Connections

Trips to the library yield great finds for our family. Recently we discovered a set of books that the kids really enjoyed. The books are by Laurence Anholt and part of an artists series. Each books covers a great master and their contribution to the art world. The first book we read was Degas and the Little Dancer (Anholt's Artists Books for Children). It was fantastic and led to many questions about the artist's sculptures.

I decided to try some art projects with the books, since we finally have our creativity space back. I remembered a book we had that would work well, Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters.

There were two projects for Degas. We decided to try the Resist in Motion project first. It was fantastic. Eamon, Aine and I drew our main pieces on cardboard (a car, a truck and a bicycle respectively). I then helped them cut their individual designs. We traced them with crayon and set to work with watercolors. This project then led the way to much painting and drawing. We talked about blending colors and used a bit of tissue paper to blot areas.

Aine's finished piece

 We plan to try the other Degas project before delving into the next book we checked out of the library, Camille and the Sunflowers (Anholt's Artists). It is such fun!