During this year’s Great Artist study, we’ll be learning about six artists from the Renaissance, Post-Renaissance, & Impressionist periods. Discovering Great Artist by MaryAnn Kohl and Kim Solga includes short biographies and kid-friendly, hands-on art lessons in the styles of over 80 different well-known artists, but we wanted to expound on ways to liven up the art projects for these artists. (For Classical Conversations users, these are resources that may be used with Fine Arts: Cycle 2, Weeks 13-18, 4th Edition (with Linnaeus) or 5th edition (with Van Gogh).)
To incorporate picture study with these famous artists, check out our Great Artists Picture Study Packet.
Rembrandt [REM-brant] (1606-1669)
Often practiced painting his self-portrait by posing with various faces. Used strong lighting in his portraits to add interest to faces.
Practice: Self portraits with various faces; use of lighting on portraits
Rembrandt Art Project: Facial Expressions
Rembrandt’s “Night Watch” Explained – Interactive Painting
Rembrandt Windmill Project – Chalk on Black Paper
Impasto Presto Art Project
Rembrandt Project, includes Art and Art Study Questions
Rembrandt Art History & Appreciation Lesson
Rembrandt Bio and Artwork on WikiArt (caution: some artwork includes nudity)
Rembrandt Art History & Art Appreciation Lessons for Kids
Rembrandt Is… Printable Booklet – Bio and Techniques
Video explaining Rembrandt’s Techniques
Rembrandt Teaching Project (use sidebar menu)
Rembrandt Art Study – Garden of Praise (with worksheets, etc.)
Rembrandt Painting Coloring Page
Rembrandt Self-Portrait Coloring Page
Color-Me-Online Rembrandt Self Portrait
Video – Rembrandt’s The Night Watch comes to life inside a shopping mall!
Linnaeus [lin-AY-is] (1707-1778)
A famous scientist who studied plants in great detail. He sketched many parts of different flowers and then hired artists to illustrate his work professionally.
Practice: Sketching details of plants and flowers
Linnaeus Art Project: Botanical Illustrations
Drawing Plants and Plant Parts with Contour – Art Project Idea
Flower Anatomy Clipart (can print as coloring pages or templates)
Linnaeus on Wikimedia Commons
Linnaeus, The Name Giver
Who was Linnaeus
Linnaeus Biography & Timeline
The Life of Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus Film
Gainsborough [GAYNZ bur-oh] (1727-1788)
Painted landscapes & portraits. Enjoyed painting fancy, imaginary landscapes.
Practice: Landscape painting with portraits added
Gainsborough Art Project: Portraits on Landscape
Gainsborough Blue Boy Coloring Page
Gainsborough Paintings
Easy Landscape for Kids (just add a portrait to the foreground)
Layered Winter Landscape (add portrait)
Landscape of Tissue Paper Project (add portrait)
How to paint a landscape video (simple and quick!)
http://www.thomas-gainsborough.org/
Gainsborough on Garden of Praise
Gainsborough Bio and Artwork on WikiArt
Monet [mo-NAY] (1840-1926)
Leader of the Impressionists, artists who painted what they saw and felt instead of exact reality. (Instead of blending their brush strokes, they allowed the individual brush strokes to remain.) Best known for gardens and reflections of flowers in ponds. Used short brush strokes with dabbles and daubs.
Practice: Use Monet’s dabble-and-daub (or “smoosh”) technique with the paintbrush to paint flowers, reflections in a pond, or other landscape similar to Monet’s paintings
Monet Art Project: Impressionist Art Technique
Monet’s Water Lily Pond Lesson Plan
Monet for Little Ones: Crayon Resist Water Color
Monet Water Lilies Project #1
Monet Water Lilies Project #2
Monet’s Houses of Parliament Project Tutorial
Birch Trees Winter Landscape Watercolor Project – Monet’s Magpie
Monet Seascapes Project Idea
Water Lily Papercraft
3D Flower Painting
Simple Monet 3D Flower Painting
Monet Haystack Coloring Page
Wheatstacks Monet Coloring Page
Monet Coloring Page #1
Monet Coloring Page #2
Monet Coloring Page #3
The Stroll Coloring Page
Blackline Drawing The Stroll by Monet
Monet in World’s Greatist Artists Unit Study Volume 1 (Confessions of a Homeschooler)
Claude Monet Biography Page and Worksheets
10 Monet Art Projects for Kids
Styling Like Monet Article
Monet on Wikimedia Commons (for art study)
Monet Article on Education.com
Poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson with Impressionist Picture Study
Paint Like Monet video (~10 minutes)
Monet Bio and Artwork on WikiArt
Degas [day-GAH] (1834-1917)
Painter, draftsmen, sculptor who tried to show movement in his art. Best known for his paintings of ballet dancers.
Practice: Using repetition to show movement in painting
Degas Art Project: Depicting Motion
Degas in Motion Project
Degas Learn to Watercolor Project
Degas Art Project: Pastel and Puffy Paint Dancers
Degas Bio and Art Study with ideas for projects
Degas Biography and Worksheets
Degas Craft: Paperdoll Ballerinas
Degas On-Line Interactive
The Dance Class PDF
Degas Opera Singer Coloring Page
Degas Ballerina Coloring Page
Degas Woman with Chrysanthemums Coloring Page
Degas “Dance Class” Coloring Page
Degas Danseuse Coloring Page
Dancers at the Barre Coloring Page
Degas Color-Me-Online
Degas Bio and Artwork on WikiArt (caution: some artwork includes nudity)
Morisot [MOR-i-soh]
Became a successful painter at a time when it was unusual for women to become professional artists. Used thick brush strokes with heavy globs and bright colors.
Practice: Painting with textured paints and thick globs
Morisot Art Project: Globby Textures
Lesson and Outline Drawing of Morisot’s “The Butterfly Catchers”
Lesson and Outline Drawing of Morisot’s “Woman Sewing in Her Garden”
Morisot’s “The Cradle” Collage Art Project and Outline Drawing
Morisot Biography
Salt Painting Project
Poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson with Impressionist Picture Study
Morisot Bio and Artwork on WikiArt
Van Gogh [Van-Go]
25 Van Gogh Art Project Ideas
Van Gogh Art Project with Forks
Van Gogh Starry Night Art Project
Great Artist Resources
Other Great Artist Projects
Art Appreciation through Art History
Poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson with Impressionist Picture Study
Art Appreciation Lessons by Practical Pages (Includes Great Artist Wall Charts, Notebooking Pages, and Lapbook) Includes Rembrandt
Famous Impressionist Art Lessons by Practical Pages (Includes Great Impressionist Wall Charts, Notebooking Pages, and Mini-Books) Includes Degas, Monet, and Morisot
Art Era Timeline at Practical Pages
Tracing Outline Drawings of Famous Artists’ Works – A Tutorial
Impressionism.org
Click here for our fine arts notebooking pages
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