Starry Night Challenge

Vincent Van Gogh - Starry Night

This week, our professor modeled a lesson on Vincent van Gogh that we could one day use in our own K-8 classroom.  Our professor, Mrs, Preszler, gave us a short presentation on the history of Van Gogh and then gave us two art projects that went along with the lesson.

The first project we attempted was a tissue paper collage that was supposed to be a re-creation of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" but with our own twist to it.

Katelynn Lovrien - Oh Holy Night

I decided to create a dreary, blizzarding, night where the only trace of light is coming from one big bright star shining through the darkness.  In the story of Jesus' birth, a bright star led shepherds and wise men to the place where their savior was born.  I wanted my creation to tell a similar story, where one star shines in the darkness to show the way to rest, peace, and forgiveness.

The second project we did was very messy but very fun.  For the second project, Mrs. Preszler asked a room full of college students to roll up their sleeves and do some finger painting.  

Our second creation gave us an opportunity to try to create the same type of strokes and movement with our paint that Van Gogh created with his paint in Starry Nights. 

I decided to create a lovely sunset scene.  This creation required a foreground, middle ground, and background.

Lovely Sunset- Katelynn Lovrien

I would totally use a lesson like this in my classroom because it was educational and fun.  You could really do this with any artist and have the students re-create famous works of art with their own spin on it.  You could also display a piece of art and ask the students to write a story of what happen before the "image" was captured in the piece of art.  For example, I would display Starry Night and ask the students to write a story about the Starry Night village before the sun set and the sky filled with stars.  

The Principals and Elements of Art

Fingal Beach in Australia- This photo is an example of COLOR.  

This was taken here in Aberdeen.  It is an example of MOVEMENT

London Donuts are an example of GEOMETRIC SHAPES

This is a church on the island of Patmos, Greece and illustrates TEXTURE

This is a garden at Hampton Court Palace in London.  This photograph is an examples of LINES.  The lines in the garden create shapes and define spaces.