Bruegel Books and Notebooking Page

Our artist this term has been Pieter Bruegel. With Charlotte Mason artist study, the idea is to become so familiar with the artist’s work that you can recognize other pieces by the artist which you have not studied. Bruegel’s look is so distinctive, that I feel confident both Sprite and I can recognize his work. A lot of his paintings are jam-packed with detail, almost overwhelmingly so.

Bruegel was not Sprite’s favorite artist, and certainly not one whose art we would want to hang in the living room. But I found our study quite interesting. Besides our regular picture study, we read a few books which I found at the library. Sprite did some written narrations of those books on free Bruegel notebooking ages from The Notebooking Fairy.

Books We Used

• Pieter Bruegel’s Tower of Babel: The Builder with the Red Hat
• Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists: Pieter Bruegel (super easy)
• Pieter Bruegel (Life and Work Of…)

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we saw one of Bruegel’s original works (see the photo here). It was neat to see it again in books and be able to say that we had seen the real thing. Trips to art museums really bring art alive!

Although I normally have Sprite do a reproduction of some type for each artist we study, we chose to forgo that assignment with Bruegel. Sprite didn’t really connect with any of his art, and a lot of it seemed too busy for a reproduction. Originally I thought I would have her zero in on a small section of a painting, but since she wasn’t terribly excited about it, I chose to drop it altogether. The reproduction is an optional activity as far as CM artist study is concerned.

Analyzing a Bruegel with Smart Art

I did ask her to choose a painting to analyze with the Smart Art material. Based on her analysis, she wrote a brief paragraph. I think it’s important to have children write about a wide variety of subjects, including art.

Short Paragraph Analysis

Another interesting activity for Bruegel was with his painting Proverbs which depicts over 100 Flemish proverbs. Using this PDF guide, Sprite tried to identify the various proverbs shown. It was much harder than it seemed. (A warning: This guide does have profanity on #9! It is a worthy resource, but you will probably want to edit that four letter word before handing it over.)

A wrap up activity at the end of our study was using a page of Bruegel thumbnails for a sorting exercise. Sprite cut out the small images, and planned a way to organize them into groups which she labeled on a notebooking page.

Thumbnail Sorting

You can find more about Bruegel at Bruegel Artist Study.

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2011 Art Calendar

It’s sort of ridiculous how often I’ve mentioned the Metropolitan page a day art calendar on this blog. (Here, here, here, and here.) But I’m crazy about it. I’ve already received my 2012 edition, and it’s packed away on the shelf, awaiting the new year.

That daily dose of beauty helps us keep our momentum with artist studies. Every day brings a chance to review periods of history with the visual reminder of the calendar pages.

Right now we are in the best part of the year as far as the art calendar is concerned. Each page of the calendar holds two dates — one on the front for the first half of the year and another on the back for the second half. That means that every day from July 1 on brings another page that is finished and can be used for art projects.

The only difficult part is choosing which one of the beautiful works of art to use? Front or back?

Here is a list of all the ways you could reuse the pages from a page a day art calendar in your homeschool. They aren’t just art ideas but span language arts and history as well.

• choose two pieces to compare and contrast
• tell the story you see in the art
• use descriptive language to describe what you see in the art
• arrange (a select group of) the art in chronological order like a timeline (don’t peek at the dates)
• illustrate history notebooking pages
• decorate a bedroom or homeschool area
• make artist study files for future use
• sort (a select group of) art into artistic styles
• sort (a select group of) art by artist
• add the art to your art notebook
• let the art inspire a haiku, limerick, acrostic, or other poem
• make your own board games or flashcards
• use the art for modpodge projects or for note cards

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Our artist for the term is Paul Gauguin.

Artist Study Background

While most Charlotte Mason homeschoolers focus on one piece of art a week, we prefer to narrate a piece each day. For some reason a daily activity is easier for me to remember and implement than a weekly or monthly one. (Our poetry study is done in the same way.)

Some people use online resources for art, but I prefer a book. I rely on used book stores and thrift stores for excellently priced “coffee table” art books.  (If that’s not an option, I have bought the Taschen art books.) As long as the books are full of color reproductions, they are great for artist study. We skip over ones that might make us feel icky (violent, graphic, or just sad).

