Salt Dough Part 1

With the cold weather , I thought it would be a good idea to make some crafts with salt dough . I will divide this tutorial in 3 parts :

                                 (1) Salt dough recipe

                                 (2) How to make a plaque and magnets

                                 (3) Painting and varnishing your items .

Part 1 : Salt Dough Recipe 

I did this project with second graders . But once again , it can be adapted for any grade .

My mom knows how much I love to create things , so a few years back she sent me a book on how to make salted dough projects . The book was a French translation of "Salt Dough" written by Cheryl Owen . The book contains a lot of amazing creations and is very inspiring . I love her salt dough recipe and that is the recipe I use whenever I want to create something out of salt dough .

Here is the recipe :

                               2 cups of flour

                               1 cup of salt 

                               1 cup of water 

You need to mix the flour and salt in a big mixing bowl . Then you add the water , little by little until your dough becomes smooth and firm . 

Be careful , if you add too much water , your dough will be extremely sticky and it will be hard to do anything with it . If you add too much flour , some cracks will then appear in your creations after you baked them .

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it for at least ten minutes . By doing so you will eliminate the air bubbles . You may used the dough immediately , but it is better to let it rest about 30 minutes in a closed container in your refrigerator . 

And it is done . As a teacher or an art docent , you may choose to make the dough yourself , in advance . If you are a mom and doing this with your kids at home , you may want to have them  help  you out .

Georgia O'Keeffe's Flowers

Grade Level : 3rd graders .


Objectives : The children will look at the paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe and attempt drawing a close-up of a flower themselves .


Material :  *real flowers for students to look at
                  * Color construction paper 12' X 12'
                  * white and color chalks


Biography : Georgia O'Keeffe was born on November 15, 1887 . She was the second of seven children and the oldest of five girls . Her mother made sure that her children had the best education possible . She especially wanted her five daughters to have the chance to learn a profession since it was becoming more acceptable for women to go to college and work . 
The O'Keeffe lived in a farm in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin .
From age 5 , she attended Town Hall School ( a nearby schoolhouse ). When she was 11 (along with her two younger sisters) , she took weekly private drawing and painting lessons . Georgia loved these lessons and she progressed very quickly .From then on , her artistic talents were recognized by her teachers and by her parents who encouraged her to go to art college after graduating from high school . 
In 1905 , she studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and learned traditional art . In 1907 she enrolled at the Students Art League in New York. 
Georgia liked New York City . It was busier and more exciting than the peaceful farm where she had grown up . Whenever she was in New York City , she often visited a small gallery that showed the work of new artists . It was owned by a well-known photographer named Alfred Stieglitz .
After finishing school , she traveled to Texas , where she decided to teach art . She found it an exciting place to be and very inspiring . At this time , she would teach art during the school year and take classes in New York during the summer .
Alfred Stieglitz became very interested in her artwork and asked her to come back to New York , where she could paint and he would promote her paintings in his gallery . The two will eventually get married . Georgia moved to New Mexico after her husband death . She died in 1986 (at the age of 96 ) in Santa Fe , New Mexico .
Georgia O'Keeffe is the only woman in the United States to have a museum dedicated solely to her works . This museum is the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and it is located in Santa Fe  , New Mexico .


Resources : You will show the students several paintings of flowers made by Georgia O'Keeffe . Here are some examples of what you could look at :
(1) "White trumpet flower"
(2) "White flower on Red Earth "
(3) "Blue flower"
(4) "Poppy"
(5) "purple petunia"
and so on . Notice how she doesn't draw the entire flower , but how she draw a part of the flower , a little bit like if she would zoom in on the flower with a camera , showing us a "close-up shot" ? The way she paints those flowers is just amazing as well . They look so soft , so real , so colorful .


Activity : (1) Students will observe the flower they want to draw .
                (2) Using both hands , they should form a "rectangle" and use this "rectangle" to look at the flower , as if it were a camera . It will help them to draw a close-up of the flower .
                (3) Using a white chalk , they will draw the outline of their flower .
                (4) Once they like what they see , they will add color to their flowers and their background , using the color chalks . The flower should fill out most of the paper .


