Monday, September 5, 2011

Fine Art: "Coming from the Mill"

For art appreciation this year, we are using the book Where in the World? Around the Globe in 13 Works of Art by Bob Raczka.
We began in the middle of the book with Coming from the Mill, by L.S. Lowry in 1930. This was painted in Salford, England, so we're including it in our unit study on the British Isles.
I based our first fine art lesson of the school year on Charlotte Mason's instructions in Home Education.
1. I opened the book and asked the children to quietly study the picture, then tell me what they could find out about it. My children chose to describe the buildings (house, church, skyscraper) and show me where all those people were going.
2.  I told them what I knew about the painter and the painting (mostly paraphrasing what I had just read on the facing page--thanks Bob Raczka). I also pointed out that Lowry's buildings were outlined in black, then colored in.
3. Then I gave my kinder some heavy paper (cover stock) and a black colored pencil. She drew a house with a sidewalk. Then I gave her watercolor paints, and she completed the painting to her own satisfaction.

"The art training of children should proceed on two lines. The six-year-old child should begin both to express himself and to appreciate, and his appreciation should be well in advance of his power to express what he sees or imagines," (Home Education, Charlotte Mason, kindle edition, page 201, location 4587).

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