Title

Galleries of Fun

Have you ever visited an art gallery? Have you seen paintings by Monet, Picasso or da Vinci? Create your own masterpiece by using software such as Jump Start Artist. View and create your own gallery with With Open Eyes software, while also learning interesting facts and information about the great masters. The opportunities to paint, draw and exhibit your own art masterpieces and others artwork are limitless for kindergarteners through adults.

Galleries of Fun enhances A Palette of Fun with Arts and Crafts, a 4-H CCS visual arts curriculum.
Computer Resources
  • With Open Eyes
  • Jump Start Artist
About
  • With Open Eyes:
    Discover great works of art in this virtual gallery.  The Chicago Museum of Art offers games, puzzles, facts and fun as you and your child explore the museum's collection of notable artwork. Gather the artwork you like and save it in a scrap book for later viewing.
    About software specification
  • Jump Start Artist
    JumpStart Artist is a creativity and learning CD rolled into one! 
    It includes Painting & Drawing Tools - watercolors, oil paints, tempera paints, spray paints, colored pencils and chalk, and charcoal;
    Arts & Crafts Tools -stamps, stickers, buttons, puppets, collages, quilting, and stitching; Animated Movies where children can watch their pictures come to life in four exciting settings; Four fun games where kids learn Art FUNdamentals; Interactive games in an art carnival setting, each with 3 levels of complexity;  Introduction to famous art and artists, and art styles; Cultural Crafts & Folk Art from around the world; 60 idea starters to bring out and encourage creativity in each child; Parent/Child Art Activity Guide with 40 printable activities for offline arts and crafts fun. Meets National Standards for Arts Education
    About software specification
Art Content
Life Skills Learning to learn - acquiring, evaluating, and using information; understanding the methods and skills for learning 

Problem solving - clearly identifying a problem and a plan of action for resolution of the problem

Grade Level  Kindergarten - Adult
DO
Draw from a Master

Materials:

  • Sketchbook or drawing paper

  • Computer and printer, reproductions, or original artwork

  • Drawing supplies, such as markers, crayons, or colored pencils

Or Painting supplies, such as watercolors or tempera paints, brushes, jar of water, and paper towel

  • Pencil

  • Eraser

Setup:

  • Read through the activity.

  • Set out the supplies.

Background

Copying masterpieces or favorite pieces of art is fun and challenging. Copying  helps you see what is in the piece. Often we overlook a lot of what is in a work of art. While copying, you slow yourself down and begin to see the many details that bring the piece to life.

When you copy, you can learn how the original artist did it. You can see the lines, shapes, and colors more clearly. You can try to imitate them. You can see how the different parts of the piece fit together to make the whole composition.

You can also imagine what is happening in the picture and change it because you understand it better.

Ready, Sketch, Paint

1.   Find an example of one of your favorite paintings or drawings. You could look at the pieces from the Chicago Art Institute in With Open Eyes, find one in a museum on the internet, buy a postcard reproduction at a museum shop, look in art books, or choose one hanging in your home. Print out a copy if you found your example on the internet or a CD.

2.   Look at the artwork carefully. Notice the shape of the picture. Is it a long rectangle or almost a square? Is it high or wide? Draw a rectangle as large as you can on your paper, making its shape similar to the shape of the masterpiece.

3.   In pencil and color, copy the masterpiece. Try to capture the spirit of the piece –especially the qualities that attract you to it. You might like the colors, the action, the story, the lines, the different textures. Whatever it is that you like most, try to copy that. Do not worry if it’s not exactly like the piece.

4.   When you finish, tell someone about your copy.

Reference for illustrations: Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley, 1778, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.   http://www.nga.gov/
REFLECT

Reflect:

  • What do you like about the masterpiece? What is the spirit you tried to capture?

  • Describe some of the lines and colors you used.

  • What did you discover about the masterpiece by copying it? What did you learn about drawing or painting by copying it?
APPLY

Apply

  • Pretend you are the master. Draw or paint a new piece as if you were that artist.

  • Look at another favorite piece of art. How is it different from the first piece? Copy it.

  • Check these websites: 

Simplify

Children enjoy copying images they like and will often ask adults to draw something for them to copy. Children will generally select an image that is right for them. As an interested adult, look at the results through the child’s eye, asking them what they liked in the original that they have copied.

Enhance

Draw or paint the masterpiece again. This time, as you copy change the piece slightly. You might put yourself in the painting, or change the colors, or add hidden images. Have fun playing with the piece. The masterpiece will become your own.

Learning Indicators

The children:

  • Copied with attention to some qualities of the original piece.

  • Showed in word a deeper understanding of the masterpiece.


Experiential Learning Model
Sharing with Family & Friends
More Activities

Children's Literature

  • You Can't Take a Balloon Into the Metropolitan Museum by Jacqueline Preiss Weitman and Robin Preiss Glasser, 1998
  • Art Fraud Detective by Anna Nilsen, 2000
  • Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christina Bjork, 1985
  • The Great Art Adventure by  BobKnox, 1993

Software:

  • The World's Greatest Museum, CD, Grolier, 1-800-371-3908
  • The Louvre Museum for Kids, CD, Grolier, 1-800-371-3908
Extended Activities

Resources: Learn more ways to draw from the Masters from the book, Teaching Drawing from Art  by Wilson, Hurwitz, and Wilson.

Island Drawing - Gallaries Of Fun -Imagination on the Go - Create, Play & Explore

KIDSPACE ART