How I Design Sprite’s Lessons

Art is a subject that Sprite and I both enjoy, so we use it as a springboard for many other areas such as geography, reading, and writing. This interdisciplinary learning is a foundation of a Charlotte Mason education — letting children find connections among concepts. Learning does not need to be segmented into strict categories.

Your artist study doesn’t have to be this detailed. I’m taking this almost to a unit study level. Realize that as we do art, we are also sneaking in other academic areas.

Paul Gauguin Details

Our Paul Gauguin artist study revolves around a HUGE second hand book and some additional titles I reserved from the library:

1. Paul Gauguin (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists) A simple overview.
2. The Yellow House LOVE this one since it ties Van Gogh with Gauguin in a beautiful picture book.
3. Paul Gauguin (Artists in Their Time) A more thorough treatment.

I created some notebooking pages which you can also download and use for your own Gauguin study.

Paul Gauguin Notebooking Pages - Four layouts in three line styles for a total of twelve printable notebooking pages featuring the artist Paul Gaugin.

I integrated geography into our artist study with the help of some printable maps from Scholastic’s Ready-to-Go Super Book of Outline Maps. (I bought that as an ebook from the Scholastic website at a discounted price. I have used it time and time again because the maps are so nicely done.) As a location was mentioned, I had Sprite locate and mark it on her map pages.

I normally have Sprite choose one work of art to “make her own” by creating a reproduction. She chose the painting Reverie.

Then I asked to to choose another piece to analyze with the material from the Smart Art book. She chose Reverie again. From her notes on the evaluation form from Smart Art, she wrote a one paragraph analysis of the color and emotion in the painting.

Remember, we don’t use a formal writing curriculum. Instead, I look for opportunities like this one to integrate writing into what we are otherwise studying. An artist study certainly doesn’t have to include a writing assignment.

I created a Squidoo lens with more details about a Gauguin Artist Study where you can read Sprite’s paragraph and find more printables to download.

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We spent two days in New York City. (Get a rope.) Our time was limited, so we saw only two things. The most important things, in our minds:

1. The Statue of Liberty (only from a distance)
2. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Because the Met was so amazing, I am totally satisfied with our short time in NYC.

Taking a trip to an art museum — any art museum– is a wonderful experience just as is watching a Shakespearean play or listening to a live symphony. So if you have a chance to attend any type of fine arts experience, I recommend you take it whether you’ve studied the topic before or not.

However, after our trip to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, I am so thankful for our years of artist study. In a Charlotte Mason style, we study one artist per term, looking at one piece of art each day. We add on some simple biographical background and do at least one reproduction of the artist’s work. It doesn’t take a lot of time each day, but consistent exposure to art adds up over the years.

At the Met, both Sprite and I were able to appreciate the pieces on a much deeper level than simply thinking, “I like that one.”

For that matter, if we hadn’t done any artist studies, I doubt we would have been as interested in visiting The Met. Maybe we would’ve spent our few hours in NYC walking in Central Park or gazing in the expensive shops. That’s why I say that CM artist study “took us to The Met.”

We saw familiar pieces that we had studied before.

Van Gogh self portrait

Degas, Monet, and Picasso

Toulouse-Lautrec & Van Gogh

Picasso & Vermeer

Vermeer & Seurat

We saw art from historical periods that we had studied.

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Greece

We guessed at painters and were thrilled to see that we were right.

Renoir & Degas

We found favorites from our art calendar.

Of course, the objective of our daily artist studies is not to improve our experience at art museums. That is only a secondary benefit. Our trip to the Met verified that Charlotte Mason artist study  is providing Sprite (and me) a solid overview of art — both understanding and appreciating it. To see her recognize the works of various artists and be excited to visit The Met proves the value of a CM education.

Don’t underestimate the value of small but consistent increments of time.

[If you understand the "get a rope" line at the beginning, be sure to let me know in a comment. I couldn't resist.]

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My first exposure to Jacob Lawrence was when I was teaching public school.  Our English textbook had some art transparencies that I used each Friday as writing prompts.

Lawrence’s image of Harriet Tubman forcing fearful slaves northward made a strong impression on me. The story goes that some escaping slaves were so tired of the journey that they wanted to give themselves up. Harriet Tubman pulled out a gun and threatened to kill them if they didn’t keep moving forward. Her drastic actions were necessary to protect the entire Underground Railroad movement. It was always a favorite with the class because of the vivid story behind the art.

