This week in art

So this week we did a kind of art-appreciation complete-the-picture project. The school had some old calendars, both with photographs and reproductions of traditional Japanese watercolors. I cut varied and interesting sections from these calendars. Then I had the kids select one of the picture's I'd cut. I asked the kids to continue their picture, imagining what the rest of their picture might look like. I asked the kids to keep the same idea and use a similar color scheme and believable surroundings.

If I had access to postcards with real works of art, I would have used them (or maybe half of each of them). But, even though the kids weren’t working with Monet’s lilies or Van Gough’s sunflowers, we still talked a little bit about color and detail. I also gave a short lesson on perspective and “the way you see things,” noting that things far away will appear smaller and have other things in front of them, and that most pictures have a place where land and sky come together.

The kids seemed to enjoy this and the pictures are great!