Children's Corner
Butterfly Room Art Project
The children in the butterfly room have been spending a lot of
time in the studio creating many works of art. We had experimented
with many different mediums such as paint, collage, pastels, clay,
and 3D modeling. We decided to take their interest and
further their knowledge of art and specifically famous artists. We
felt Ted Harrison was a good choice as our first artist because of
his work in children's books. The children found his work
easy to mimic because they had come in contact with his
literature.
Ted Harrison
Ted Harrison is one of Canada's most popular artists. His love
of the land and people of the Yukon has brought him national
acclaim. His distinctive style of painting is both colorful and
sophisticated yet retains an innocent charm, and appeals to young
and old alike.
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 and is one of the most
renowned artists in history. He is most well-known for his painting
the Mona Lisa, however, he was also known for his ability to design
plans for churches buildings and even whole cities. Leonardo often
did sketches of things he saw around him, but it is said that he
put himself into many of his art works.
Using a tri-fold mirror, white paper, and pencil the
children also did self-sketches. They were able to replicate the
shapes of their faces, eyes and mouths and add in additional
details such as their hair styles and any freckles. By doing this
project the children were able to compare and appreciate the
differences between themselves.
To finish off our art project we invited a local artist to
come and show the children different techniques. Alex brought in
paper, pencils, pastels, watercolours, and paintbrushes. We
split the class into two groups and Alex first explained and
demonstrated the technique. The children then chose a picture
from a variety of pictures and using pencil sketched the picture.
They then went over their sketch with pastels, adding details to
their drawings. After they added in all the detail they went over
their drawing with watercolour paints, to produce their final
creation. This was an ideal way to finish off our art project. The
children were able to compare what they had created with what Alex
had taught them.