Examples:

                  

Cat in papier mache , part 1

Part 1 :

How to make papier mâché paste .

This lesson will have to be separated in 3 parts :

Part1 : How to make the papier mâché paste . (Only for teachers , art docents or parents)
Part 2 : How to make the cat itself .
Part 3 : Painting and finishing touches .

Grade level : I made this lesson with 5th graders . I know some teachers (or even some parents ) do not like projects that involves messes ....but they are ALWAYS the ones the children have the most fun with ! However you should remember that when the kids want to do something fun , they will be willing to compromise . They will behave themselves during the lesson and they will help clean up the mess at the end ! So relax and have fun with this project =0)

Art concept and skills : This project give the children the possibility to experiment with 3D . I find that students are always very enthusiastic with 3D lessons . They are able to focus much more on their work , maybe because they are so amazed of what they can accomplish .

If you are a teacher I will recommend that you start asking your students to bring old newspapers at school about one month before the lesson . They will be very generous ! Try not to reveal what the plan is ...they will be very curious and excited about it ! You may also ask that every child brings an empty clean SMALL plastic bottle (bottles of Gatorade or juice are excellent choices . (The newspaper and the plastic bottle will be needed for the 2nd part of this lesson , not this one .)

Materials needed : For making the paste you may need different items depending of the "recipe" you choose . (Some people follow a formula using glue , other use wallpaper paste .) Here I am listing the ingredients needed for the "recipe" I use . You will need :
(1) a medium pan
(2) a whisk
(3) measuring cups
(4) 1 cup of flour
(5) 5 cups of water
(6) 2 tablespoon of salt ( to prevent the papier mâché to mold .)
(7) a plastic container to store the final product .



"Recipe" : Mix flour , water and salt in the pan . Boil for about 3 minutes (whisking from time to time and making sure it does not stick to the bottom of your pan ). It will become a little bit like pudding . Let it cool . Store it in a plastic container and put in the refrigerator .



This is the cheapest method and it is nice and smooth .

Resources : As I said before there are plenty of papier mâché paste recipes . I found the one I use on a website called DLTK's Crafts for Kids . You can find more papier mache recipes (with flour , wallpaper paste and glue) on PlanetPals.com .

Another good website is called The Papier Mache Resource . Besides recipes it also contains some tutorials . Please RESPECT those fabulous artists work ! It is meant to inspire not to copy their work !

The second part of the lesson will be much more exciting and fun. I will try to have it ready as soon as possible .

Animal collage à la Eric Carle

Grade Level : this lesson was made with 1st graders . But as always it can be adapted with any grade .

Motivation : This lesson was inspired by one of my favorite children book illustrator and author :Eric Carle . You can read one of his books prior to the art lesson .

Materials : * White tissue paper

*Food coloring

* Water

* Some spray bottles

* Construction paper (to draw the outline of your animal )

* White Paper

* Black Paper

* Scissors

* Glue

* Pencil

* Crayons

Vocabulary : Collage : an artistic composition made of various materials (as paper , cloth , wood ,etc ,) glue on a surface .

Outline : drawing of the outer edge of something .

Sketch : rough drawing .

Resources : I found a lot of information about Eric Carle or about lesson ideas on the internet . The most important site would be the Eric Carle Official Webiste . It is a gold mine of information about Eric Carle !
Other websites that have lessons inspired by Eric Carle are the followings :
* Pre-kindergarten lesson
*Another Eric Carle Collage
And I am sure there plenty more out there !There is also a very good DVD about him and his work : Eric Carle:Picture Writer .You can show that to your students .
And of course many of his books are a great source of inspiration for the project !

