Teaching Art for Any Age

I've recently embarked on a project in which I get to teach art to home-schooled children. This means teaching to multiple ages in a single lesson. When teaching 3rd- and 5th-graders in elementary schools for my grand-nieces and grand-nephews, I had already experienced the reuse and adaptation of projects. It is important to choose the right project that employs an element or principle of art while taking advantage of or enhancing the existing skills of your students. Here are nine projects that I have adapted for any age from elementary school age children to retired seniors.

1. Salt Painting

• Works for all ages
• Requires watercolor paints and salt
• May also paint with spices

Watercolors is a great medium for teaching any age. Adding salt is a great way to add texture and fun to the project. My Color Wheel Sky project was inspired by the colorful artwork of German Expressionist, Franz Marc and Russian Abstract Expressionist, Wassily Kandinsky. Kandinsky's concentric circles was always one of my favorites. When using watercolors and salt, the colors blend together with the salt accentuating the effect, turning the sky-scapes into Impressionist works.

My 5th-graders went outside the box and created some wonderful color schemes and interpretations of my project constraints.

Spice Girl, Patterson

Seniors from my class at Franke Tobey Jones Senior University created their own watercolor compositions, learning resist techniques, and experimenting with salt in their paintings. Since watercolor painting is such a popular topic at FTJ, I had to offer my version as Salt Painting.

Later, in an online Circle of Love class, sponsored by Heart Art Healing, we learned to paint with spices. Using spices instead of traditional watercolors or experimenting with salt is a way of incorporating science into an art lesson.

2. +/- Space

• Leaf project works for younger students (used for 3^rd-graders)
• Manet ‘Vase’ project works for older students
• Requires 12x18 construction paper and an ability to draw (used for 5^th-graders)
• Manet ‘Notan’ Project works for older students (would be fun for teens)

5th-Grade Japanese Notan Project

3rd-Grade Leaf Project

Positive/Negative Space is one of my favorite concepts to teach and the projects may be adapted to any age. 

While I haven't done such lessons with Seniors, I can definitely see both of my Manet projects being used in a 2-day session with them. I'll have to see what the FTJ Sr. University Administrator thinks about such projects.

3. Contrast

• Dali ‘Hand’ project using opposite color washable markers works for younger students
• Adding Zentangles makes it a great project for older students, even adults

My Contrast lesson is inspired by Spanish Surrealist, Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory. It is the perfect example of the use of contrasting color and value. Everyone can trace their own hand. And Zentangles are amazing!

Contrasting Construction Paper &
Sharpie Zentangles

Concentric Circles &
Washable Markers

I enjoy teaching students about color. You can use the color wheel to teach vocabulary: analogous,  primary & secondary, opposites (contrasting), or warm/cool colors. 

4. Self-Portraits

• Picasso Cubist self-portraits worked for 3^rd-graders
• Reynolds wrapping paper self-portraits worked for 5^th- and 6^th-graders
• Also had success using magazines, patterned paper, and wrapping paper for seniors

Self-portraits are common to many artists, such as Rembrandt and Picasso, with portraiture being popular in art galleries throughout the world. 

5th-Grade Patterned Self-Portraits

3rd-Grade Portraits

A Cubist self-portrait inspired by Picasso is an elementary way to introduce drawing the proportions of a face and learning what a profile is.

More challenging is making your selfie from patterned wrapping paper cutouts, inspired by portrait artists, Gilbert Stuart and Sir Joshua Reynolds. My collage portrait class with seniors was also a great success.

5. Op Art Weaving

• Worked for 5^th-graders. Referenced a video demonstration.
• May work for younger students with some assistance from an adult or teen helper.

Op Art Weaving Inspired by Victor Vasarely

Op and Pop Art are genres that can intrigue young students, especially when showing them optical illusions. Since many of my older students prefer not to get messy, I chose to use scissors and paper and weaving to create our Op Art. The results were spectacular!

