All Posts from Art Curator for Kids

January 6, 2015 19 Comments

A Year of Art Appreciation for Kids: 52 Artworks your Child Should Know

I have compiled for you a massive list of artworks for you to look at with your kids this year. I picked one artwork for each week of the year, and I tried to pick the best of the best. If you haven’t been showing art to your kids, this is a great list to start with! Just sit down and talk about a new artwork each week for a few minutes.

Please note, this post includes Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

How to Talk about Art with Your Kids

Here are some posts from Art Class Curator for tips at looking at art with your kids.

Art Appreciation for Kids

Instead of dividing by week, I divided by time period. Regrettably, this list does not include non-western art or contemporary art. For more awesome non-western art, check out my Art Around the World series. Each entry below includes a link to find the picture.

Ancient to Classical Art

Prehistoric, Nude Woman (Venus of Willendorf), c. 28,000-25,000 B.C.E (On ACFK, 5 Artworks to Promote Introspection) (Buy replica on Amazon)
Sumer, the Standard of Ur, about 2600-2400 B.C.E. (Book about this artwork)
The Law Code of Hammurabi, King of Babylon, c. 1750 B.C.E (Book about Hammurabi’s Code)
Ancient Egyptian, Palette of King Narmer, c. 3000-2920 B.C.E.
Myron (Ancient Greek), Discus-thrower (Discobolus), Roman copy of a bronze original of the 5th century BC (Book about this artwork)
Hellenistic Greek, Laocoön and His Sons, early first century C.E.
Ancient Roman, Augustus of Primaporta, first century, C.E.
Ancient Roman, The Alexander Mosaic, ca. 100 BC (Poster of this artwork)

Whew! This is quite a list. It was hard to choose, and I know I left out some great artworks. Keep reading on Art Class Curator to learn more about teaching art to kids.

More Art Class Curator on Pinterest:

Follow Cindy @ The Art Class Curator’s boards on Pinterest.

January 4, 2015 Leave a Comment

Software Coding for Kids

I’m joining up with a group of amazing kid bloggers this month for a series called A-Z STEM for Kids. If you don’t know what STEM is, it means Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Each day, bloggers will tackle STEM concepts starting with A all the way to Z. I have two posts planned for the month, but of course I will be turning STEM to STEAM and adding a some Art into my posts.

The A-Z STEM series was organized by the fabulous Sarah at Little Bins for Little Hands. Visit this landing page for an introduction to the series as well as links to all the other amazing posts for the month!

Today, I am tackling letter C for Coding.

Here’s a little known fact about me. Over the last couple years, I have been learning to code (aka computer programming). I took some classes and did a lot of work on my own, and I now know Java pretty well. It was such a fun experience, and I eventually hope to merge my art knowledge and my computer programming skills in the future. I eventually hope to have an app or two. I have some ideas.

I think coding is extremely important. Everything is dictated by software these days, but more than just you need this to get a job, learning to think like a programming is such a valuable skill. It requires being very regimented in your thinking, thinking through all possible alternatives, and thinking logically. Learning coding is a great way to teach kids to think.

I also think that if your child is an artist, and they are serious about using art in their futures, they must be skilled in technology. Artists can be front end and user experience designers, graphic designers, and more.

In my very first coding class, Programming Logic and Design, we started with a really cute and and fun tool that would be great for your kids, (the website recommends ages 8 and up). It is called Alice. It was developed by Carnegie Mellon University as a tool to teach rudimentary coding ideas like if/then, chronology, objects, methods, variables, etc using images and animation. It is super fun and silly, and your creative kids would probably get a big kick out of it. Best of all, the program is completely FREE!

Basically, you take images already stored in their system and make them do stuff by writing a computer program.

In this program I wrote for my class, I have a shark swim to a scuba diver. I took some screen shots, but this is animated on my end when I run the program (can you see the art connection a bit now?).

Then, the software asks the user if they want to save the diver.

