This art history project is al all time favourite of staff, parents and students. Students entering my high school classes always ask me when we're going to do this project.
I posted the steps previously in a post HERE.
I collect wine bottles form both students and staff. Soak them overnight in a bucket of water and scrub off the labels the next day with a scrubby sponge. Let dry and them prime them with two coats of a primer (gesso or a latex house paint). Sponging on a primer reduces brushstrokes and allows for a nice even, opaque finish. You need a decent base coast for the subsequent layers of paint to stick onto the bottle.
Students are then tasked to choose a famous artwork from history. It can be old or contemporary. Landscapes are popular as they are easily 'wrap-able' around the bottle (having no real end).
Students start with painting or sponging on their main basecoat colour. They use acrylics for this. Then they can sketch on the other details and continue painting in layers. At the end, some students add on additional details using a Sharpie.
Once completed, students had to fill out a biography on the artist and an analysis of the chosen artwork and submit that.
Once dry, I varnish them with a water based varnish (polyurethane). You can also spray varnish them with a high gloss varnish but beware- Sharpie details will dissolve.
Love the results of these! Grades 10 - 12 students.
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| Jackson Pollock "#14 Gray" |
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| Picasso "Le Coq" |
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| Banks of the Loing. Alfred Sisley,1896 |
