Arts Around the World: French Pointillist Paintings Inspired by Seurat

The third country on our Arts Around the World journey this year is France. We began by learning about France and French artist, Claude Monet. Monet began the Impressionist art movement and we made paintings inspired by his many paintings of a bridge over a pond of waterlilies in his garden in Giverny.

Georges Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884-86)

For our next project based on a French artist, we looked at the work of Georges Seurat. We looked at Seurat's painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, and noticed that many people were out in a park, sitting and standing on the grass and boating in the water. We also noticed that it was hard to see details on the people's faces and when you look closely at the trees and water, especially, they look very soft and seem to be made up of smaller dots or brushstrokes.

A detail from Seurat's Circus Sideshow (1887-88)

Georges Seurat was born in Paris in 1859 and studied to be an artist. Seurat and painter friend, Paul Signac, developed a technique of painting called Pointillism. Pointillism uses small, distinct dots of color to form an image. The eye and mind of the viewer have to blend the dots to form new colors and see the image all together. This is actually similar to the way computer screens work today -- the pixels in the computer screen are like the dots in a Pointillist painting. Pointillism took longer than the quick brushstrokes that we learned about with Impressionism, since it involves making so many dots. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte took Seurat two years! 

Georges Seurat, La Seine à la Grande-Jatte (1888)

We looked at several examples of Seurat and Signac's Pointillist paintings and noticed that they liked to paint landscapes, especially with water. We drew our own landscapes, inspired by the paintings we saw. Two of the second grade classes looked at the painting above by Seurat, La Seine à la Grande-Jatte, which features the Seine River that runs through Paris. We noticed that the landscape featured a river, grass, trees and sky, so we included those elements in our own landscapes. Some students added buildings, clouds or a boat, as optional details. 

Paul Signac, The Port, Red Sunset (1906)

The other two second grade classes looked at the painting above by Paul Signac, The Port, Red Sunset, and drew a sunset scene with water and sky and a setting sun. We felt it was rather simple to draw, but knew that it would be important to mix different color dots together to give the impression of a sunset and that would take more time.

The following class, students began painting their Pointillist landscapes using cotton swabs to create the dots! We dipped the end of the cotton swab into paint and pressed it onto the paper to create the dots, repeating this motion several times until we filled up an area. We tried to use different colors in the same area, the way Seurat and Signac did. 

While we were creating the dots we listened to Claude Debussy's Clair De Lune and a few more of his compositions since we have been learning about him in music. One student noticed that he shares the same first name as Claude Monet! 

Although the painting part took much longer than when we made our Impressionist inspired artwork, many students enjoyed the repetitive nature of dotting with the cotton swabs! Students who finished their Pointillist landscape paintings early were able to make their own Pointillist paintings with subjects and designs of their choice. Also, during spring break, one of our 2nd grade artists found an example of Pointillism at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston:

Below are examples of our Pointillist landscape paintings:

Anthony, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Ava W., 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Brook, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Hannah, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Lucas, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Mary Kate, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Norah, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Willow, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Ava A., 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Dahlia, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Emma, 2nd Grade (Stone)

Maria A., 2nd Grade (Stone)

Maria O., 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Mary, 2nd Grade (Stone)

Megan, 2nd Grade (Stone)

Noah, 2nd Grade (Stone)

Arts Around the World: French Impressionist Paintings Inspired by Monet

The third country on our Arts Around the World journey this year is France. We began by learning a few facts about the country, like the capital city of Paris, and we also learned about the French artist, Claude Monet. Claude Monet was born in 1840 in Paris. Monet began the Impressionist art movement. 

Impressionism is a style of painting that began in France in the early 1860s when artists started painting pictures outside instead of in their studios. This was called 'en plein air' (which is French for open air). Impressionist artists, like Monet, wanted to capture a moment in time and the light and color of the moment, more than the details of objects. 

Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise (1872)

Monet enjoyed painting the same places over and over, to capture differences in light and color. Because the light conditions kept changing, he had to work very quickly, using quick, gestural brushstrokes of paint.

Claude Monet, Bridge Over a Pond of Waterlilies (1899)

We looked at some examples of Monet's paintings and discussed the differences between a few versions of his garden bridge and waterlilies paintings. We then drew our own version of a bridge, using oil pastels, and waterlilies underneath it. 

We just used oil pastel, instead of starting with pencil, to keep things loose and students thought about creating the impression of waterlilies and floating lily pads, rather than drawing each petal in detail. 

The following class we added watercolor paint to our oil pastel drawings. The oil pastel bridge and water lilies could still be seen through the watercolor paint which demonstrates resist, an effect students have learned previously. Students also learned about a watercolor technique called wet-on-wet, which involves painting the paper with water first and then dropping or painting with watercolor on top. The watercolor blooms or spreads because the paper is already wet which creates a blurry effect. Students enjoyed experimenting with this technique, and many found its effect "magical"! 

Students also experimented with another watercolor technique: using salt sprinkled on top of the wet paint. The salt absorbs the color from the paint, creating a white spot underneath as it dries and making a interesting texture. Students enjoyed combining some of the watercolor techniques they learned about during this project. After our artwork dried, the salt was brushed off and students were excited to see the effects of the salt, as well as the wet-on-wet. 

We shared our finished work with each other through a gallery walk, noticing everyone's use of the watercolor techniques and how the paint had dried. We also read a fun book about Monet, by Mike Venezia, which is part of his Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series. Below are examples of our Monet inspired garden bridge and waterlilies artworks:

Gianna, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Joshua, 2nd Grade (Pearse)

Logan, 2nd Grade (Stone)

Mason, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Naomi, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Ruken, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Sean, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Tia, 2nd Grade (Hinds)

Tyler, 2nd Grade (O'Connor)

Arts Around the World

This year, 2nd grade artists will be traveling around the world in their art and music classes! Ms. Patashnick and I are collaborating on an integrated curriculum focusing on art and music from Mexico, South Africa, France, South Korea and New Zealand. In art class, we will be learning about the culture, art forms, techniques and artists from those countries. In music class, students will be learning songs, culture, musical traditions and about musicians from those same countries, as well. 

To start off the year, students previewed artwork from each country. Each group of students received images of artwork from a different country. They began by sharing what they noticed about the artwork with each other, and made predictions about what materials were used and why the artists might have made these artworks. Students also considered whether the artwork had a function of some kind and shared information they already knew about that country. For example, some students at the New Zealand table noticed that the designs reminded them of the movie, Moana.

We are starting with Mexico this month, so check back to find out what we are learning about! In May, students will demonstrate what they have learned and created throughout the year at a culminating art and music showcase for their families and members of the Hosmer community. Feel free to ask your students about their artistic and musical travels throughout the year!

Traveling Around the World

This year, 2nd grade artists will be traveling around the world in their art and music classes! This summer I met up with our fantastic music teacher, Ms. Patashnick, to plan ideas and work on curricula together. We designed an 'Around the World' theme for 2nd grade this year, complete with passports!

In art class, we will be learning about the culture, art forms, techniques and artists from a variety of different countries, including Australia, Brazil, France, Ghana, India, Japan and Morocco. In music class, students will be learning songs, culture, musical traditions and about musicians from those same countries, as well.

During our first week of art and music, students filled out their passports and got their photos taken so that we are ready for travel this year! We talked about what passports are for and students are excited to have them stamped after each 'trip'! In addition to identification, our passports will help us keep track of our journey and our learning. Students began by writing down what they like about art and music, their favorite musical instruments and art materials, and the country they are most interested in 'visiting' and learning about.

Our first stop is India, so stay tuned. Feel free to ask your students about their artistic and musical travels throughout the year!