Eric Carle's Biography: Eric Carle was born in Syracuse , New York , in 1929 , from German parents. He moved back with his parents to Germany when he was 6 years old (His mom was homesick and missed Germany) . He went to school there and graduated from a prestigious art school ( the Academie der bildenden Künste ) Eric Carle missed America and so in 1952 he came back to New York with only 40 dollars in his pocket . He worked as a graphic designer in the promotion department of the New York Times . He also worked for many years as an art director of an advertising agency . After creating an advertisement with a red lobster , the author Bill Martin , noticed him and asked him to illustrate his story Brown Bear , Brown Bear , What do you see ? That's when his career as a book illustrator started . He , then , decided to write and to illustrate his own stories for children , including his famous story : The Very Hungry Caterpillar . This story was translated in 45 languages and was sold all over the world !
Eric Carle's art is created in collage technique . He uses hand-painted papers , which he cuts to create his wonderful and delightful illustrations .
For more information on Eric Carle visit his official website .

Activity : This lesson may be made over 2 days . The first day the children will work on making their own tissue paper using spray bottles and food coloring . The second day they will create their animal .
Day 1 : (1) You will mix some food coloring with water in a spray bottle (you may want to have one or two of each color ).
(2) Every student will have three or four pieces of white tissue paper . They will make their own COLORFUL tissue paper by spraying some food coloring (mixed with water in those spray bottles) on the white tissue paper . (They should not spray too much at a time so their tissue paper will not stick to the table !) They can apply one color to start with , and then add a second or even a little bit of a third color to make their tissue paper .
(3) Let it dry !
Day 2 : (1) Each student should decide what animal they would like to create . It can be an elephant , a turtle , a dog , a cat ,a butterfly , etc.
(2) On a piece of construction paper they should make a sketch of this animal .
(3) They should cut the outline of their animal .
(4) The students should now trace the outline of their animal on their colorful tissue paper .
(5) Step five will be to cut the colorful tissue paper and put it on the white paper . Once they like the way it look they should glue the tissue paper on the white paper .
(6) The students can now add details to their animal with crayons or with a black felt pen .
(7) The final and last step will be to glue the white paper onto a black paper .

Examples : Examples of tissue paper and tissue paper set .....

And her are some examples of animal collages . Enjoy !

Artists paint food .

Grade level : 3rd grade ...but as most art lessons in this blog , this project can be easily be adapted for any grade level .

Motivation : Did you notice the different fruits and vegetables at the supermarket ? Did you notice the different shape and texture they have ? Carrots are long triangles . Potatoes are lumpy ovals . Green beans are long and thin . Tomatoes are circular . What shape are pineapples ? Artichokes ? Radishes ? Pears ? Strawberries ?

Materials : * colored paper
* a variety of colored tissue paper
* white glue (or paste mixed with liquid cornstarch if dealing with small kids )
* brush for applying glue mixture (if dealing with small children )
* white manila paper
* scissors
* black felt pens
*crayons

Vocabulary :

Collage : a picture made by fixing different thing onto a surface , such as a piece of cloth onto paper .

Multiple : more than one .

Arrangement : the way you place things so they look attractive , as in a flower arrangement .

Resources : this project was inspired by a lesson plan of my son's school art docent program . However I applied a few modifications .

You may want to have pictures of fruits and vegetables available (or waxed or real things .)

Here are the artists and the paintings that we are going to look at today :

(1) Walter Williams : (1920- ) He is a painter , print-maker and sculptor . He was born in Brooklyn in 1920 . Maybe he wanted to show us a place where his mom shopped when he was a little boy .
Poultry Market : This painting shows us a portion of a market . Supermarkets have now replaced a number of small stores that specialize in meat and poultry . (Poultry = chickens and turkeys .) It's a bright colorful picture . We see two figures on the right (one of them with the hair repeating the pattern of the rooster's tail .) We also see eggs for sale . The rooster is brightly colored . Can you see the scale ? Can you see several chickens hanging up ready to be sold ?

(2) George Braque : (1882-1963) He was a French artist . His father gave him his first art lesson . With Picasso he founded cubism .
Still Life With Purple Plums : Here we have to look harder to find the food because it is painted in a style called "Cubism" . It is very different from Cezanne's painting "the kitchen table" (see # 4) . It appear to have flatness . It could almost be made of pieces of paper cut and pasted down . The different pieces interlocked each other like a jigsaw puzzle . The top of the table is seen and it almost look like an object could slide off . What shapes are repeated to make a pattern ? Do you see any outlines ? What do you see in the background ?