If yes is chosen, the raft comes in and the shark leaves, thinking “Ew.”

If no is chosen, the diver drops into the water, and the shark thinks “Nom. Nom.”

It’s totally silly, but I used some important software coding concepts in a fun and easy way. It is a great introduction to some more serious concepts, and it doesn’t feel like work. It’s just plain FUN.

I wrote another one with a Zombie running to an abandoned house followed by a clap of thunder, a scream, and a woman running out of the house. Yeah, you can add sounds!

Visit the website for Alice to download the program. This is not a sponsored post or anything. I just really like the program. 🙂

For more posts from A-Z STEM for Kids, visit the series index or the STEM Learning Activities Pinterest Board.

January 1, 2015 1 Comment

5 Artworks about Love

I’m so excited today to be guest posting on the 31 Days of Love series which started today on Red Ted Art, an amazing blog I greatly admire! Hop on over to my post called “5 Artworks About Love” to learn about some new art and be inspired just in time for Valentine’s Day. Each lovely artwork has some information about it as well as some looking questions to help guide your discussion about the art with your kids.

5 Artworks About Love

December 29, 2014 Leave a Comment

5 Most Popular Posts from 2014

These five posts got the most pageviews this year.

Free Worksheets

8 Free Art Appreciation Worksheets

includes the Elements & Principles!

Download 8 Free Art Appreciation Worksheets – including 2 Elements and Principles pages! Activities designed to work with almost any work of art. Help your students connect with art while having fun!

Download

My 5 Favorite Posts from 2014

Okay, this was SO HARD. I love all my babies. Here are my top 5 favorite posts from the year.

Mystery Post: I will reveal this one on January 2 in a post along with an awesome link-up with my bloggy pals from the Kid Blogger Network.
The Art Around the World in 30 Days eBook is here! – November was such a whirlwind month for me writing a post every day. I am so proud of the amazing resources I came up with which are all collected together in this eBook.
How to Look at Art with a Toddler: My first YouTube video and a printable! – This has a video of my sweet 2yo talking about art. How could I NOT love it?
5 Artworks to Promote Introspection – I love these artworks and also this series of posts I did at the beginning. Back when the blog was called Two Muses Homeschool, I called this series “Curated Homeschool.” I don’t do many of these because they take a long time to write. I have been doing one artwork per post instead because 5 with all the information is a bit much. I still love them though. There is a new one coming in January.
Exploring Narrative through Art – These are some of my favorite activities to do in front of artworks.

Here’s to a great 2015! Happy New Year!

December 19, 2014 9 Comments

25 Favorite Madonna and Childs in Art History

Of all the subjects in all of art history, I would place money on Madonna and Child being the most represented subject in art. Just type “Madonna and Child” into a Google image search, and you will find an endless list of beautiful artworks. Today, I was going to do a 5 favorite Madonna and Child paintings post, but I absolutely couldn’t pick 5. I moved it to 10, then 12, then 20, and then I ended up at 25. I just found a 26th, and I can’t leave it out, so technically there are 26 in this list now. I pretty much spent all day looking at Madonnas.

Click on the image to view it larger.

Egon Schiele, Mother and Child (Madonna), 1908

Giotto, Scenes from the Life of Christ, 1. Nativity, Birth of Jesus, 1304-06

German, Madonna on a Crescent Moon in Hortus Conclusus, 1450s

Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child, c. 1465

Felice Torelli, Virgin and Child with Angels and Saints, circa 1700

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos), Madonna and Child with Saint Martina and Saint Agnes, 1597-1599

