This week we did a lovely study of Henri Matisse‘s
Red Studio
We looked at the picture. Of course, it was distinctly red!
Miss . L10 noticed the scratch marks for all the furniture. Matisse did not paint anything in colour or detail except for the artworks in his studio.
I encouraged my child to “create a mental picture” and then tell me all that she remembered in the painting. Her oral narration was wonderfully detailed and accurate.
Our A History of Western Art by Anthony Mason had lovely explanations of the visual elements of the painting. For example, he suggests the grandfather clock has no hands because “time is meaningless in his (Matisse’s) studio.”
This work led to a lovely art application lesson ~
Paint our school room …
or more specifically Sketch Tuesday’s theme
“School Supplies“
in Matisse-fashion!
- Sketch your school supplies. Put out some items on the desk to draw.
- Color everything in red/ or any bold color. I chose yellow. Miss.L10 did her room red.
- Scratch the furniture or other ‘unimportant’ details with a toothpick in the wet paint. (Note: Wet paint makes the paper soft and my toothpick pierced a hole in my paper! Also, it did not leave a clear white mark. I let mine dry and used a white pen to “draw” the scratch lines! Of course, Matisse’s method will work on canvas with acrylic or oil paints.)
- Paint the important details in color.
- Outline in black pen when dry.
- Viola! A Matisse-Inspired School Room!
Visit Khan Academy for a detailed online lesson and video on “The Red Studio” and read Paper Cut Outs with loads of examples of Matisse’s paper cut-out art as well as biographic details of his later works.
I created some Matisse paintings and quotes print outs. Here is your free download ~ Henri Matisse paintings & quotes
Enjoy more art lessons – pop over to my Art Pages!
Blessings,
Practical Pages 