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
Filed under Art Movements, Artists, Georges Seurat, Pointillism
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.
Filed under Artists, eggs, painting, Pop Art, Roy Lichtenstein
Jean Dubuffet was a French artist whose work included paintings and large-scale sculptures. He used a range of unconventional materials such as sand, pebbles, and butterfly wings, and was often inspired by found objects, patterns, and textures. He was also drawn to the powerful work created by children, prisoners and psychiatric patients, who had received no formal training in art. This prompted him to coin the term Art Brut to refer to their art, which was filled with a spontaneity and freedom he greatly admired and was inspired by. Let’s celebrate that spontaneity and freedom children have by playing with plaster and creating some textures.
Filed under Artists, Jean Dubuffet
After all your hard work entertaining, cooking and putting up with varying levels of dysfunction and joy, you’ll surely be in need of a much deserved break. Here’s a list of some of my favourite films about artists, which you may want to watch as an antidote to all the holiday excess. Be prepared to be taken on some passionate and turbulent journeys which explore the transformative power of art, and often seem to end in some form of madness. What is it with art and madness anyway? Not all of these are suitable for children, but some are definitely worth sharing with them. Happy viewing and Happy Holidays! Continue reading
Back in 2008, Apple dramatically changed our fingerpainting options by offering a painting application called Brushes for the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone. No more drop sheets, no more gooey paint, no more cleanup. Its popularity has surged, particularly since Jorge Colombo’s painting landed on the cover of The New Yorker magazine.
That same year, David Hockney got his first iPhone, began working with this App, and the rest is history. His current exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum, called Fresh Flowers, shows what he created using Brushes. Needless to say, I left the show very excited about trying out this medium for myself.
While I found Brushes a bit pricey compared to other drawing Apps, it was cheaper than a bottle of wine, and got the most favourable reviews. Purchase made. It’s been a lot of fun to use even if you can’t draw for toffee. And if you head to YouTube, you’ll find an amazing selection of paintings to inspire you.
The coolest thing about this App? Watching your drawing being created in playback mode, the fact that you can use it anywhere, and of course seeing how much kids enjoy it.
Filed under Artists, David Hockney, virtual art
The artist Niki de Saint Phalle, was a french painter, sculptor, and film maker. Today would have been her 81st birthday. Much of her work is naive in style, and has a playful, whimsical quality. The Tarot Garden in Italy is a perfect example of this, with its large scale sculptures covered in brightly coloured mosaics. So is the Stravinsky Fountain in Paris, filled with water-spraying sculptures made by Niki and her husband Jean Tinguely.
Of course it’s all much too happy looking for Halloween, but as luck would have it, she happened to create a unique looking assemblage called Portail de La Mort providing the perfect inspiration for this unusual, quirky little Halloween project. Trust me to sniff out one of the few colourless pieces she created! Joyeuse Anniversaire Niki.
Filed under Artists, assemblage, Halloween, Niki de Saint Phalle
The Austrian artist and architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, had a truly unique way of expressing himself. His work was filled with bold colours, organic shapes, and an obvious respect for nature. Some his architectural designs included rooftops covered with grass, deliberately uneven apartment floors, and always a preference for curvy lines over straight ones. He loved to experiment and often chose to make his own paints, while also exploring a variety of different supports for his work like wood and wrapping paper. He remains one of the most well-known contemporary Austrian artists, and his unique and unusual architectural designs and paintings continue to draw admiration today.
This mixed media project is about painting a building inspired by Hundertwasser’s style, filled with vibrantly coloured waves, curves, and irregular forms.
Filed under Friedensreich Hundertwasser, mixed media, painting
Many of us return from our travels with a few mementos and trinkets tucked into the corners of our luggage. They’re great to use in holiday themed scrapbooks and travel collages, but they’re also perfect for painting like Jackson Pollock. In his 1947 oil painting, Full Fathom Five, paint is thickly layered and drizzled in classic Pollock ‘drip’ style. Put your specs on, however, and you’ll notice a variety of objects embedded in the paint including nails, buttons, coins, and even cigarette butts. It’s a very cool way to immortalize your trip and display your memories. If you happen to be in Toronto, you can view this painting at the AGO until September 4th. After that, you’ll have to head to its home in New York.
Filed under assemblage, Jackson Pollock, mixed media, painting
Alexander Calder was born into a family of artists, and while he initially began painting and drawing, he developed a keen interest in mechanics and engineering which he incorporated into his work. His innovative way of thinking and wonderful sense of play lead to explorations in kinetic art, where sculptures were moved about by air currents or motor power. He became famous for inventing these mobiles, as they became known. They showed us a new way of looking at sculpture, which was now shown to move freely and interact with the environment. This project will allow children to experience making this kind of mobile, by using wire to create 3 dimensional portraits.
Filed under Alexander Calder, Artists, mobiles, sculpture
Giuseppe Arcimboldo was a talented 16th century Italian artist whose work included court portraitist, decorator, and costume designer. It was, however, his unique and unusual portraits that he is best known for, where fruits, vegetables, plant material and other unexpected objects were assembled to create human representations. While this might seem out of the ordinary, his greatly admired paintings were made during the Renaissance, a period where lots of unusual explorations in art took place. Needless to say, this project was a hit. Kids loved the idea of making their art and eating it too.
Filed under Art and Nature, Artists, food art, Giuseppe Arcimboldo
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