(3) Romare Bearden : (1914 - ) He was born in North Carolina . He served in the army in WWI and began to paint very flatly . He is an African-American artist .
Summertime : The artist created this composition combining paper and fabric with painted areas to create the mood of summer in a crowded city . Does it remind you of Braque cubism style ? The figure eating ice cream is centered to attract attention . The overall arrangement is in rectangular shapes and strong vertical forms .

(4) Paul Cezanne : (1839 - 1906) he was a French artist . Cezanne was a great artist and was called the "father of modern art" because he changed the direction the painters were going . He was interested in the basic form and structure of things ...
Kitchen Table : Cezanne loved to paint food . In fact , when he did paint people he told them to "sit like an apple" . (He didn't want them to move !) He took a long time to paint his pictures . Sometimes the food would get spoiled before he was finished , so he started using waxed fruits . Here we see fruits , a sugar bowl , and a teapot , in the foreground , and a basket filled with fruits in the middle ground . The table is crooked and the teapot stand at an angle . He distorted (changed) things in order to increase the decorative aspect of his work . The colors are warm , homier , of beauty in everybody's life .

(5) Nicholas Maes : (1632 - 1693) He was a Dutch artist . He was born in the 17th century . He was the son of a well-to-do soap manufacturer . He studied Rembrandt in Amsterdam when he was 16 .
An Old Woman Praying : This old woman is seen praying before she eats the food on the table . The light strikes the head and hands of the old woman who is so absorbed in her prayer that she is unaware of something happening . What is it ? (The kitten is pulling the tablecloth trying to reach the fish on the table .

(6) Johannes Vermeer : (1632 - 1675 ) Vermeer was a Dutch artist . He was born in Delft in 1632 .
The Milkmaid : This milkmaid is seen pouring milk . Other things that you can see are the bread , the jugs , the baskets , the brass pots . The warm yellow along with the warm of the red of her dress is balanced by the cool blues and greens . The repetition of colors helps to tie a painting together .

(7) Harold R. Stevenson : (1929 )
After School : Here we see a little girl having a snack after school . She is dressed in a blue dress with a white apron . We see her in profile . The artist painted many clear and realistic details to tell us about the room . (We see the wooden floor , rug , high-backed chair , flowers in the window , etc .) He even tells us what time it is .

(8) Pieter Brueghel the younger : ( 1564 - 1637 ) He was born in Brussels , Belgium . He liked to paint pictures with pheasants in their daily lives . His dad and his brother were also artists .
Harvest Meal : This pleasant landscape is filled with figures , some eating and some harvesting grain (which will be used to grind and make bread . Noontime . They hurry for more work to be done (no machine yet !)

Activity : 1. Select a piece of paper : white manila paper for the background .
2. Decide which fruits and/or vegetables you'll display in your collage market .Using the colored tissue paper , make multiple cuts , so that you can make a large number of tomatoes , bananas and apples , ... To do this fold the paper several times and cut through several thickness at once .
3. Use glue (or starch mixture ) to adhere neatly each pieces of tissue paper to the white paper . You'll need to plan your arrangement to include bins , racks , trays of vegetables , or baskets . You may even wish to include the grocer , the scale for weighing the fruits or vegetables and the shoppers and shopping carts . What else ?
4. Try to fill the entire space of your paper with cut pieces of paper . You can use colored paper for the bins , etc . You can also use the felt pen and the crayons to add other minor details .

Examples :
© 2010 © 2010

Birds Mosaics

Grade level: 2nd grade , but as all my projects , it can be adapted for any grade level.

Art Concept and Skills : Artists have painted pictures of various kind of birds , both realistic and imaginary . They used oil . watercolor , prints to tell us how they feel about birds .

