Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Replicating Monet’s Water Lilies (in 3-D)


My son’s art teacher exposed him to the mastery of Claude Monet. To piggyback on what he was learning at school, I thought we’d make our own impressionism replica of his gardens at Giverny, specifically the ponds with their spectacular water lilies.


First we read about Claude’s life, learned about what impressionism was, and discovered the artist’s infatuation with the way light reflected off of all the things in nature.


Then I gave my son some watered-down acrylic paints and a big sheet of art paper. He painted it blue with hints of lavender. He was discouraged that he didn’t get the whole paper covered. I reminded him that the lighter (or white) spots would just look like light reflecting on the water. Suddenly the very thing that he found frustrating was a source of pride!

I sped up the drying time with my hair dryer. Then he traced some lily pad shapes onto sticky-backed sheets of green foam. When they were cut out, he peeled off the paper backing and attached the pads to the water.

Next, I cut apart a cardboard egg carton. Then, with scissors he cut lots of V shapes out of their edges to look like the lily pad flowers.

All that was left to do was paint each, blow them dry, and glue them atop the lily pads.


This idea came from Judy Press’ book Around-the-World Art & Activities.

16 comments:

  1. Wow those water lilies look wonderful.

    Thanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!

    Maggy

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this idea! Pinning it so I can remember to do it for a pond unit or a Monet lesson (if I ever do something like that!) Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the egg carton made into water lillies, they also look like cute little homes for toy frogs.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Monet's Waterlilies are my absolute favorite. Definitely doing this with my kiddos!! They are already quite familiar with his paintings...I take them with me to the art museum every year around my birthday just to admire his work one more time ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love this project! It turned out beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a fun and beautiful project. I love the way they turned out.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love this idea. My daughter's class is focusing on art and artists this week so we may have to try this out! Thanks for joining the Afterschool Blog Hop!

    ReplyDelete
  8. So cute and looks like a lot of fun!

    Thanks for joining Make Yourself Monday!! :o)

    Jamie
    For Love of Cupcakes

    ReplyDelete
  9. these are lovely!!!

    Thanks for linking up to Serenity Saturday, hop to see you again this Saturday
    www.serenityyou.blogspot.com

    Natasha xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. Absolutely LOVELY!! It turned out so beautiful. Pinning this one too.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congratulations! Your post has been featured on T.E.A.C.H @ Cachey Mama's Classroom. Go to this link to see and get your featured button: http://preschoolteacher81.blogspot.com/2011/12/teach-featured-postspins.html
    Lori

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great idea! I will have to keep this in mind in the Spring when one of our local parks has great display of water lilies

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is fantastic. I am adapting this idea within my art classroom. It won't be the same but your take on lilies and making them 3D is a phenomenal way to get the kids excited. Thanks for the push! You can follow the fun at my blog! :)

    ReplyDelete