American Folk Art

American Folk Art- American folk artists were generally self-taught artists who wanted to tell a story, through pictures, about specific events depicting life in rural areas.                The most famous is Grandma Moses- (1860–1961), US painter; full name Anna Mary Robertson Moses. She took up painting as a hobby when widowed in 1927 and produced more than a thousand paintings in a primitive style, mostly of rural life.  see American Folk Art Museum

The Checkered House- Grandma Moses

The kids are going to do a Watercolor and Salt Painting I had seen on a great blog, Art Projects For Kids

Materials needed:
White paper
 Oil pastels, I used dark purple, they just need one to draw with.
pencils

Folk Art Chicken by Devon Roe

Water colors and palettes to put it in. you can use watercolor pans and have them pick and choose what colors they like,  or you can use liquid watercolor which is highly pigmented and limit the colors used. 
salt
brushes




Show them the slideshow below and then,


Demonstrate and have them do the following...


1.The students will first draw a round circle on the upper left for the head.  Then a line is drawn to the right, and curve below to make a large half circle for the body. Two legs are added, curves for the tail, and details on the head.  All these lines are traced with a oil pastel when complete. 

2. have them paint the chickens body first with watercolor.  while the paint is still wet, sprinkle a bit of salt on it.  The salt absorbs the water, making a cool texture, and may be rubbed off when the entire painting is complete.  After the body is filled, the background may be painted in with one or more colors. 

Another fun chicken folk art

3. When it is completely dry, after a day or so, you can wipe off the salt, and take pictures for Artsonia.  The chicken looks great framed in your kitchen!

Link to slideshow

Op Art of Victor Vasarely

Victor Vasarely(1908–97), French painter, born in Hungary. A pioneer of op art, he was best known for a style of geometric abstraction that used repeated geometric forms and interacting colors to create visual disorientation.


Welcome back from Christmas Break! We're going to get immediately in the swing of things, and have a fun colorful art masterpiece.


Materials Needed:
11 x 15 White Paper
Pencils
Markers
circle templates
vine charcoal, or shading pencils- gray/black
rulers

1. View power point on Victor Vasarely. Discuss how he creates artwork that fools or tricks the eye. This is called “OP ART”. It was popular in the 1960’s. It used repetitive forms and bold colors as well as curved lines.
   
2. Trace around a circle template. Find the middle with a dot. Draw a vertical line through the circle. Continue drawing lines that curve to the edges of the circle, making sure that the lines never touch. Do this both vertically and horizontally. This will create a checkerboard with squares that form to the sphere. Color with TWO contrasting colors.
   
3. Using a ruler, create the background and color in checkerboard fashion.
   
4. Add a shadow with vine charcoal for a more three dimensional look. 
   

Websites on Op Art...
Op Art UK
Wiki- Op Art
Optical Illusions for kids
Artclub blog- this has info on Vasarely, and illusions, and printables of op art to color in.

Art Masterpieces by Abby and Devon

Thanks to Cedar Elementary for the art lesson idea!
Link to Vasarely slideshow






slideshows- vasarely