Kandinsky Watercolour Hearts

Here's a Valentine's take on the famous Kandinsky work "Color Study. Squares with Concentric Circles" from 1913. Kandinsky's most recognizable work, interestingly enough, is not actually a full-fledged picture. This drawing is a small study on how different colour combinations are perceived that the painter used in his creative process as a support material. He felt that color could convey emotion even without showing any particular object or figure.  Color on its own could tell the story of his art.  Kandinsky was one of the first artists who painted purely ABSTRACT works of art, meaning he abandoned any reference to recognizable reality in his work. 

I had Grade 4 students measure out the 3 x 4 grid using a ruler. 

They used 9 x 12" heavy white paper.

Then they created their own heart template by folding a piece of cardstock in half, and cutting out half a heart. They traced this in all the squares in whatever pattern they wanted.

Then they painted them in whatever colours they wanted using either pan watercolours, watercolour pencils, or tempera pucks.

Some completed Grade 4 work- Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Kandinsky Trees Collage

Ah, the ever popular "Kandinsky Tree" art project. Not sure who originally had the idea for this lesson, but it exploded all over pinterest with a wide variety of media and techniques. We went for the 'it's the end of the year; let's use up all the colored scrap paper" technique. hahaha!

Students started out by looking at some of Kandinky's abstract works. I explained to them that this artist was considered one of the first artists to use abstract art. I find it really challenging explaining to this age group how avant-garde a painting like the one below was in 1913. His concentric circles remains one of his most iconic works. He was heavily influenced by classical music such as Wagner, even stating that "music is the ultimate teacher."

Wassily Kandinsky (Russian), "Color Study: Squares with Concentric Circles", 1913

So students started out by drawing a bare tree with branches on a brown sheet of construction paper. Cut that out. The background is simply colored paper with some green paper grass on the bottom. They could cut this or rip it for more texture. 

Glue the tree on top. Then, using scraps of colored paper. cut out a small circle. Glue this circle to a larger piece of colored paper. Cut around it leaving a border. Repeat until you have 3-4 layers of circles.

Once a few of these are made, arrange them on the tree, finding a composition that looks nice and balanced, and glue them on.

Ta da!

 

Kandinky Circles Wax Resist

I think every elementary Art teacher out there has done one version or another of Kandinsky's famous abstract piece "Squares with Concentric Circles".  This artwork is colourful, easily accessible to all students and a good introduction to abstract art. My version uses neon oil pastels and watercolour paint applied on top to create a wax-resist type artwork.

I first introduced my third graders to the work of Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky.

He is considered to be the founder of abstract art. He was very influenced by music and many of his famous paintings have names that relate to music such as "Improvisations", "Impressions", and "Compositions."

He also explored the psychological effects of color and made comparisons between painting and music. He became known as the founder of abstract art and his work was often controversial among art critics and even his friends.

Color Study: Squares with Concentric Circles, 1913

I had pre-photocopied sheets that had a grid already drawn on them just to save time.  Of course, you could also have students draw the grid themselves using a ruler. Then they used neon oil pastels (I LOVE the South Korean brand MUNGYO Gallery) to draw concentric circles within each square. 

Press hard and leave the background blank. 

Then, using watercolours, paint over each square- the oil pastels will resist the paint. Students may need to dab off any extra 'floating' paint, with a paper towel.  Let dry. 

I varnished these afterwards to make them nice and shiny.

Ta da!