6. Pissarro Ocean Scene

• Requires warm and cool colors of chalk pastels and white tempera paint
• Worked for 5^th-graders and should also work for much younger students
• Older students won’t want to get messy and may find it more like finger-painting

5th-Grade Seascapes Inspired by Pissarro

There are many ways to teach budding artists about warm and cool colors. A fun project for younger students is to make a torn paper collage using either warm or cool colored tissue paper and your Grandma's liquid starch. The resulting artwork may then be used as a background for follow-on projects. A messier project involves chalk pastels and white tempera paint to create an ocean scene or seascape. Younger students may like this project more than older students.

7. Movement Compositions

•  Requires cutting out complicated figures from a template
• Younger students may use their own stick figure drawings or get help from an adult
• As this project is also about composition, an option would be to skip the figure cutouts

Movement Composition Inspired by N.C. Wyeth

Students may find this project challenging because of the scissor skills that are required and the repetitive cutting of complicated figures out of oaktag. The project may be adapted to younger students by simplifying the cutouts. Everyone should be able to cut out geometric shapes (from scraps) for the background.

8. Miró Composition

• Works for all ages
• Requires cutting our simple shapes from construction paper
• Requires using recycled newspaper and collecting it prior to class
• Can highlight any element of composition, but works great for balance and movement

My Sample from Online Class with Adults

This Miró Composition lesson is my favorite, second only to my Manet +/- Space lesson. It also worked for my adult online class on Balance. Miró is an acquired taste but his People and Dog in the Sun is fun and may be used as a warmup exercise for visual observation. I actually found seven figures (mostly dogs) in this painting and made stick puppets out of them to help students visualize them.

9. Millet Layered Landscapes

• Worked for 5^th- and 6^th-graders, but should be fine for younger students
• Requires some simple drawing skills and some help with shading
• Requires chalk or oil pastels.
• Crayons may not be as good for blending and
• Colored pencils may take too much time to cover the paper.

5th-Grade Layered Landscapes
Inspired by Millet

Perspective is one of the more challenging concepts to teach about. You can also teach vocabulary like foreground, middle ground, and background with my Layered Landscapes lesson, which was inspired by French Realist, Jean-François Millet. Simply drawing three different sized trees and arranging them properly helps students understand how size and placement create the illusion of space. The shading of the hills also shows how color saturation, light/dark hue or value also contribute to the effect.

Palm Trees and Tropical Art

This month's online class was called, Bountiful Beauty, Palm Tree Designs. We learned how to draw these tall, graceful, hardy, and resistant trees. We marveled at their upright growth, abundant fruitfulness, and flexibility. My first example was an upward-looking view using a curved trunk and feathery fronds. I used watercolor paint and embellished with markers.

My second sample showed the progression from a watercolor landscape to a much more vivid scene. I decided to compromise on the silhouetted trees of my inspiration and instead experimented with different colored Sharpies.

For my demonstration, which I finished after class, I decided to paint a closeup view of a palm tree with its dying fronds hanging down along its trunk. This one also turned out to be mixed media.

The Heart Art Healing sponsor of this Circle of Love event was inspired by this photograph of palm tree bark that I took while vacationing in Palm Springs. She was hosting our event from Hawaii. I am anxious to see her interpretation of the bark. The value range and intricate spiky shapes will make an unusual and abstract design.

I also took some photos of the native trees of Palm Springs. This one is a particularly lovely trio I captured while walking the dogs along a somewhat busy street. I love the composition with its low horizon, cluster of three palms, and the small tree off in the distance.

Palm trees on Martinique (1887),
Paul Gauguin

Not many famous artists used palm trees as subjects in their paintings. I did find one or two by Claude Monet that captured my eye. Due to copyright restrictions, I am unable to show you Monet's Palm Trees at Bordighera (1884), which he painted while visiting the southern coast of Italy with Renoir in December 1883. You may also appreciate the palm trees painted by Paul Gauguin. Gauguin captured the light using bright yellows and oranges, as well as creating a mood with his contrasting purple sky. Impressionists like Monet often used purple to replace black in their paintings. See The Color Purple, Violet, or Lilac in Art.