Color tissue paper can be adhered with starch to white paper to make a collage , showing the feather patterns of birds' wings and tails .

Material : *white paper (9" x 11")
* tissue paper of many different colors
* Vano liquid starch and small containers
* brushes
* photos of all sorts of birds

Resources : the lesson plan idea was inspired by a lesson plan from my child school district.

There are many kind of birds in the world , and the way the artists paint them are just as varied . Some of the birds are easily recognized and others are products of the artists imagination . Birds have been painted by artists in every land in every age . Here are the paintings we are going to look at today :
(1) Feathers in Bloom by Marc Chagall (1887-1985) . This painting shows a pale blue and white hen with her head turned around looking at a blue horse . The horse is somewhat of a fairy tale figure because it has human feet . They are set off by the dark background of a sky at night . What is unusual about the moon ? (Seen low in the picture .) The most important element of this work is its dreamlike fantasy atmosphere . The animal seem to be floating through the sky and talking to each other .
Marc Chagall was born in Russia . He studied art in St-Petersburg , then went to Paris where he was influenced by the cubist style .

(2) Happy Family by Nathaniel Currier and James Ives (1875-1907) . Nathaniel Currier and James Ives were partners in printing business since 1857 . They produced not only news items scenes but also pictures of everyday life . This lithograph was made by Currier and Ives from a drawing by F.F. Palmer . It shows a family of turkey in the woods. The father is spreading his wings while the mother watches her chicks eating . They are protected by the forest and surrounded by a strawberry patch . The birds are drawn accurately with every feathers shown realistically . The warm browns and greens and the attention to the details show the artist's love for the woods . The bird family seems protected and safe and happy in their natural setting .
(3) Flying Geese by Max Ernst (1891-1976) . Flying Geese shows geese flying over the desert and Grand Canyon of Arizona . A cactus bush is also seen in the middle of the painting superimposed on the Grand Canyon walls . Can you see it ? What give the mountains their texture ? Ernst placed his paper over a piece of wood so that the wood's grain would show in the design . The gold tones , the gray , whites and dark areas along with the wood's grain truly suggest the Arizona desert landscape . What color is the sky ? Does it make you think of the hot desert and colorful sunset ?
Max Ernst was a German surrealist painter and sculptor . He had no formal art education . He was influenced by Picasso and the art of insane people .

(4) Child with Dove by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) . This painting shows a child with red hair in a bluish-white dress holding a white dove . The background seems to be the walls and floor of a room in red , yellow , and blue . These colors are repeated in the ball on the floor . Can you see the clean large masses of colors ? The paint was put on with heavy strong brushstrokes . The child is tenderly holding the dove . Do you think it could be her pet ?
Pablo Picasso was a Spanish artists . He is considered as the most prolific painter ever , producing paintings , prints , engravings , book illustrations and sculptures . He was known to push the envelope .
Motivation : Birds have different body shapes . Some have crests , some have long tails . They may have different colors . Feathers overlap and create beautiful pattern .
Vocabulary :
Imaginary : existing in the imagination and not in the real world .

Foliage : leaves .

Crest : a comb or tuft of feathers on a bird's head .

Claws : a hard , curved nail on the foot of a animal or bird .

Collage : a picture made by fixing different things on a surface , such as pieces of cloth onto paper .

Overlap : to cover part of something .
Mosaic : a pattern of picture made up of small pieces of colored stone , tile or glass . ( In this case of colored tissue paper .)

Pattern : a repeating arrangement of colors , shapes , and figures .

Crumple : if you crumple a piece of paper , you crush it into wrinkles and folds .

Fantasy : something you imagine happening that is not likely to happen in real life .
Texture : the look and feel of something , especially its roughness or smoothness .
Wood's grain : small particules of the wood .

Activity :
(1) Think about the real or imaginary birds you want to make . Close your eyes and imagine your picture large on your paper .

(2) Choose several colors of tissue paper . Place tissue paper and cut or tear pieces for each part of the birds' body . Make multiple cuts to make a lot of feathers at one time . To do this , cut several thickness of paper at once .