Dieric Bouts, Virgin and Child, ca. 1455–60, Oil on wood

Bartolomé Estebán Murillo, Virgin and Child, ca. 1670–72

Woonbo Kim Ki-chang, The Birth of Jesus Christ, 1952-53

William-Adolphe Bouguereau, The Virgin of the Lilies (La Vierge au lys), 1899

the Art Curator for Kids - 5 Favorite Madonnas in Art - Paul Gauguin, la Orana Maria (Hail Mary), 1891, oil on canvas — Paul Gauguin, la Orana Maria (Hail Mary), 1891, oil on canvas

the Art Curator for Kids - 5 Favorite Madonnas in Art - Parmigianino, Madonna of the Long Neck, c. 1535-1540 — Parmigianino, Madonna of the Long Neck, c. 1535-1540

the Art Curator for Kids - 5 Favorite Madonnas in Art - French, Virgin and Child in Majesty, ca. 1175–1200 — French, Virgin and Child in Majesty, ca. 1175–1200

Ethiopia, Double Diptych Icon Pendant, early 18th century

the Art Curator for Kids - 5 Favorite Madonnas in Art - Edvard Munch, Madonna, 1895–1902, Color Lithograph — Edvard Munch, Madonna, 1895–1902, Color Lithograph

Sandro Botticelli, The Virgin and Child (The Madonna of the Book), 1480

Salvador Dalí, The Madonna of Port Lligat, 1949

Raphael, The Small Cowper Madonna, circa 1505, oil on panel

Peruvian, Virgin of the Rosary of Guápulo, ca. 1680, Oil on canvas

Paolo di Giovanni Fei, Madonna and Child, 1370s, Tempera on wood, gold ground — Paolo di Giovanni Fei, Madonna and Child, 1370s

Modern Madonna and Child, December 23, 1922, J.C. Leyendecker

John II Comnenus, Byzantine emperor, and his wife, Irene, with Madonna and child. Mosaic in Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, ca. 1118

Jean Fouquet, Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels, 1452, oil on panel

Icon of the Virgin Mary, 16th century. St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai

I’ll probably use these in future lessons on the blog. Let me know which one is your favorite so I know which one to do first. 🙂

I’m taking a 2 week blogging break. I’ll see in you 2015! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year! 🙂

December 17, 2014 Leave a Comment

Wordless Wednesday: Jester with a Lute by Frans Hals

Hello! I am back with Wordless Wednesday where I share with you some artworks that I love. Today, I’ve got an artwork that I have always loved. There is something about this painting that just makes me smile.

the Art Curator for Kids - Wordless Wednesday - Art History for Kids - Frans Hals - Jester with a Lute — Frans Hals, *Jester with a Lute*, c. 1620-25, Oil on wood

Frans Hals is a portrait painter from the Dutch “Golden Age.” (Think the same time period as Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Leyster). He just had such a great ability to capture a spirit and life in his portraits. I wonder if the joy you can find in his paintings was inspired by his large family. With 13(ish) kids, he had a lot of little smiling faces to be inspired by!

You can see more of the artwork of Frans Hals and read more about him on the Met Museum’s website.

December 15, 2014 4 Comments

12 Super Fun Collaborative Group Art Projects for Kids

Magic happens when kids work together in group art projects. From paint made with pudding to clay masks to painting with catapults, these collaborative group art projects for kids will be a hit in your home or classroom.

Family Collaborative Process Art by Twodaloo

Edible paint and cute, little babies. Squee! The activity is awesome, and the kids in her photos are adorable.

Painting with Vegetables by Fantastic Fun and Learning

This is a collaborative group art project over multiple sessions with a book tie-in and lessons on color. Very cool. I think my kids would love doing this together.

Diwali Rangoli Art from India by Kid World Citizen

I love this group art project. Colossal culture and color!

Silly Sensory Ball Kids Painting by B-Inspired Mama

I definitely need to do this with my girls. One of my daughter’s OT goals for her Sensory Processing Disorder is heavy work, and she LOVES art, so this would be a great fit for her.

Catapult Painting by Fun-A-Day

This is so good. So good. I can’t take it.

Big Art by You Clever Monkey

I love this blog, You Clever Monkey. Visit this link and check out Nichole’s blog. She’s awesome!

Collaborative Doodle Drawings from Pickle Bums

I love the focus on the faces of these kids. I love this collaborative group art project! Easy and fun.