When Sprite and I began doing artist study, I knew that eventually Jacob Lawrence would be an artist we would include. Back in America this summer, I purchased two books we could use. And here is the bulk of our artist study this term.

websites

• The Migration Series at The Phillips Collection
• YouTube Video with narration by Jacob Lawrence
• Jacob Lawrence Exploring Stories at the Whitney Museum of American Art

books

1. Story Painter: The Life of Jacob Lawrence This was our primary source for art prints. It’s a full-color book with an engaging biography of Lawrence that I felt hadjust the right level of detail for a middle schooler.
2. Jacob Lawrence (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists) This book has smaller images and a less in-depth biography. It would be suitable for younger elementary students.

printables and activities

Sprite is learning to type with Typing Instructor for Kids , so she is doing more and more of her work in Word and printing it out. These Jacob Lawrence notebooking pages are an example. (She cut out her text and glued it to the notebooking pages.)
• notebooking pages — with full color images (see image above for thumbnails)
• Colby College Museum of Art — full color image of Builders#1 plus questions for discussion.
• Heckscher Museum of Art –28 page PDF with lots of full color art by Lawrence plus Lesson plans. If you wanted to study Lawrence without buying a book, this PDF could serve as your source of art prints.
• New Orleans Museum of Art — In-depth biographical information as well as (B&W) artwork with analysis.

Sprite chose an image of a train moving through the night, one of the Migration series, to duplicate.

Our study of Jacob Lawrence was also a great review of some of the American history we studied for the last two years — the Underground Railroad, the Harlem Renaissance, and the American Civil Rights Movement.

This is another perk of including the arts in your curriculum. Art ties together so many disciplines that it is a wonderful complement to whatever you study.

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I received an email with this question and I thought I’d address it here in a blog  post.

“You both do art and music study. I want to incorporate these because I think they are important; however, he doesn’t seem interested. Should I push this and require it or not?”

[Just so you know, this mom's child is a high school student.]

To start art and music in high school years would be hard if that interest is not there. Young ones are more malleable. That’s why laying the foundation of a love of fine arts is so important.  But I don’t think it’s too late.

I’d hate to force it, but maybe some intentional exposure would pique some interest. For example, have Bach or Mozart playing each day in the background, or lay art prints around on the coffee table. Try to entice him to bite the bait. When he does, you’ll be ready with some spontaneous art or music lessons. (Here are some discussion questions for art & for music you may want to have handy.)

But then again, a narration of a painting is really quick. It takes just minutes. Capitalize on the student’s interests to draw him in. This particular child loves animals, so I suggested that the mom choose an artist who painted a lot of animals. I think that requiring two minutes of focused study on a painting and then two more minutes of verbal narration would not be torture for any child as long as the painting was interesting to him. Look at this list of subject matter, and find an area that would be engaging — animals, children, flowers, history, etc.

Other ideas

• Take a field trip to a museum or go to a concert.
• Use an art calendar as a way to sneak in more art.

What do YOU suggest for introducing a reluctant student to art and music?

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We’re about halfway finished with our study of Matisse, our artist for the term. There’s no real reason why this term is Matisse except that we had an over-sized Matisse art book on hand.  I just randomly choose artists for us to study. And I think that if you’re trying to begin artist study, it doesn’t really matter where you start. Just choose an artist and plunge in. The artist doesn’t have to tie into your history lessons at all.

Sprite has asked me several times why Matisse and Picasso were always painting nudes. So she noticed. Yes, well, I’m not exactly sure myself. (But I ventured a convoluted explanation anyway.) We tend to skip over the nude paintings and sculptures for our daily art narrations. I don’t go so far as to rip out the pages or black them out. We just flip over them and get to a piece that doesn’t cause so much discomfort.

Books

Henri Matisse: Drawing with Scissors (Smart About Art)

I love, love, love this series of books. They are so interesting and full of graphics.

Henri Matisse art spine

CM said to study one artist per term with one painting every one to two weeks. But we do a painting daily.

Notebooking

Artist biography page from History Scribe.

Activity

Since Matisse did some of his art by cutting out shapes from painted paper, we chose to do a collage style reproduction. To make it really interesting, Sprite chose one of Matisse’s paintings to reproduce from cut out paper shapes.

Sprite’s is the smaller one on the left. Mine is the larger one on the right. It was a really fun activity, and far more challenging that I imagined.