(3) Brush starch on white paper . Place tissue paper onto starch area and brush on a little more starch , to hold it flat . Too much brushing will cause some colors to "bleed".

(4) Add more pieces of tissue overlapping the shapes .The overlapped areas make different darken colors .

(5) For a variety of texture try crumpling some of the paper before adhering it .
(6) Exaggerate the tail feathers . Think about the bird gesture or movement .
(7) Fill in the background with small pieces of tissue paper in a mosaic-like fashion .

(8) Let dry .

Examples :

Artists paint horses .

This is an art lesson from the La Mesa-Spring Valley art docent program .

grade level : 3rd graders

Material : * 9" x 11" white paper

* color pencils or crayons

* horses templates (from coloring books , etc.)


Introduction : Through history the horse has been a subject which has attracted the artist . Early men depicted the horse on the wall of their caves some 20,000 years ago . The Egyptians , Greeks and Romans all made sculptures of horses . The horse has been painted , sculpted and drawn - either alone , in groups or in activities related to human beings .


Resources : Here are some paintings from different historical periods in which the artist has represented one or more horses .

(1) " Before the Start " by Charles Lapique (1898 - 1988 ) . The French artist Charles Lapique was a soldier and received The Croix de Guerre . He became interested in horses while he was in the army . Later he studied engineering , but then gave it up to become a painter . The French government hired him as a camouflage expert because he has made scientific studies of the harmonies and dynamics of colors .

Charles Lapique used brilliant and intense colors to paint these horses ! What clues tell us what kind of horses they are and where the scene is ? (#1 on the side of the horse , jockey caps , spectators , all tell us it is a race track .) We can feel the tense excitement as the horses get ready for the starting gun . Are the color realistic ? Do you get a feeling of movement ? Do some of the horses overlap others ? How many horses can you find ? Do horses and jockeys seem camouflaged ?

(2) "Prince Balthazar-Carlos on Pony "by Diego Velasquez (1599 - 1660) . Diego Velasquez was a Spanish painter . When he was 24 years old he was invited to Madrid by the Spanish King Philip IV . He has painted a portrait of the king and the king was so pleased that he appointed Velasquez a Court Painter , gave him a regular salary , a studio in the palace and even a private house in the city . He became close friend to the king . ( The king had a chair in Velasquez studio as he liked to watch him work .) Diego Velasquez died at 61 .

In this portrait , Velasquez introduces us to King Philip IV's first son who was said to be a fine rider . How old do you think the prince is in this portrait ? ( ~ 5 years old ) Notice how Velasquez draws our attention to the young prince's face . The bright pink sash catches our eye and draws it to his face ; the face is also framed by the black hat , and our eyes are drawn to this area of contrast (light face , dark hat) . Velasquez repeats many of the colors in both the horse and the prince . Is the color of the horse repeated anywhere else in the painting ? (Ground) . Repetition of colors help tie the painting together . Does the horse look real ? ( The belly appears bloated .) This painting was meant to hang high over a doorway . When the painting is seen from below as originally intended , the horse seems less distorted and unusual .

(3) "Frightened horse " by Eugene Delacroix ( 1798 - 1863 ). Eugene Delacroix was born near Paris (he was the son of a diplomat ). In his school , he showed talent on the violin and all through his life he was attracted by music , but he also loved to draw . His new style called Romantic , was full of very strong feelings . His pictures show acts of heroism and heat trending tragedies . His figure appear to burn with inner fire .

Because Delacroix loved the movements of animals , he spent a lot of time at the zoo and traveling sketching lions , tigers , horses and other animals . What is the focus of the painting ? (The horse .) Where is the horse standing ? (On the stretch of beach .) can you tell what is behind the horse ? ( The ocean .) What is happening in the sky ? ( A storm rages , lightning streaks in part of the sky .) The title of this painting is "Frightened horse" . Why is the horse frightened ? Do the action of the horse , in response to the storm seem real ? The white horse is contrasted with the dark stormy sky and sea . Such strong contrast of color (white against dark , deep blue , almost black ) adds to the drama of the event . It is a dramatic painting . (Main color is blue except for a little pink , white and light brown .)