Circle Painting by Kinders by Deep Space Sparkle

There is a reason why Kandinsky projects are all over the internet. They work, they are fun, they are freeing, and the final results are beautiful! If you don’t already visit Deep Space Sparkle for your art lessons, go there now. Right away.

Kimmy Cantrell-Inspired Ceramic Tile Mural by Deep Space Sparkle

This is an awesome, but it’s more labor-intensive than the other group art projects. It is well worth the results though!

Masterpiece Mosaics: a Collaborative Art Project for Grades K — 8 by Teach Kids Art

What a fun way to study and appreciate works of art!

Wild Art by Here Comes the Girls

A fun group art project inspired by earthworks artist Andy Goldsworthy.

Drawing Prompt: Fall Tree by Bambini Travel

This is a great idea. Adding a little bit of a drawing can really spark creativity for more hesitant little artists. Sometimes a blank piece of paper can be a scary thing!

For more awesome curated art content, check out my boards on Pinterest!
Visit Cindy @ The Art Class Curator’s profile on Pinterest.

December 12, 2014 1 Comment

Is it okay to hate a work of art?

Back when I taught art appreciation at a local community college, I had many many adult students who came into class saying things like “I just don’t get it!” or “My kid could paint that!” or “I just don’t like that artwork!”

In a way, I think many of my students felt like there is this thing that they are supposed to be or there is a bunch of stuff they should know before they are able to appreciate art. And, if they don’t like a painting, if that painting doesn’t do anything for them, that it is their fault.

Here’s the secret. It is totally OKAY to hate a work of art.

I was recently flipping through my pictures from my summer trip to New York City looking for an Oceanic artwork I thought I photographed at the Met to use in my Masterpiece Monday series. While clicking through the pics, I came across this one and recoiled.

Ugh. I really don’t like that painting. I had taken a picture of it just for the purpose of writing a post just like this one. I have strong feelings about this ones, my friends. It. is. the. worst. But, I do understand it’s value in this world as an extension of an artist and a moment in time. I respect its place in the world; I just don’t want to occupy that same space.

I always told my students that it is perfectly fine to hate a work of art, but just tell me why. Spend some time with it. Look at it a little longer if you can stand it, and see if it changes. Look at it again next week, and see if it changes. If it doesn’t, that’s fine.

Actually, it is more than fine. It’s good to hate an artwork. The artwork is making you feel and making you think, and that alone is awesome. Even if all you can think about is taking a knife to it.

Sarah Urist Green from the Art Assignment YouTube channel did a really great video recently on Art Critique. I recommend it as a way to think about how we can respect and discuss artworks we don’t find “interesting.” (Watch the video to find out about using that word.)

Long story short: My tip today is just to follow your interests. If you don’t like an artwork or an art movement, learn from it and then skip it. Find things you love and connect with and don’t feel bad if you don’t like it all.

Life is too short to look at ugly paintings.

December 10, 2014 Leave a Comment

Wordless Wednesday: Hellenistic Bronze Grotesque

There is just so much art out in the world, and I want you to see it all! But, I don’t have the time to write about it all. I’m going to start sharing some random artworks that I like every Wednesday for an art history-fied Wordless Wednesday! I am going to try not to write all about them, because honestly this will be a struggle here to just put this up and not say anything about it. I tend to overdo things.

Here’s your art for today.

the Art Curator for Kids - Wordless Wednesday - Art History for Kids - Hellenistic Bronze Grotesque — Bronze Grotesque, Hellenistic Greek, 2nd Century B.C.E. to 1st Century C.E., Met Museum

I came upon this one when I was researching art for Art Around the World in 30 Days. I pinned it, but didn’t end up choosing it for the series. It stayed on my mind though, because I really have never seen anything like this. It kind of reminded me of Gollum from Lord of The Rings, of medieval gargoyles, and of this Romantic Nightmare painting. I was so surprised when I read it was from Hellenistic Greece!

