• June 10, 2008 - Sketching Bridges Like Monet
When you're coming to the end of your artist study of Monet, you can't pass by a scene like this one without making a reference to the Japanese bridge at Giverny. I was thrilled when Sprite asked if we could sketch it just like Monet did.
She happened to get a bit sidetracked by some children who kept peering over her shoulder, so she spent most of her time like this.
And here is her finished portrait sketch. I thought it was fabulous! Even more so, I was proud of her attitude. She said as we were walking home that some people said her art was good. Others said it was bad. Some said it was so so. She laughed as she realized that everyone has a different opinion (which they seem to feel so very free to openly express) and that it made no difference to her what they thought. She was drawing for herself, not for them. (As a side note, she is not always so confident. But I was thrilled to hear this from her that day!)
I reminded her that those people more than likely would never risk drawing in public for fear of the kinds of comments she received. But then again, they will never know the joy of relaxing with pencil in hand before a lovely view, the satisfaction of working over a particular curve or line, the joy of being an artist. We are artists if we create art, no matter the results or the opinion of others.
Another blog post about our study of Monet is here.
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• May 7, 2008 - Artist Study -- Monet
Our artist for this term is Monet. (We study art in a Charlotte Mason styled approach.) Although we haven't completely finished this master, we worked on a "reproduction." Actually it is a coloring sheet from a Dover publication. (I'm not sure which one.) I subscribe to the Dover samplers. And I download a lot of great freebies from what they offer.
This is our book of art prints with Sprite's coloring page on top.
My original intention for Sprite's Monet reproduction was to use the new watercolor pencils I brought from America. But since we're away from home (in Hong Kong), this coloring page was quite a bit easier. Although we didn't have a wide assortment of colors to work with, I encouraged Sprite to make do as best she could with what we had on hand.
Here are Sprite's and Monet's side by side.
If you plan to study Monet, I strongly recommend the title Linnea in Monet's Garden. It's a delightful book that has history, nature study, and art all wrapped up in a lovely story with beautiful illustrations. I bought this book and feel that it's well worth the money! (Don't you love it when you are pleased with a purchase?)
But this piece below below was what really showed me that Sprite is absorbing Monet's style. She did this on her own and gave it to me as a gift. I noticed right away the similarities to the Impressionists -- the blurry colors and the reflected images in the water. She admitted that she was trying to make it like Monet's artwork. I was thrilled!
During our three weeks so far in Hong Kong, I've seen Monet's artwork on a courtyard wall and on a candy package! Fine art is everywhere. And it's so wonderful to be able to recognize the artist or even the name of the piece!
I'm updating this entry to include Sprite's notebooking page.
We used a combination of lapbooking and notebooking. Several matchbooks were mounted on cardstock for a notebooking page.
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• December 13, 2007 - Art Museum Visit
With this blog it's been feast or famine lately. When I've got a chance at the computer, I just go ahead and post a few entries. Maybe it matches your reading habits at this busy time -- catching a few moments to read blogs between your Christmas celebrations.
We made a stop at the Birmingham Museum of Art as we were passing through that city. It was well worth stopping and a great break from sitting in the car. Not only was it free to view the permanent collection, but we also saw an original Monet and Cassatt-- the next two artists I've scheduled to study.
Here is Sprite with the Cassatt. (In low light because flash photography was not allowed.)
I was pleased to find that this painting was a study for the final work. It was good to show Sprite an unfinished draft. It made a great reminder that artists are always editing and improving their art. Paintings do not instantly emerge as perfect mastepieces. Below is the Monet.
 
And of course, she sketched a few pieces that struck her fancy. The clown figurine seemed interesting to her. (She loves to capture what she sees; I don't even have to remind her to take her drawing board.)
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• November 9, 2007 - Artist Study Wherever We Go
Well, we're in Bangkok, Thailand and pass by an art stall. What do we see? A Vincent Van Gogh! Well, a reproduction of course!
Sprite was thrilled to recognize it!
Yes, you can wear shorts in Thailand in November. It's hot year round here. We are enjoying the warm sunshine while it lasts. We head to USA next week!
DH had a "small" surgery here at an excellent hospital in Bangkok and is recovering well. (Surgery is only "small" when it's not YOU having it, right?)
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• October 27, 2007 - Artist Study Seurat
Our latest artist was George Seurat. It was a short study -- just two weeks mainly because we only had about ten different pieces of his art to study. We do artist study daily rather than weekly. My daughter has a natural gifting for art. I am doing all I can to stimulate that.
Here is Sprite working on her rendition of the piece she chose -- a circus scene.
Because we're studying these from Chinese books, I often don't know the actual English name of the work of art. But the French name (given in the book) is Circus.
Her notebooking page for this artist.
We tried using cotton swabs for painting dots on the small image of La Grande Jatte (Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte) above, but it didn't work so well on such a small scale. So Sprite just painted this larger one with watercolors:
I got this coloring page from the Dover sampler. Love that email!
And here is her finished version of the painting she chose:
This Seurat painting was her inspiration for this drawing.
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• September 26, 2007 - Toulouse-Lautrec -- Making Your own Reproduction
 We finished our study of Toulouse-Lautrec, and I allowed my daughter to select one of his paintings to reproduce.
This is the one she chose --In the Private Booth.
While she worked on her version, I tried to help with suggestions without being too critical. That's such a fine line.
My DD is so creative that sometimes it's hard to get her to copy something. When I point out something like, "The bow isn't exactly like that." She will say, "Well, it should be. So I changed it."
I frequently have these conversations with her about times to be creative and times just to copy.
Why do I use this activity with each artist? I think that asking her to reproduce the art causes her to look in detail at the original.
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• September 18, 2007 - Weblink Wednesday
I've blogged this site before, but I've just recently revisited it and found some great new selections for free download!
You do have to have a US address to sign up for the free downloads. (I used my permanent US address.)
Weblink Wednesday is hosted by Socalval.
Go visit her for other great links.
My favorite category, of course, is the children's section. (My daughter loved the e-book about dumplings!) But there are two new art books there as well.
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• September 18, 2007 - Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec-- Artist Comparison
We've been studying the art of Toulouse-Lautrec recently. This is a notebook page DD filled out. You can access this PDF notebooking page (I designed) at HSLaunch.
My DD does not enjoy his art. It's too drab and gloomy for her.
It's really quite a contradiction. Toulouse-Lautrec's main subjects were the performers, dancers, and patrons of the cabaret nightlife of Montmartre in Paris. You would expect raucous scenes filled with smiling faces. Instead you have images like this one.
Where are the smiles? I'm amazed when portraits of dancers performing on stage show very bored, gloomy expressions. This lack of joy has given us much to discuss -- how that kind of "party life" may seem happy but really is so empty. I think Toulouse-Lautrec has captured that truth. (The lifestyle eventually cost him is life to alcoholism.)
A revelation came as I was doing some reading about Toulouse-Lautrec online. Renoir also painted many of the same cafes and cabarets of Montmartre! The Renoir painting below is of the same location as the one above. What a contrast! I pulled out our Renoir book and told my daughter. She was amazed too! Since we had studied Renoir earlier, she was able to make general comparisons of the two artists, expanding beyond the differences between these two artworks. Horray for artist study!
What a great lesson in the power of art to express feelings and mood, and how that can vary from artist to artist, even with the same subject.
So do you agree with my daughter? Do you like Renoir's happier, more youthful, brighter image?
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