Great Artist Days

After the re-enactment of his life Picasso will show your children how to draw a whole group of interesting objects in his own inimitable style. The children, working from lots of interesting objects, will create their own drawings. From their own drawings Picasso will show your children how to create an idea for a painting. He will them demonstrate how to mix and use paint in the Picasso way and soon your children will have produced a masterpiece.

Alternatively, Picasso will work with the children to show them how to draw faces from different angles. From their own drawings they will develop an idea for a portrait painting in the Picasso style. Picasso will demonstrate painting techniques and the children will produce their own masterpiece. Read my article on Picasso in the classroom.

After the re-enactment of Van Gogh's life, the aim of the project is to produce student versions of the sunflower paintings that Van Gogh created for Gauguin's visit to Arles. (Other starting points can be used such as Starry Night etc.) Van Gogh will demonstrate how to draw flowers from different angles as well as showing children how to use light and shade. He will cover other aspects of drawing also, such as drawing quickly with a brush. He will have a bunch of sunflowers with him.

From their sketches and drawing children will design their own sunflower painting. Van Gogh will demonstrate his painting methods and will also cover colour mixing techniques. Read my article on Van Gogh in the classroom.

Before Warhol's visit to your school it would be an idea to photograph the face of each child who is to take part in the workshops. After the re-enactment of his life Warhol will organise for the photographs to be projected onto large sheets of paper. Each child will draw around their own face.

Warhol will run a colour mixing/theory workshop where he will show children how to use complementary colour to create the wildly colourful paintings from which he is famous. The paintings will be finished with the addition of brightly coloured lines. All digital images of the children will be deleted at the end of the day.

After the re-enactment of his life Monet will show your children how to draw trees, animals and lots of other things from the landscape. He will concentrate of the use of line and developing the idea of using three tones to create form. From their own drawings children will create a picture ready for painting, or if the weather is suitable the children will be taken outside to work from life.

Monet will show the children the techniques of Impressionist painting, different ways to use the brush for example, and colour mixing. The children will create their own Impressionist painting from their drawings or from a view outside.

After the re-enactment of his life Rousseau will show your children how to draw jungle trees, plants and animals using some interesting methods that all can benefit from. He will concentrate on the use of line and developing pattern from the shapes suggested by the jungle. From their own drawings children will create a picture ready for painting. Rousseau will also talk about composition if it is appropriate for the group.

Rousseau will demonstrate to the children the techniques of his painting, including colour mixing. The children will create their own Jungle painting from their drawings.

After the re-enactment of his life Hockney will show your children how to interior scenes, rooms, corridors etc. and will introduce simple ideas about perspective.. Children will create a number of drawings from lots of different angles and views.

Their paintings will be based on their own drawing that includes a number of different views of rooms etc. Hockney will show the children his colourful California paintings and demonstrate colour mixing techniques which the children will use in their own work. Projects can also be based around Hockney's journey's painting Trees.

After the re-enactment of his life LS Lowry will show children how to draw figures in the Lowry style, both using his own drawings and by using the children as models. If there is the opportunity, Lowry will take children outside to draw buildings. From their drawings Lowry will show the children how to compose a picture. He will also demonstrate his painting technique.

Projects can be based around buildings or groups of figures interacting in interesting ways. Lowry was very much an observer of the life around him.

After there-enactment of his life Matisse will show children how to draw using some of his own methods, e.g. continually drawing over the same image before selecting the lines required. Matisse will show children how to draw figures, still life and room interiors from different angles to create lots of exciting sketches. From their own sketches children will create their own ideas for paintings. In the afternoon Matisse will give a painting demonstration of his methods before children go to their own classrooms to create their own masterpieces. Matisse will rotate around classrooms in the afternoon. Projects can also be based around Matisse's cutouts if preferred.