Trends Modern Art

Today is Vincent van Gogh's birthday. He was born way back in 1853. We love Vincent van Gogh around these parts. I don't know what it is that draws me to certain artists more than others but van Gogh was the business.

So, my son and fellow art-lover Cyan thought it would be fun to recreate one of van Gogh's  notorious ear-bandage self portraits. Apparently, van Gogh snipped off a piece of his ear in a fit of rage.

Ouch.

Pulling a few random elements we had laying around the house, this is what we came up with.




All three images were taken using the Retro Camera app.

What is your favorite Vincent van Gogh painting? Mine is most definitely A Starry Night, as cliche as that might sound. That painting is absolutely amazing.

The artist Vincent Van Gogh has provided us art teachers with a wealth of styles and techniques. I had many great aspirations to have the students create sunflowers with actual seeds, black beans, etc. But when I thought about it, I decided to work with oil pastels because the rich color and texture would mesh well with Van Gogh's Impressionist style. I went out and bought a big, beautiful sunflower so we would have an actual still-life to work with. And of course, what is a Van Gogh lesson without the students asking if he really cut off his ear..and was he really crazy?

So I always tell them...he only cut off the lobe...and yes, he was really crazy. How else would be have created such works of art? Surely a sane mind couldn't produce quite the same caliber of work.

We artists, we're crazy! Teehee

• This is a lesson that takes almost zero preparation, but yields a great result.
• As always, show students examples of the artists' body of work, so they have a grasp of what the artist is about. I have several large Van Gogh books that were passed down to me by my uncle, who was a modern art lover as well.
• I set up a still life with the giant sunflower in a humble little vase and handed out a 9 X12 piece of drawing paper or Bristol board.
• Instruct the students to lightly pencil sketch the still life.
• When they are ready to start coloring, encourage them to use a little bit of pressure, to release the oil pastel's rich color.
• I gave students the liberty to be creative with their vases, so they didn't come out the same.
• As a final touch, I had each student sign their vase, just like Van Gogh did.
• As always, I was impressed with each students take on the sunflower.

The artwork above was created by a third grader.

Van Gogh created so many wonderful paintings. Sadly, he never achieved any success during his lifetime. He was blessed to have a brother named Theo who took care of him and supported him in his art. The students always enjoy talking about how he "cut his ear off" but I usually explain that he didn't cut the entire thing off, just a piece of his ear lobe. Unfortunately, Van Gogh had severe mental issues and one of the few refuges from that was his art. Starry Night was a piece he considered "a nothing". He hated it! Little did he know how well-known this work of art would become, how it is synonymous with Van Gogh and Impressionism.

• Give each student a piece of 9 X 12 Bristol board, watercolor paper, or poster board.

• Hand out oil pastels, preferably a range of blues, greens and yellows. Encourage the students to be loose with their strokes and they make shapes and colors on the top half of their paper. They can create swirls and circles just like Van Gogh.
• Next step is to paint the background in a wash of blue watercolor. We chose cerulean blue for this project. Instruct students to paint a blue wash over the swirls and designs they just created with the oil pastels.
  
• While the watercolor wash is drying, hand out scissors, black construction paper and white oil pastels. Encourage students to create their own city scape, varying the heights of the buildings and windows. Cut it out.
• When the watercolor wash is completely dry, have students glue their cityscapes on the bottom half of that paper. Glue stick is best.
  
• Sit back and enjoy your own Starry City Night.
  

The artwork above was created by a 2nd grader. I also had my daughter who is pre-K do this project and she did a great job, just needing some help with with the designing and cutting of her cityscape.