Matisse Reproductions

See how simple artist study is? Actually, you don’t even have to do the notebooking page or the reproduction at all. Just a regular exposure to the artwork of one artist each term is all you need. [By the way, this post compiles many weeks of study, so don't think that we do this kind of in-depth art study daily.]

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I’ve found another painless way to inject art into our day. This beautiful 2010 Page a Day Art Gallery Calendar has been sitting on my shelf for a couple of months, just waiting for the new year. And now we can finally use it!

I had read that these calendars sell out every year, and so I bought it plenty early to assure our own set. Sure enough, when I just checked Amazon to share the link with you, the 2010 calendar is already unavailable. (But they’re taking pre-orders for 2011! Talk about faith filled living. I can’t imagine buying next year’s calendar today.)

It’s an eclectic mix of artists — some we’ve studied:

Vermeer & Van Gogh.

And some we’ve never even heard of:

So the calendar is a great way to find new artists to learn about and review art that we should already recognize.

I look forward to recycling the calendar pages for Sprite’s art notebook once we’re past the half year mark. Each sheet is used twice in the year — first the front and then the back.

Just a reminder, this is the time of year (or soon to be) when calendars go on sale. So if you need artist study material, keep your eyes peeled for bargains. A half price wall calendar has super large prints for a fraction of what a coffee table book would cost. And you won’t feel guilty for tearing it apart for an art notebook.

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Sprite had complained recently that artist study was getting a bit repetitive. “All we do is look at the painting, and I narrate it. I want to do something different sometimes!”

Hmmm…. good point, Sprite. Simplicity doesn’t have to be boring.

Looking at the Railroad Cards

It just so happens that I had a great resource tucked away for our American history studies –Child-Size Masterpieces – Transportation in America. The book is actually a set of postcard sized art cards  printed on cardstock, meant to be cut apart.

The back of each card has the title of the art, the artist’s name, the date of the painting,  a paragraph or two about painting itself, a bit of information about the artist, and a timeline date of what the painting depicts (often different from the date it was painted).

Showing Off the Backs of the Cards

Using Transportation in America, I added these assignments to Sprite’s schedule. (Of course, at each step, there was plenty of discussion going on about the art and the history portrayed in the art.)

• Day 1 — Take the book apart, and cut out all 40+ cards with the guillotine cutter.
• Day 2 — Without looking at the backs, try to put all of the cards in timeline order. Check the order against the dates on the backs, and fix any mistakes. Stack them in order, and put a rubber band around them.
• Day 3 — Look at all the cards again, and sort them by mode of transportation. Make sets and put them in the clear sleeves. (Affix the tiny art on the front as labels.)
• Day 4 — Let’s talk about the railroad cards.

On Day 4, I asked Sprite to arrange the only the train cards in chronological order.  Then she chose one painting to focus on for narrating back orally. It was wonderful to tie our art into the history we’d been studying. I asked her, “What do you see in the painting that reflects aspects of our history study?” After she shared, I read the back of the card to her. And art study was done for the day.

I think we’ll continue working through the train cards before we move on to another mode of transportation.  It’s not strictly a Charlotte Mason artist study as Miss Mason directed, but I am a firm believer in variety. How do you spice up artist study when it gets a bit dull? Have you ever used any of the Child Sized Masterpieces?

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We’re studying Westward Expansion — the Oregon Trail, the Transcontinental Railroad, and the Gold Rush. And for the first time ever, I tied our artist study to our history studies.

And I’m departing from the traditional Charlotte Mason method of one artist per term. Instead, we’re looking at a variety of artists who painted the West.

Our first artist is George Catlin. Our art book had only 10 Catlin works, so it was a quick three week study. (We narrate a piece daily instead of weekly.)

Art Prints Source

The Art of the Golden West (I got mine for $7 at a used book store the last time I was in USA.)

Notebooking

Catlin Notebooking Pages (that I made)

Websites

National Gallery of Art for Kids on Catlin (image rich)

George Catlin and His Indian Gallery (text & image rich)

George Catlin’s Obsession (text rich)

Creative Application

Art Sonia Indian Portrait Create a portrait of a fictional Native American in the style of George Catlin.

Lesson Plans

Campfire Stories with George Catlin

PBS: Images of the West

Today we started artist #2 — Frederic Remington. His art includes sculpture as well, something we don’t often study.

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