Celebrities Who Dabble in the Visual Arts

Taken from gardenandgun.com

Continuing with the theme of celebrity art, I thought it would be fun to showcase art created by celebrities. This post is inspired by my wife's suggestion as well as People Magazine's 21 Celebrities Who Are Also Artists. In 2020, I posted Presidential Portraits, highlighting the portraits of George W. Bush. He has painted the portraits of over 66 American military veterans. They are collected in his book, Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors. You may also enjoy Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants. You may be surprised to know how many U.S. Presidents spent their free time painting. Three other presidents -- Ulysses Grant, Dwight Eisenhower, and Jimmy Carter --  fancied themselves as painters. Even Prince Charles of the UK has painted watercolor landscapes and sold them to benefit his charitable foundation.

Cancer (1989), Pierce Brosnan

Two years ago I posted Movie Art Cameos, including René Magritte's "The Son of Man". It was spoofed in the 1999 version of the movie The Thomas Crown Affair starring Rene Russo and Pierce Brosnan. Apparently, Mr. Brosnan started out as a graphic artist prior to being bitten by the acting bug. He paints while on vacation, a tradition I have started myself during Palm Springs visits.

JM (1979), John Mellencamp

Another celebrity who started out as a student of the visual arts is singer songwriter John Mellencamp. I like that he is mainly a portrait artist and that he was influenced by German Expressionist Max Beckmann (one of my favorites). This one is an early self-portrait. Other musicians who paint include Bob Dylan, Tony Bennett, and the late David Bowie. Joni Mitchell dropped out of art school at the age of 19 to pursue a career in music. Her art can be seen on her album covers.

Endless Highway (2017), Bob Dylan

Singer songwriter Bob Dylan began painting in the 1960s, then studied art in 1974 at the Ashcan School, a movement in the Modernist style of early twentieth century America, and learned to paint what he saw rather than what he imagined. Dylan's urban landscapes are particularly compelling and have been exhibited all over the world.

The above landscape reminds me of Edvard Munch's The Scream, mainly for the color scheme and the mood it projects.

Night Time in St. Louis (2020), Bob Dylan

I also enjoy his Night Time in St. Louis, which reminds me of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks. Dylan is a true multi-media artist, who has drawn, painted, and sculpted a huge body of impressive work spanning six decades. His urban subject matter includes his German and Asian Series, but always with an American flair.

Kickin' Up Dirt 1 & 2 (2001), Benedetto

Tony Bennett (born Anthony Dominick Benedetto in 1926) is best known as a singer although as a child he wanted to be a painter. In 2001, he was commissioned as the official artist of the Kentucky Derby, producing the watercolors seen here.

Berlin Landscape with JO (1978),
Portrait of Iggy Pop (James Osterberg),
by David Bowie

Few people knew about the paintings of David Bowie (1947-2016) until his DHead portraits of family and friends were made public in 1994. In 1974, he and his friend, Iggy Pop, traveled to Berlin, Germany where he painted in a style similar to German and Neo-Expressionists. You can see the influence of artists such as Francis Bacon, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and even Max Beckmann in his paintings.

Hercules O'Clock, Sylvester Stallone

Most impressive are the works of action film star Sylvester Stallone. Having painted over several decades (like Bob Dylan), the artist turned to writing and acting after his early paintings, inspired by the art of Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock, didn't sell. In 2015, Stallone exhibited a retrospective at Galerie Contemporaine du Musee de Nice, France. Recently, in late 2021, Sylvester Stallone: The Magic of Being, an exhibit of 50 of his paintings, opened at the Osthaus Museum in Hagen, West Germany.

Murphy Brown's Candice Bergen (now 75) paints portraits of animals on one-of-a-kind handbags and totes and sells them for $1,000 each. Apparently, she has been doing such customized paintings for years. Who knew?!

Aloha Nui Loa (2009), Hopkins

Even actor/comedian Jim Carrey paints. Much of his artwork is politically motivated, so I won't display it on my blog. I do find it curious that actor Anthony Hopkins paints, since he portrayed Pablo Picasso in the 1996 film biopic, Surviving Picasso. I'd call his art 'primitive' because his faces look somewhat generic. Some even look like self-portraits. In this painting, he seems to be channeling Gustav Klimt.

