Everytime this young artist blended a new color, she would excitedly exclaim, "Look what I made!" Never have I had a student love color mixing more nor have I ever had a student inherently understand how to create such complex color. She is mixing everything from very basic red, yellow, blue, white and black.
Then lets talk about how she has blocked all these colors into her artwork! And then chosen to just create this bold and graphic pear! And then somehow knew to limit the color blending she did inside the pear so it stood out from the background. In a million years I could never create this work of art and every time I look at it I am reminded of Picasso's quote about every child being an artist and it is remembering how to be one as an adult. If this painting doesn't capture that idea, I don't know what does. So many adult artist would dream about being able to capture something like this artwork on paper.
8 year old
Throughout the week, this artist stayed true to this multicolor background. She was a new student to the studio and so it was interesting as a teacher to watch her personal aesthetic emerge in her works throughout the week. I love how she took what we learned from the impressionist paintings and implemented it into her artwork. She has certainly captured the essence of the movement in this piece. I also love her own personal take on the flowers inside the vase. I talk a lot about how they all can make artist choices and are under no expectations to draw exactly what they see. I'm quite proud of this camper for taking the visual information provided it yet interpreting it in a way that pleases her. This takes a lot of self confidence.
9 year old
And finally this artist. In camps I try to offer a wide variety of mediums and techniques to children. I do so knowing that there are some they will really like and some they will really dislike, although I'm happy to say true disdain for a medium or technique is rare. I do all of this to broaden their horizons in art and in the hopes that they leave the week having discovered a new way to enjoy creating art they had never thought of before.
So my heart did a little happy dance as this artist fell in love, IN LOVE, with this style of painting. From the moment she picked up her paintbrush, something clicked for her and she was in her happy place from beginning to end. If we would of had time, she would of created another artwork without moving from her seat.
To have been able to share in her joy while working in this style was the highlight of my week. I have no doubt that in the future she will be using this style more often in her creations.
When I scroll through these paintings while writing this post, I am amazed at the variety of paintings all from the same grouping of items on the table. The flowers were yellow and white, the vase was a clear jar and many of the things we laid out were simply ignored by all but one artist. How each artist chose to be inspired by the impressionist paintings presented is also very interesting to view too and it is exciting to see each child's personality on the paper.
Which in the end leaves me once again pinching myself that I am so very lucky to get to spend my days immersed in sharing art with children.
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