Vincent Van Gogh

What We Did

We learned about the artist Vincent Van Gogh. We talked about where he got his inspiration for art, which was from the people and places around him. He was also known for essentially taking selfies in painting form. He would document his life through paintings, which is why there is a painting of him cutting his own ear off. We talked about his art style and how he would use lines to represent motion. We started out by tearing tissue paper up and then pasting it onto construction paper using clear acrylic. I chose to make the color scheme of my piece various blues. We then had to create a silhouette landscape using paper. I cut out mountains and trees on black construction paper. We then had to show motion in our pieces by using the same shortened line technique as Van Gogh did. I created water by using colored pencils and oil pastels using a lot of different strokes. I then used the same technique as him to represent wind above the mountains. 

Extension Activity

I would create a writing activity to go with the art piece. Students will be required to write a short story using their landscape as the setting. The story can be one page long, have two characters, and it should be set in a specific time period. They will also have to have a problem and a resolution within the story. After they have finished writing their story I would take volunteers to show their art piece and read their stories.

For example if I was to write one for my landscape it would look like this:

A man decided to go kayaking even after his wife warned him that there would be high winds. The water started out smooth, but suddenly he approached rough waters. His kayak began to sway and he started losing control of it as the winds picked up. Before he knew it he crashed onto shore. The only problem is he now has no idea where he is. He sat down to catch his breath when he was approached my an older lady. He told her what had happened and she invited him to use her phone. She had a cabin hidden in mountains and trees. He called his wife and she came to pick him up.