Category Archives: Art Movements

March 23, 2014 · 10:48 pm

Painted Eggs 2

Egg painting season is upon us, and this year, my daughter decided Andy Warhol was the way to go. Warhol was born in Pittsburgh in 1928, and like Roy Lichtenstein, who inspired these eggs, became an important figure in the Pop Art movement. His use of everyday objects, and popular images from celebrity culture and the world of advertising, took art in a new direction, making it less elitist and more of a celebration of “consumerism and mass culture.” Warhol left us with unforgettable images of Campbell’s Soup cans, Brillo boxes, and plenty of famous faces to use as inspiration for this year’s batch of eggs.

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Filed under Andy warhol, eggs, painting, Pop Art

February 17, 2014 · 11:48 am

Graffiti Name

Designing a graffiti name tag was one of my daughter’s recent assignments for her art class. It involved delving into the history of graffiti, exploring different styles, and learning about the terminology. Her design, above, involved chunky letters and a brightly coloured candy theme as fill. Loved it!

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Filed under drawing, graffiti, Graffiti Art

Tagged as artclubblog, arts and crafts for kids, candy letters, drawing, drawing for kids, Graffiti Art, graffiti name, graffiti name drawing for kids, graffiti name tag

May 16, 2012 · 11:21 am

Op Art Inspired Line Drawing

I couldn’t resist sharing this amazing line drawing technique demonstrated by Ted Edinger on his website Art With Mr. E. The method is fairly simple for children to do, and the results are very effective at demonstrating the wonders of optical illusions. Continue reading →

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Filed under Art Movements, doodling, drawing, Op Art

Tagged as Art With Mr.E, colouring, drawing for kids, line drawing, op art line drawing, Ted Edinger

April 16, 2012 · 6:39 pm

Pointillism

Back in the late 1800’s, artists Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed a method of painting called pointillism. It involves applying distinct strokes or dots of colour which, when viewed from a distance, blend together to create solid forms. Continue reading →

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Filed under Art Movements, Artists, Georges Seurat, Pointillism

Tagged as Atomic #2, General Idea, Georges Seurat, painting dots, Paul Signac, pointillism, pointillism for kids

March 15, 2012 · 1:35 pm

Painted Eggs

Painting eggs is a popular activity and tradition this time of year, and there’s no shortage of styles to explore. Think of intricate and detailed designs on Ukrainian Easter eggs, experiments with marbling, speckling and layering, wonderful little characters emerging from creative minds, and of course the unexpected. Artists provide inspiration for so many things, so why not for eggs?

The American artist, Roy Lichtenstein, was born in 1923 and was well known for his work in the Pop Art style. For a number of years, he adapted images from comic books and turned them into large-scale paintings filled with thick black outlines, primary colours, and lots and lots of dots. Dots, comics, and bright colours? Sounds like a winning combination to entice children into a little egg painting.

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Filed under Artists, eggs, painting, Pop Art, Roy Lichtenstein

Tagged as artist inspired painted eggs, arts and crafts for kids, comic book style painting on eggs, DIY, Easter crafts, easter eggs, Lichtenstein eggs, painted eggs, painting comics, Pop Art style eggs, Roy Lichtenstein

May 11, 2011 · 8:30 pm

Melted Camembert Cheese

Imagine finding inspiration from a soft, overripe, melting Camembert cheese. This is what happened to Salvador Dali, whose inspired moment lead to one of his most famous paintings, The Persistence of Memory. In this painting, hard pocket watches are found unexpectedly limp like melted cheese, and draped in a bizarre dreamlike, coastal landscape. This strange juxtaposition of objects is typical of Surrealism, a 20th century artistic and literary movement which sought to combine the world of dream and fantasy with reality.

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali i Domènech was born on May 11, 1904, in the small town of Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. He was an extremely versatile and talented artist, exploring different styles and media as a painter, sculptor, draughtsman, illustrator, writer and film maker. Dali is probably best remembered for his striking and unusual images in his Surrealist work, as well as his flamboyant personal style, and quite possibly the most famous waxed moustache in the world. Feliç aniversari Dali! Let’s celebrate his birthday by making some melted looking creations of our own.

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Pop Art Flowers

Untitled by Andy Warhol. Image: http://moma.org

The Pop Art movement was all about making art more accessible. This movement began in the 1950’s in England, and by the end of that decade reached the United States. Everyday mass produced objects from the world of advertising and comic books were typically represented. Andy Warhol, an American artist, was one of the leading figures in this movement and became famous for his paintings of Campbell’s Soup Cans, celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, and his silk screen prints. Since today is his birthday, let’s celebrate his work by painting some flowers and exploring repetition and colour in a Pop Art style.

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Keith Haring Graffiti Chalk Drawings

Radiant Baby by Keith Haring. Photo: http://www.haring.com

Happy birthday to Keith Haring, who would have been 52 years old today. Haring was an American artist who was an influential member of New York’s alternative art community. His work was very influenced by graffiti, and found in public spaces as well as on canvas. In fact, it was his hundreds of white chalk drawings made in the New York City subway system that first brought him to the public’s attention. Haring was committed to making his artwork available to a large audience, and was a strong supporter of children’s programs, which continue to be funded through his foundation. In the spirit of his Radiant Baby, let’s create some chalk drawings.

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Vasarely and Op Art

Vasarely Noir Mauve. Photo: http://www.thefind.com

Artist Victor Vasarely was born in 1906 in Hungary, lived much of his life in France, and died in 1997. Today would have been his 104th birthday. He is considered the founder of Op Art, a style which he began developing during his black and white period, from 1950-1965. This period, his most famous, is what will be explored in this project.

In Op Art, also known as optical art, artists used colors, lines and shapes to create the impression of movement. Vasarely’s use of color and shape made some of his paintings appear to jump out from the canvas, like the one above.

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Filed under Art Movements, Artists, Op Art, Victor Vasarely

Tagged as Bridget Riley, Jesus Rafael Soto, Josef Albers, markers, Op Art, optical illusions, Photoshop, Victor Vasarely, Yaacov Agam