Sunflower Paintings

                                                         

For this lesson, we studied Van Gogh's sunflower paintings and used them as inspiration for a painting using toilet paper rolls for our flowers. 

 

               

We first had a discussion about Vincent Van Gogh's life and art. After comparing Van Gogh's paintings with others painted in the same time period, we talked about why his artwork was not accepted by most people. The kids were shocked that he only sold one painting while he was alive, which led to a great discussion about following what you believe despite what others are saying. 

                                          

During my demonstration, I showed the kids how to draw a vase to make it look like it was sitting on top of a table and open at the lip. I demonstrated drawing the sides of the vase first, then drawing a smile line at the bottom and a smile and a frown at the top(I point out that our vase must be happy since it has more smiles than frowns... SO happy I found a job where my goofy jokes are appreciated!) This technique of starting with the sides of the vase allows the kiddos to create more unique vases, and not copy mine! We then practiced Vincent Van Gogh brushstrokes in the air, so that we would feel those thick brushstrokes that show so much movement. The following week, we used oil pastels to adorn our vases with color and pattern as well as draw the centers of our flowers with connecting stems.

To make the sunflowers, we first painted a toilet paper roll with a few different shades of yellow. Once dry, we cut them in half and cut slits into the top to create petals. We used pencils to roll the petals back.

The kiddos did such an amazing job on these- they're so full of life and individuality! Seeing these everyday in the hallways makes me so happy and inspired!