Forever Goodbye (2010), Lucy Liu

Actresses, Michelle Pfeiffer and Charlie's Angels' Lucy Liu also paint. Liu is an all around artist who creates paintings, ink drawings, collages, silkscreens, and sculpture from recycled everyday objects in her New York studio. She has created this erotic lesbian embrace even more reminiscent of The Kiss by Gustav Klimt.

While I am surprised to find so many celebrities who could have second careers in the art of painting, I am even more amazed at how long some of them have been at it. I appreciate how some of these artists use ordinary house paint and large 6-inch wide brushes in their large-scale artwork.

Palm Springs Art -- Marilyn Monroe & Museum Exhibitions

Forever Marilyn (2011),
John Seward Johnson II

The controversial Forever Marilyn statue returned to Palm Springs, CA in June of 2021 and is expected to stay there for 3 years. Created by artist, Seward Johnson in 2011, the city rented the 26-ft. tall statue of Monroe for 26 months before moving her to Hamilton, New Jersey for the Seward Johnson Retrospective. While she now faces Palm Canyon Drive, her backside is what you see when leaving the art museum. I don't remember seeing that angle in 1955's Billie Wilder film The Seven Year Itch. At first blush, the size of the statue reminded me of Daryl Hannah's character from the 1993 remake of the 1958 horror film, Attack of the 50-ft. Woman.

In the house where we are staying there's a movie poster from another Wilder/Monroe film, 1959's Some Like it Hot. Palm Springs seems to be enamored with Marilyn Monroe.

Love & Peace (2019), Curry Mendes

This year, when I arrived at the Palm Springs Art Museum (PSAM), I expected to see Marilyn out front. Instead, I looked out the museum window down the sidewalk toward Palm Canyon Drive to see her white panties under the spotlights. In a prior visit to the museum in 2018, Marilyn was featured in the Andy Warhol exhibition. She also adorns the wall of Lulu California Bistro on a floral-haired 15'X15' mural.

The second reason I wanted to visit PSAM again was to see the exhibit of American abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011). Previously, I saw the 12 Women of Abstract Expressionism exhibit which featured her early works along with those of Elaine de Kooning and Lee Krasner (among others). PSAM also once held another of Frankenthaler's works that was mostly in the color red. Unfortunately, I have to say that I much prefer her earlier works to those painted in her final years.

Mountains and Sea (1952), Frankenthaler

I love her softer early work in which she introduced her soak-stain technique, as displayed in her 1952 painting, Mountains and Sea.

80" Great Rhombicosidodecahedron
(2020), Anthony James

I always look forward to seeing what artwork is featured in the lobby of PSAM. This year visitors are drawn to a fantastic dodecahedron made of stainless steel, mirrors, and LEDs. It's like something out of the TV series, The Twilight Zone or the original Start Trek. I'd bet that all could be explained by Mr. Spock! It's like a hall of mirrors filled with geometric shapes that appear to deepen into what I can only describe as wormholes.

What I especially enjoy about this work is that each window enables patrons of different heights to peer into the fascinating work and witness their own personal kaleidoscopic view. So amazing!

Le Même Si (1959), Roberto Matta

The final two pieces are by Chilean Modernist painter Roberto Matta (1911-2002). He was part of the Surrealism movement in Paris and influenced the beginning of Abstract Impressionism, along with his contemporary Jackson Pollock (married to Lee Krasner).

10 Famous Artists with Aquarius/Pisces Birthdays

Balloon Dog (Red)
(1994-2000), Koons

This post is inspired by the astrological signs of Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) and Pisces (February 18 - March 20). I decided to write about famous artists born under these signs, starting with American Pop Artist, Jeff Koons, who was born January 21, 1955. The Aquarian is famous for his pop culture sculptures of everyday objects. His balloon animals (e.g. dogs) are especially iconic. I stumbled upon his red dog while browsing for clipart to use for a Valentine I was making. I've always been fascinated by such imaginative creations made from those hard-to-inflate long, slender balloons that look like they are about to pop. Koons' (red, blue, yellow, orange, or magenta) dogs are made from stainless steel that has been covered by transparent varnish.

