Under the Influence-Week 1

Well, yesterday was our first afterschool art class, “Under the Influence (of Art),” for Kindergarten-3rd graders. I thought the class went really well, and I’m so happy with what the kids drew! We learned about Marc Chagall. I showed them some pictures and explained that Chagall often painted his childhood memories or dreams. We discussed how we could tell his paintings were of dreams, and the kids had some great answers: the animals were wearing clothing, the people were floating or upside down, sizes were distorted, colors were blended, things looked “weird.” They learned that “weird” was also considered “surreal.”

Then everyone made their own dream pictures. Since it was the first day, we just used markers (they were sent home with a form that they should bring a smock in the future if they don’t want clothes to get messy). After they drew themselves floating over houses, trees etc., I encouraged them to fill in the whole page with colors. Then they each got a paintbrush and cups of water, so they could “paint” over their drawings, which created a blended look.

I was really happy with the outcome, and I hope they are too!