It is often difficult for many children to come up with ideas for art projects. While there is certainly no wrong style of art, we often see children, when left to their own devices, creating drawings of images with which they are quite familiar, such as a local park, a favorite pet or a family portrait. To further enhance your child's creativity, show them the works of famous artists and a range of styles that will inspire them to think outside the box.
For most children, realism is what they produce. These are pictures in which the art resembles an object or scene much as it does in real life. To move beyond realism, it is fun to step slightly out of these bounds into the works of impressionists and post-impressionists, such as Van Gogh and Seurat. For instance, you can download and print a PDF mural from a site such as ArtProjectsForKids.org and have your children create their own unique copy of a work such as Starry Night or Sunday in the Park. In this way, children learn about a famous artist as well as a new style of art, which showcases the idea that a specific scene doesn't have to look completely realistic in order to be a wonderful work of art.
Surrealism is another painting style that can provide a great deal of inspiration to children. For example, you can easily center an art project around the works of Joan Miro or Salvador Dali. Share with children that this style of art is very much like a dream, and the artists of this style hope to alter the way people look at things. One fun project would include looking at the works of Rene Magritte, who is famous for his paintings of business men with an apple instead of a face. Have children draw a body and then instead of a face, they can add an apple or any type of fruit or food. For Joan Miro, consider having children draw a picture of a person or animal using only circles, straight lines and stars, and then filling in the shapes and sections in vivid colors.
Abstract art projects can be a lot of fun and offer children a way to really express their emotions. Artists such as Delauney and Pollack fit into this category, and you can plan fun art projects around both of these painters. For Jackson Pollack, lay down a tarp outside, place a canvas or large paper down on the tarp and let children experiment with splashing, dripping and flinging paint onto the blank paper. This can be done on white paper or consider using very vivid colors on black or gray paper. They can also splatter and use their fingers to create squiggly lines or even place the paper in a box, dip marbles into paint and roll them around. For a project featuring Sonia Delauney, show children a few of her works and then let them experiment with painting different circles in multiple colors.
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.
In the end, the most important thing your children will learn is that art truly has no limit. Whatever a child thinks is beautiful, striking or captivating in some way can be the basis for an amazing art project.
For most children, realism is what they produce. These are pictures in which the art resembles an object or scene much as it does in real life. To move beyond realism, it is fun to step slightly out of these bounds into the works of impressionists and post-impressionists, such as Van Gogh and Seurat. For instance, you can download and print a PDF mural from a site such as ArtProjectsForKids.org and have your children create their own unique copy of a work such as Starry Night or Sunday in the Park. In this way, children learn about a famous artist as well as a new style of art, which showcases the idea that a specific scene doesn't have to look completely realistic in order to be a wonderful work of art.
Surrealism is another painting style that can provide a great deal of inspiration to children. For example, you can easily center an art project around the works of Joan Miro or Salvador Dali. Share with children that this style of art is very much like a dream, and the artists of this style hope to alter the way people look at things. One fun project would include looking at the works of Rene Magritte, who is famous for his paintings of business men with an apple instead of a face. Have children draw a body and then instead of a face, they can add an apple or any type of fruit or food. For Joan Miro, consider having children draw a picture of a person or animal using only circles, straight lines and stars, and then filling in the shapes and sections in vivid colors.
Abstract art projects can be a lot of fun and offer children a way to really express their emotions. Artists such as Delauney and Pollack fit into this category, and you can plan fun art projects around both of these painters. For Jackson Pollack, lay down a tarp outside, place a canvas or large paper down on the tarp and let children experiment with splashing, dripping and flinging paint onto the blank paper. This can be done on white paper or consider using very vivid colors on black or gray paper. They can also splatter and use their fingers to create squiggly lines or even place the paper in a box, dip marbles into paint and roll them around. For a project featuring Sonia Delauney, show children a few of her works and then let them experiment with painting different circles in multiple colors.
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.
In the end, the most important thing your children will learn is that art truly has no limit. Whatever a child thinks is beautiful, striking or captivating in some way can be the basis for an amazing art project.
About the Author:
Kate Halfey loves blogging about art projects for kids. For further information about different styles of arts such as Joan Miro for kids art projects or to find Kandinsky circle painting projects, please check out the ArtProjectsForKids.org site today.
No comments:
Post a Comment