Thoreau once wrote that "the world is but a canvas to our imagination," and while that is certainly true, when you give children some time to create a work of art, it is sometimes difficult for them to channel their imagination. Often they are unsure of what to paint beyond the most realistic depictions of home and family life. To help expand their imagination, providing examples of the various styles of painting from many artists can definitely light the fire of creativity.
For many kids, it is easiest for them to draw, paint and color pictures that are fairly realistic, but it can be fun to introduce them to familiar scenes painted in less realistic ways. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism are two styles of art that look somewhat realistic yet are somewhat different. You can show your child how to mimic the brush strokes of an artist such as Seurat or even download a printable mural of one of his works from a website like ArtProjectsForKids.org. This site breaks down famous works of art into manageable sections which you color and then reposition like a puzzle, and you end up with a work of art very similar yet different from the original. Other artists to consider include Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet.
Surrealist painters such as Salvador Dali, Joan Miro or Rene Magritte offer plenty of great inspirational easy art projects for kids. Show the children some of Miro's work and explain how he used circles and lines to create dreamlike images of people, animals and objects. Encourage the children to draw stick figures with circles here and there and then color the various sections, circles and intersecting parts to create a colorful picture. Magritte's "Son of Man," is a fun painting to mimic. Just have children create a person with every element except the face. In place of this feature, add an apple or really any type of fruit or food or even an object and have them talk about why they chose that object.
Children are constantly being told to follow rules, but art is often an area where they are completely free. To show them that art doesn't have to follow any rules, show them paintings by abstract artists such as Jackson Pollack or Sonia Delauney. Then encourage them to create their own abstract works. For a Delauney-style painting, have them create a painting filled with huge, colorful circles. For Pollack, throw down some newspaper, put a canvas on top and let them explore using paint by dripping or splashing or even flinging paint onto the paper. As Pollack said, "the modern artist is working with space and time, and expressing his feelings rather than illustrating." So children can see that art doesn't have to illustrate, but can just be expressive.
Pop Art is yet another fun medium to explore, and the artists of this style are inspired by all of the products and topics that are current and modern. For Andy Warhol, this meant painting a can of soup. For David Hockney it means painting something realistic but making it look slightly skewed. For Roy Lichtenstein, inspiration came from the pages of comic books. Any of these artists can serve as the basis for a project. Children can create their own comic strip or paint a picture featuring their favorite food product, such as a box of cereal. For a Hockney-esque work, consider tearing a picture out of a magazine, cutting it into strips or squares and then gluing the pieces back down onto paper. Have the pieces tilt slightly or overlap slightly to create an unusual image.
No matter what type of project you decide to do, the main goals are always to have fun and also to learn about many types of art. By exposing your children to many styles, they see that the only limit to art is the limit of their imagination.
For many kids, it is easiest for them to draw, paint and color pictures that are fairly realistic, but it can be fun to introduce them to familiar scenes painted in less realistic ways. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism are two styles of art that look somewhat realistic yet are somewhat different. You can show your child how to mimic the brush strokes of an artist such as Seurat or even download a printable mural of one of his works from a website like ArtProjectsForKids.org. This site breaks down famous works of art into manageable sections which you color and then reposition like a puzzle, and you end up with a work of art very similar yet different from the original. Other artists to consider include Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet.
Surrealist painters such as Salvador Dali, Joan Miro or Rene Magritte offer plenty of great inspirational easy art projects for kids. Show the children some of Miro's work and explain how he used circles and lines to create dreamlike images of people, animals and objects. Encourage the children to draw stick figures with circles here and there and then color the various sections, circles and intersecting parts to create a colorful picture. Magritte's "Son of Man," is a fun painting to mimic. Just have children create a person with every element except the face. In place of this feature, add an apple or really any type of fruit or food or even an object and have them talk about why they chose that object.
Children are constantly being told to follow rules, but art is often an area where they are completely free. To show them that art doesn't have to follow any rules, show them paintings by abstract artists such as Jackson Pollack or Sonia Delauney. Then encourage them to create their own abstract works. For a Delauney-style painting, have them create a painting filled with huge, colorful circles. For Pollack, throw down some newspaper, put a canvas on top and let them explore using paint by dripping or splashing or even flinging paint onto the paper. As Pollack said, "the modern artist is working with space and time, and expressing his feelings rather than illustrating." So children can see that art doesn't have to illustrate, but can just be expressive.
Pop Art is yet another fun medium to explore, and the artists of this style are inspired by all of the products and topics that are current and modern. For Andy Warhol, this meant painting a can of soup. For David Hockney it means painting something realistic but making it look slightly skewed. For Roy Lichtenstein, inspiration came from the pages of comic books. Any of these artists can serve as the basis for a project. Children can create their own comic strip or paint a picture featuring their favorite food product, such as a box of cereal. For a Hockney-esque work, consider tearing a picture out of a magazine, cutting it into strips or squares and then gluing the pieces back down onto paper. Have the pieces tilt slightly or overlap slightly to create an unusual image.
No matter what type of project you decide to do, the main goals are always to have fun and also to learn about many types of art. By exposing your children to many styles, they see that the only limit to art is the limit of their imagination.
About the Author:
Kate Halfey likes blogging about art projects for kids. For further info about different styles of arts like Joan Miro for kids art projects or to find Kandinsky circle painting projects, please go to the ArtProjectsForKids.org site now.
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