Piet Mondrian Animals

We are continuing our "Wild About Art" theme with artist Piet Mondrian!

Students critiqued Mondrian's work using our "Art Talk" questions based on 

Describing, Analyzing, Interpreting, and Making Judgments.

Most students thought Mondrian's work was boring. I told them we would make them a bit more exciting. 

Then I introduced our "Mondrian Animals" lesson which I found in Arts and Activities Magazine.

Materials: white 12"x18" drawing paper, pencils, rulers, tempera paint in yellow, red, and blue, black sharpies, Red, Yellow, and Blue 12"x18" construction paper, scissors, and glue

Drawing the animal

I made copies of one of my "How to Draw Animals" book and set them on each table. Because students could choose their own animal, I was not going to be able to instruct how to draw each one. I was leery at first, but the third graders' drawings were awesome!

Rulers were used to create Mondrian's straight vertical and horizontal lines

We used Red, Yellow, and Blue tempera paint and students were allowed to leave white spaces as Mondrian did.

When the painting was complete, students traced their drawing and lines with a black sharpie. I had the students put mats under their papers so the marker wouldn't bleed through to the table. 

The paintings were cut out and glued to the student's choice of paper. Either red, yellow, or blue.