He’s delightful. You can read a little bit about him on the Met’s website (basically they don’t know a lot about it). I’m also surprising he is only 4 inches tall! My precious.

You should have heard my 2-year-old‘s response to this. She saw it on my screen, squealed with delight and laughed, and then start discussing his flip flops. It was adorable.

Enjoy! Let me know what you think of this one in the comments.

December 8, 2014 11 Comments

How Artists Depict Space

Hello there! Today on Masterpiece Monday, we are going to talk about how artist show space with South Beach Bathers by John Sloan. I’ve been using this artwork for years and years to teach about choices artists makes to show depth in their artworks.

Take a look and ask your student(s):

How does this artist show space/depth? How do we know that the people at the front are closer to us than the people in the background?

The Art Curator for Kids - How Artists Depict Space - Masterpiece Monday, John Sloan , South Beach Bathers, 1907-1908, Space Art Lesson, Elements of Art Lesson — John Sloan , *South Beach Bathers*, 1907-1908

This is a great exercise in looking and in figuring out all the things the artist has to do to convince us that a place and the people are real. Make sure you have your kids think through all of the strategies the artist used before giving them any of the below information. The learning happens through discovery not through telling.

Strategies for Depicting Space in Art

Position – The stuff at the bottom of the picture plane (the 2d space the painting occupies) is closer to us, and the stuff at the top is farther away. You can introduce art vocabulary words here–background, middleground, and foreground.
Size – The figures that are close to us are painted larger than the figures farther away.
Clarity – The figures that are farther from us are painted fuzzier and less detailed than the figures close to us. This is called atmospheric or aerial perspective.
Value – The use of shading adds form to the figures and adds to the depth.
Proportion – Proportion in art is the size of something in relationship to the size of something else. If something is “in proportion,” everything make sense to our eyes. The eyes are the right size on the face compared with the mouth, the hot dog is not too small or too big compare to the mouth, etc. Putting everything in the correct proportions makes the space believable.
Overlapping – When you overlap something on top of another thing. It tells our eyes that the thing on top is closer. If Sloan would have painted the above picture with no overlapping and each figure with space around it, it would flatten the picture and remove the realistic sense of depth.
Foreshortening – This is a way of shortening an object in order to make it appear as if it is coming out at the viewer in the artwork. Take a look at the arms of the woman standing. If you measure the arms, her left arm is shorter than the right. We know that her arms aren’t actually different lengths. Our eye sees her left elbow sticking out at us, and the artist understands how to manipulate his figures and proportions to show that to us.
Linear Perspective – This is not a strategy covered in the artwork above, but I didn’t want to leave it out. Learn more about linear perspective over at Khan Academy.

Six Ways to Create the Illusion of Space

I love this video illustrating many of these strategies with simple drawings from Italian art teacher Miriam Paternoster.

Space and Perspective Lessons and Project Ideas

Now that you have discussed this work with your kids, here are some extension activities and lessons about depicting space from around the web.

From Foreground to Background Lesson from the Getty Museum — This excellent lesson for upper elementary covers a lot of the above concepts in relationship to landscape painting. It has several resources and printables as well as focuses on a work from the Getty’s collection.
Free-Fall Foreshortening Art – This is a cute art project good for upper elementary about foreshortening.
Drawing Steps for One Point Perspective – A great step-by-step tutorial for drawing with one-point perspective with lots of pictures from . This is another great lesson for upper elementary and middle.
Hear, Near, and Far Winter Trees – This is a great lesson on Deep Space Sparkle for the younger lower Elementary kids on perspective introducing the idea in very simple terms. The results are lovely!
Perspective Drawing – A HUGE Collection of Perspective Lessons and Resources from the Incredible Art Department.

More About This Artwork

I filmed another video of me talking with my daughter about this artwork. That is coming later soon, and I will also talk a little bit more about this artist and artwork in that post. Warning: It is SO CUTE. 🙂

Want more elements and principles of art resources? Check out the below posts.