(4) " The Race Track " by Raoul Dufy (1877 -1953 ). Raoul Dufy was born in Le Havre , France . at 15 years old he began to study art at night while working during the day . Beside being a painter , he also was an illustrator , a stage designer and a fabric designer .

One of Dufy's passion was fast motion and he was a frequent spectator at boating and horse races. The title of his painting is "Race Track" . What do you see in the foreground ? ( Horses and jockeys , elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen .) What makes up in the middle ground in this painting ? ( The race track. ) What is in the background ? ( A row of trees , a city on a hill .) what is the color Dufy used the most ? ( The green of the race track .) He uses his color freely like a wash and does not confine it within strict boundary lines . Look at the city , for example , the green of the hillside extended to the area of the sky . Red is the complimentary color of green . ( A complementary color is the opposite color on the color wheel .) an artist uses complementary colors for exciting effects . Where does the artist use the red color ?

(5) " Neigh of an Iron Horse " by A. Tapy (ca 1859) . Do you know what an iron horse is ? when train became popular as a mode of transportation during the 19th century instead of horses , people called them " iron horses " because they were made of iron and they were taking the place of horses . Here we see the dominant figure in a landscape - a large , very frightened horse - with his mane flying , fleeing from the sound of a train coming around abound and shrieking its way across the quiet countryside . A late autumn haze covers the scene . The sky and land seem to fuse or melt together at the horizon . The normal quiet has been harshly broken .
Do you know what a neigh is ? Perhaps the horse has never seen or heard a train before ! The color is mostly golden and green with few touches of white and pink in the flowers in the foreground . The horse is large and the train appears small . This picture was painted ~ 1859 and we don't have a lot of information about the artist . The artist had a fine sense of colors and a love and understanding of nature .

(6) "Central Park " by Maurice Prendergast ( 1859 - 1924 ) . Maurice Prendergast was born in Newfoundland , but his family moved to Massachusetts when he and his brother were still boys . His favorite medium was watercolor , but when he became too old to work outdoors , he turned to painting oils. He was not recognized by the public until he won a major award one year before his death .

This painting of Central Park was done in watercolor . Where is Central Park ? (New York.) what is going on in this painting ? (People seated on benches are watching the horse-drawn carriages pass by . Cars had not yet been invented .) There are horizontal elements . Find them . ( The benches , the narrow strip of ground at the bottom , the horses and the carriages.) Find the vertical elements . ( The trees , the individual figures , etc.)Find shapes . (Circles of the carriage wheels , small rectangles which form the benches , etc.) Maurice Prendergast has based his painting on repetition of similar elements . what has he repeated ? (People sitting , the horses and carriages , the trees .) this repetition creates a pattern . Has Maurice Prendergast used mainly warm (reds , yellows and oranges ) or cool (greens and blues ) colors in his painting ?

(7) " The Apache " by Frederic Remington ( 1861 -1909 ) . Frederic Remongton was an American painter , illustrator and sculptor . He was born in Canton , New York in 1861 , as the civil war was starting . As a boy he loved horses and outdoors . He studied art at Yale University and New York City . He died of appendicitis in 1909 .

"The Apache" shows an Indian hiding behind a rock waiting to shoot at a covered wagon . The subject is drawn with such realism that it is possible to tell which tribe he belongs to and what kind of plants to and what kind of plants grow in the area . Frederic Remington often painted scenes of danger . can you see the details Remington loved to paint ? Look at the Indian and the horse and see how accurately they are shown . Many of these paintings of the plains show the history of the Indians once the white man started west .


Vocabulary : contrast , boundary lines , complementary colors , dominant , horizontal , vertical , repetition , warm colors , cool colors .

Activity : Ask the children to draw a picture including one or more horses . They should also include a background and other details letting us know where their(s) horse(s) . You can let children use horse template if they have a hard time to draw a horse .

example :