Vincent Van Gogh

Objective:
The students will identify and apply painting skills used by Vincent Van Gogh


Vocabulary:
oil paint, canvas, stroke, impressionism, sketch

Artist Biography: Display picture #1
Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most well known artists of the 19^th century. Vincent was born on March 30, 1853 (about 160 yrs ago) in the Netherlands which is in Europe across the Atlantic Ocean. He had 3 sisters and 2 brothers. At age 16 Vincent moved away to work as a clerk at his uncle’s art gallery. He worked with many different art dealers and also taught in two English schools.

In his travels Van Gogh taught himself to draw and paint, in addition to taking an occasional art lesson. He moved to Paris at age 33 to live with his brother Theo (who was working in a gallery), and it was there that he came into contact with the work of the Impressionists.

In the beginning, Van Gogh limited his paintings to dark colors. When he encountered Impressionism in Paris his style changed, incorporating brighter colors. Van Gogh worked hard, and produced more than 2,000 works, including around 900 paintings and 1100 drawings and sketches. His best-known works were created in the last two years leading up to his death.

Vincent Van Gogh died at the age of 37 having produced some of the best known and most expensive works of art in the world today. His painting The Starry Night has become one of the most celebrated art masterpieces of all time.


Show Artwork:

The Potato Eaters (#2)

· Van Gogh’s first major painting

· 1885 (33 yrs old)

· Oil on canvas

· Took about 2 months to complete

· “What colors do you see?” “Describe the colors in this painting.” Point out the muted/dark dull colors and also the fact that you can see the paintbrush strokes

Self Portrait (#3)
· 1889

· 25in x 21in

· Paris

· Van Gogh painted 30 self-portraits within his last 5 years

· “What colors do you see here” “Describe how he’s feeling”

Starry Night (#4)

· Van Gogh’s most famous painting

· 1889 –painted while living in an asylum (a place that cared for people with mental illnesses)

· Oil on canvas

· “How is this different from his first major painting?”

Still Life with lemons (#5)

· 1887 –painted while living in the Netherlands

· Oil paint on canvas

· What colors do you see? Are the lemons only yellow? Is each shape and line perfect? Point out brush strokes and lines

Project:

What you need:
· Oil paint
· Paint brush for each student
· Canvas for each student
· Styrofoam plates (2 students to share) & paper towels (1/student)
· Q-tips (2-3/student)
· Bowls of fake fruit
· Bowl shapes to trace
· Pencil
· Permanent makers
· Large grey paper desk cover


Step-1- Demonstrate: how to sketch lightly with a pencil; how to use the paintbrush without using a large amount of paint; how to use the Q-tip for the background color or smooth edges


Step-2- Pass out large grey desk cover papers. Pass out 1 canvas, 1 paintbrush, 2 Q-tips per student. Pass out 1 plate per 2 students. Pass out bowls of fruit spread out among students. Pass out bowl shapes for tracing


Step-3- Instruct students to begin with a sketch of the fruit bowl, start by tracing a bowl shape. Reminder- sketch LIGHTLY!


Step-4- Place a SMALL amount of paint on the student’s plates; start with just red, yellow, green, brown. Add more colors as they ask.


Step-5- When they are finished sketching instruct the students to start painting. Remind them start with a SMALL amount of paint.


Step-6- When they are done painting have each student sign their first or last name to the painting with a permanent marker.

*When done throw away: brushes, plates, q-tips, & paper towels*