This week's Mini-Masterpiece Project focuses on Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers.
Fast Facts About Van Gogh:
Born: 1853 in The Netherlands
Famous works: Sunflowers, The Starry Night
Style/Period: Impressionist
Van Gogh was 27 years old when he became a painter. He was self-taught.
Although his paintings are now worth millions, Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime & considered himself a failure.
Van Gogh was a troubled man who spent time in & out of hospitals & asylums.
After arguing with another painter, Van Gogh famously cut off his own left ear lobe.
Van Gogh created more than 900 paintings before he died at the age of 37.
Projects for little hands—Cupcake Liner Sunflowers:
Materials:
Yellow, orange, green & white felt
Brown & green pipe cleaners
Blue construction paper or tag board
Glue
Scissors
> Using the red & orange felt, cut out circles & ovals in both big & small sizes. (Remember: Van Gogh was an Impressionist painter, the cuts don't have to be perfect.)
> Next, cut the leaves out of green felt, & cut the vase out of white.
> Children should glue the green pipe cleaner stems onto their paper first & then glue the white vase on top.
> Have a picture of Van Gogh's sunflowers nearby for children to look at as they glue on the circles & ovals to make their sunflowers. Finish by having kids roll the pipe cleaners into centers for the flowers & glue those on as well.
Let dry & hang to display your gorgeous garden of color!
> To supplement your study of Van Gogh, use this Sunflowers coloring sheet from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Find more on their website.
For older children—Oil Pastels:
Materials:
Oil pastels
Dark blue card stock
White colored pencils
Paper towels
Sunflowers & vase
> Van Gogh's Sunflowers study is a great opportunity to explore still lifes. Oil pastels bring a vibrancy & boldness to the sunflower reproductions, & allow for more control than a paintbrush. Give children time to practice drawing with the pastels & blending colors. Remind them to keep the pastels clean from other colors by wiping them with paper towels.
> Set the vase & sunflowers in an area of the room where all children have a clear view of the subject. (You may need more than one vase of flowers for larger art classes.)
> Have children use the white colored pencil to lightly outline their drawings on the blue card stock. Students should use the pastels to fill in bigger blocks of color first, then add details later.