Blown Away Balloon Dog
(2020), Josh Mayhem

My daughter and I have watched the Netflix TV series, Blown Away, where contestants compete to make objects out of glass. Given the scale of such a sculpture, it probably wouldn't have worked in glass. Although I haven't seen anyone create balloon animals out of glass, I did locate some online that were made of acrylic resin on resin. Personally, I prefer the stainless Koons' steel version as opposed to Mayhem's mass-produced acrylic objects.

The Kiss (1907-08), Gustav Klimt

Originally, I was looking for artwork relating to Valentine's Day or the topic of Love. I had previously posted my Top 15 Paintings that Use Primary Colors -- Red, Yellow, and Blue, including Gustav Klimt's (born under Cancer) The Kiss (Lovers). I received a jigsaw puzzle of it this year for my Capricorn birthday. I've also posted about Famous Capricorns Throughout History and 10 Artists with April Birthdays. Another one of my favorite posts is Things That Go Together in Art – Subjects, Portraits, Landscapes/Seascapes, Still Lifes, and Couples.

AQUARIAN Artists

I've already covered examples of Art of the Zodiac & Artists' Astrological Signs. Let's take a deeper look at the work of other famous Aquarian artists -- Édouard Manet, Jackson Pollock, Norman Rockwell, Max Beckmann, and Joan Mitchell.

Bouquet of Flowers
(1882), Manet

Édouard Manet (born January 23, 1832) is famous for his paintings of peonies. I often use Manet's peonies when I teach about the concept of positive and negative space. 

Convergence (1952), Pollock

Blue Poles (Number 11)
(1952), Pollock

Jackson Pollock (born January 28, 1912) is most famous for his Abstract Expressionist drip paintings. These are two of my favorites.

Triple Self-Portrait (1960),
Norman Rockwell

My favorite Norman Rockwell (born February 3, 1894) painting has to be his 1960 Triple Self-Portrait which I blogged about in August of 2020. He also famously put his own head in the peanut gallery of his baseball painting, The Dugout.

Self-Portrait with Green Scarf
(1917), Max Beckmann

Aquarian German Expressionist Max Beckmann (born February 12, 1884) painted this and several other self-portraits. I love his bold style with its use of black outlines!

No Birds (1987-88), Joan Mitchell

In 2017, I visited the Palm Springs Art Museum where they were exhibiting the Women of Abstract Expressionism, which included the works of 12 groundbreaking female expressionists. Here is one of the works of Aquarian Expressionist Joan Mitchell (born February 12, 1925). It is an homage to Vincent Van Gogh's Wheatfield with Crows (1890). This year, the work of her contemporary, Helen Frankenthaler, will be on display at PSAM.

PISCES Artists

Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880-81), Renoir

Now let's highlight the works of famous Pisces artists -- Pierre-Auguste Renoir (February 25, 1841), Michelangelo, Piet Mondrian, and Kehinde Wiley. Renoir's most famous painting has to be Luncheon of the Boating Party. It's a wonderful composition with the yellow hats, white fabric and offsetting striped awning to frame the group portrait.

David (1504), Michelangelo

Italian sculptor Michelangelo (born March 6, 1475) needs no introduction. On our trip to France and Italy in 2011, I saw his statue of David at the Accademia Gallery in Florence, Italy. If I had a bucket list, visiting Florence would definitely be on it.

Composition with Large Red Plane,
Yellow, Black, Grey and Blue
(1921), Piet Mondrian

I did an art lesson with kindergartners about LINE, inspired by the Dutch painter, Piet Mondrian (born March 7, 1872). His iconic geometric compositions may be recognized by his use of black lines and rectangles in primary colors. Mondrian is definitely one of those artists whose work is metaphorically an actor who has been typecast to repeatedly portray the same character .

Willem van Heythuysen (2005),
Kehinde Wiley

Let's end with Pisces American portrait artist, Kehinde Wiley (February 28, 1977). I saw his impressive work at the Seattle Art Museum's A New Republic exhibition in 2016. I love the intricate and often floral backgrounds he uses to highlight and celebrate urban black individuals in aristocratic poses. While the clothing is modern, his treatment and symbolism reach back to ancient Greece, imperial Rome, and the conquests of European Kings and Queens. Here he reimagines Frans Hals' portrait from 1625. You simply have to see these life-size portraits in person!