Cezanne Extension Activities

Have you ever doubted yourself? Paul Cezanne struggled with many uncertainties throughout his life. He endured the skepticism of his family along with multiple failures. He wasn't a spectacular art student, and he was unsure whether his passion was correctly placed.  Despite these hardships, he persevered in creating the art that he loved using simple geometric forms.

Perseverance is one of the greatest things you could ever learn.

Online activities

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has created a fantastic resource.  Take a look at Cezanne's Astonishing Apples, and don't miss the story "An Apple a Day" on the very last tab!

Read

Meeting Cezanne  by Michael Morpurgo is a charming book that explores Cezanne's famous Franch landscape.  It also touches on the relationship between Picasso and Cezanne.  It is short but very nicely done.   {affiliate link}

Create

ArtforSmallHands has a very simple tutorial on painting Cezanne inspired still-lifes that my kids really enjoyed. Or give it a try using your pastels and the ideas on PinkAndGreen.

Consider

“For I am the Lord, your God,
who takes hold of your right hand and says to you,
Do not fear; I will help you.”
(Isaiah 41:13)

Sadly, Cezanne is known to have said, “life is terrifying.” He used the act of painting to sooth himself, painting while police looked for him for dodging the draft, and even on day that mother died.  He suffered with a dark depression, and kept himself fairly isolated. Everyone feels afraid at some time, but it must be awful to feel that life is terrifying.  

 So, what do you think?  Does his perspective and work fit what you would expect from "The Father of Modern Art?"
 

Degas Extension Activities

Degas is an artist that can easily capture your imagination. If your kids are as fascinated as I am, follow their interest by trying a few of these activities.

Create:

Degas was well known for his creative use of his art supplies. To create an interesting contrast in texture he would crush his pastels, steam them, and then apply them like paint. To try this for yourself, watch this demonstration and then break out your supplies to try it yourself!

Simple step-by-step instructions for drawing your own dancer are available at Ms.Julie'sArtSchool. The images are fairly light, so you may need to zoom-in to view them well.

Go:

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has FREE admission this Friday. They host a large collection of Degas' works, including his bronze sculpture of the Little 14 year old Dancer. *Parents, please be aware that many of Degas' images include the female form and there is currently an exhibition at MFA which intentionally focuses this particular point in the evolution of his work. To pre-view the collection before your visit, go to MFA.org

Watch:

Take a peek into Degas' personal sketchbook at PBS.org.

Read:

Degas and the Dance is a great book for children available through the Manchester Library System.

Consider:

Degas' is well known for being dissatisfied with his work. This is a great opportunity to discuss this quality in your family.

Perfectionism is a struggle for many children, especially as they compare their projects to the work of master artists. If we are being quite honest, many parents will admit to struggling with perfectionism too. As we approach the holidays it is easy to see this in our own lives as we reach crisis mode immediately before company arrives for the holiday, attempting to create a perfectly clean house in which to serve the perfect meal to a family who we expect to behave with perfect manners. (Certainly not an achievable reality in my home)

Striving to become better and achieve excellence is very different from perfectionism. Try taking this helpful self-test with your older children and discuss the Bible references on the last two pages as a family. Perfectionism is not a good thing, but working hard and striving to be better is a great goal. Knowing the difference is very important.

Challenge - Soft Pastels

Did you like using soft pastels? They are one of my favorite art supplies. I just love the gentle blending that you can get from them.

My daughter used lots of blue in her beautiful plaid that she created on Tuesday, and all she has left is a few scraps of blue - BUT did you know that is easy to re-form your scraps into a new pastel? Collect all of your little bits of the same color and then crush them. Add a drop or two of alcohol then roll into a fairly thick stick. Let it dry for a few days and it is ready to use.

Remember that when you work with soft pastels you need to work from Dark to Light. This might be hard for those of you who are used to watercolors where you work Light to Dark. With soft pastels, once you have your light colors down you can't go over them with darks without loosing your crispness and making your colors muddy. Watch this sped up video of an artist at work and keep an eye out for which colors he chooses. Experiment with layering your pastels on a scrap piece of paper - you will see the difference very quickly.

Pastels can be messy, so keep a paper towel nearby to brush away any stray dust which can mark your paper. If a accidental mark is made that won't brush away, with a normal eraser, you can erase pastels. Sometimes traces will stay on the paper, because pastel dust holds in the pores of the paper, but often you will be able to make the changes you need. For very fine corrections try using a flexible kneaded erasers.

Mary Cassatt loved to depict close relationships, especially between mothers and children. Try this yourself. Pull out your pastels and draw a portrait of a mom and her child. They could be

holding hands, working on something together, or just looking into one another's eyes. Try to capture the tender feelings that Mary Cassatt was so good at showing in her artwork.

There is a great simple biography and slideshow of Mary Cassatt's work at GardenOfPraise. She also has posted several wonderful games including a jigsaw puzzle of The Boating Party which you probably still have hanging somewhere in your home. Lots of a fun is to be had at this site. Don't miss it.

I have printed up your work from Tuesday and plan to deliver your get well cards tomorrow. Hopefully I can get some pictures posted for you soon. The residents are sure to appreciate your thoughtfulness.