Josey’s Art School
Presents
This Lesson:
Alexander Calder “Fleur”
Artwork details
Medium: Original lithograph
Title: Le Fleur
Year: 1975
Edition: 90
Sheet Size: 30" x 27"
Discussion
· Alexander Calder was born in 1898, in Lawnton, Pennsylvania. He was born into a family of artists. His father Alexander Stirling Calder was a prominent sculptor who created many public sculptures in the Philadelphia area. Calder's mother, Nanette Lederer Calder, was a professional portrait painter who studied art in Paris before moving to Philadelphia where she met her husband Alexander Stirling Calder.
· In 1902, at the age of four, Alexander completed his first sculpture - a clay elephant. In 1909, when he was in the fourth grade, Alexander sculpted a dog and a duck from a sheet of brass. The duck, which could rock back and forth, is one of his earliest examples of his interest in kinetic (moving) sculpture.
· Although Calder's parents supported Alexander's creativity, they discouraged their children from becoming artists, as the life of an artist is often uncertain and financially difficult. In 1915, following his parent’s advice, Calder decided to study mechanical engineering, and enrolled in the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. Four years later he received his degree.
· Calder's interest in art never left him. Though he had tried to please his parents by becoming an engineer, he decided to pursue a career in art instead.
· Alexander Calder died on November 11, 1976 in New York. He is most remembered for inventing the mobile.
SOURCE: http://makingartfun.com/htm/f-maf-art-library/alexander-calder-biography.htm
Materials needed
Pencil (to write the child’s name on the back of the work)
8.5x11 or 9x12 white cardstock/precut poster board/watercolor paper– something with a bit more stability to it than copy paper in order to withstand the amount of paint and glue your students will be using. You will need enough for each participant to use as the base for his/her artwork
This is a lesson that can be adapted in many ways depending on the age and skill level of your classroom.
Choose between these two options:
a. Yellow and black tempura paint. You might want to have a hair dryer handy for helping ‘excessive’ paint to dry.
b. Use crayons, markers and colored pencils in the same colors as listed above
Paintbrushes and water bowls
Optional: White Cardstock cut of a petal
Markers or pens– black
Baby wipes
Aprons
Length of Time/Duration of project:
30 minutes
Prep work:
Only prep work is to gather the materials unless you are creating a petal stencil. This should take no more than about 20 -30 minutes
Instructions
1.Take your piece of white paper that you are using as the base for the project and write the child’s name on the back of the paper or let them write their names on their own.
2.Have the child begin by creating an oval in the middle of the bottom of the page using a pencil. Then add 2 more rings around the oval.
3.You have a few options for how you want to proceed with developing the main thrust of the project. I work with 3-5 year olds in a Montessori setting. This means that you are met with a gamut of skill levels. Some children will have no problem free drawing the shapes. Some may need to have you create a stencil for them to trace the shapes. I would encourage you to open to allowing each student to work within their skill set.
4.Use words like “football” or “flower petals” to describe the shape the students will need to make around the edge of the circles.
5.(Stencil option): Take your petal stencil and place it randomly around the oval and trace the petal with a pencil.
6.Use your yellow medium (tempura paint/watercolor paint/crayon/marker) and fill in the main part of the oval.
7.Add STRAIGHT lines around the petal with a pencil.
8.Paint the main petals using your black medium (crayons/paint/marker/colored pencil).
9.Trace the remaining lines an outline all painted areas with black pen/marker.
10.Let Dry. (This could be the time that you talk more about the artist)
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