Today we are participating in Red Ted Art's Kids Get Arty series. This series has pushed us to explore many Great Artists in the past; Leonardo Da Vinci, David Hockney, Pablo Picasso, Norman Tait and George Rodrigue. This time around we are looking at the world of watercolours through Paul Cézanne. When I was a kid I loved to paint. It wasn't something I did at home, but rather something I did at school.
My sister was the designated "artist" in the family and I was the designated "athlete". I wish that I could have explored art more. I loved art class and I loved painting with watercolours. There is something so free and fluid about using watercolours. I knew it was time to introduce my girls to the art of working with watercolours and the artwork of the Great Artist Paul Cézanne.
We actually found a couple of wonderful movies about Cézanne and the art or working with watercolours. The first video examines Cézanne's watercolour technique and the second is more of a biography of his life. Videos can be a great way to introduce children to art. We are planning a visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario in the next couple of weeks, we will be searching out any watercolour artists and any pieces by Cezanne specifically.
I found a package of watercolour pencil crayons on sale the other day and decided that we should give them a try. Watercolour pencil crayons allow the user to sketch and shade the picture and then with the application of water, bring the painting to life. If you've been following along with my blog, then you will know that my two daughters have different little personalities. My youngest is quite a perfectionist...she doesn't like to break the rules. My eldest similarly doesn't like to break the rules, and she is very emotional and expressive. Take a look at the pieces they created and see if you can guess which piece was done by which child.
If you guessed that the owl was the work of my perfectionist, than you would be correct. She was so proud of the precision of the owl's wings...it took a lot of planning and time to get them just right.
The bursting with colour sun, was the brilliant work of my eldest daughter. She is much more of a "get it done" kid. For our first foray into watercolours, I think things went really well. My girls really loved experimenting and seeing how the watercolours flowed across the paper. This project was much more about the process than the product. I know that our next visit to the art gallery will be most inspiring. We will be sure to take lots of photos and spend some time sketching and painting when we return home. As for now, these paintings will hang in a place of honour...the girls first exploration of watercolour painting.
Cézanne images source from www.tate.org.uk
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