Van Gogh Starry Night

I like having students make their own simplified version of famous paintings, which can encourage their appreciation of the original.

1. View Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”, and discuss the composition; the foreground tree, the middle ground hills, and the background stars.
2. On a 12" x 9" turquoise paper, have the students draw their own simple tree or bush, just to the left of the center. Behind the tree are several simple hills. In the sky are at least 3 small circular stars. The students are to make the stars and hills "grow" with a series of larger circles and curves. Encourage them to make just a few of each with lots of space in between.
3. The pencil lines are traced with a thin black marker.
4. Lastly, good colored pencils are used to color all the shapes in.

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Van Gogh Pastel Sunflowers

This is a tribute to Van Gogh’s famous “Sunflowers” painting.

1. Instruct the students to draw a line for the table, and then the outline of a jar above it. Show them the jar in the original painting so they can add a curved middle line for dimension, and sign their name, in the style of Van Gogh.
2. Ask them to draw a series of circles for flowers, some large, some small, maybe some even going off the page. Add small petals around the flowers.
3. Connect the flowers to the jar by drawing stems, and add leaves.
4. Trace all the pencil lines with a medium size black marker.
5. Have the students fill in the shapes with good oil pastels. Show them that if they color everything very solidly, their picture will look much like an oil painting.

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Van Gogh Ceramic Landscape

Van Gogh was known for his thickly painted landscapes, so you can replicate the look with clay and kiln and glazes.

1. Give each student about a baseball-size piece of clay, and have them form a smooth ball. Show them how to press the ball into a thick pancake, using a roller if possible.
2. Give each student a stick or stylus, and have them etch a drawing into the clay. It's good to start with a horizon line, and then add a road, grass and sky.
3. Fire the clay plates, glaze paint, and fire again. Vibrant Van Gogh-ish colors are essential!

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Mini Impressionist Mural Set

Thanks to the popularity of my first two Mini Mural sets, I’ve created a third in honor of the Impressionist masters: Vincent Van Gogh, Georges Seurat, and Paul Gauguin. My Mini Murals are great for smaller groups, ambitious individuals or family fun. (Click on the image to view the blank templates and final sizes.)
You can purchase my pdf file with instructions for just $5. Click the “Add to Cart” button below to make your payment and receive download instructions.

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Starry City Night

Vincent Van Gogh's “Starry Night” painting has inspired many an art project, and this is just one more.

1. Distribute 9" x 12" watercolor paper, and ask students to make several large yellow oil pastel circles of various sizes in the top half. Next they are to draw with a blue oil pastel lots of curvy lines that go around all the yellow circles.
2. Give the students blue liquid watercolor paint and have them “wash” the entire paper with the blue paint.
3. Each student is to take a 6" x 12" sheet of black paper, and with a white oil pastel, draw a sky line that stairsteps up and down to make a building silhouette. (Make sure that the skyline is drawn horizontally and not vertically to match the watercolor paper.) Lots of details should be added, like windows and doors.
4. Lastly, the black silhouette should be cut out and glued to the sky background.

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Sunflowers, Up Close & Personal

Vincent Van Gogh is probably most famous for sunflower paintings. This project shows how pictures can become more interesting when some shapes “break” the frame and actually appear to go off the paper.

1. After viewing Van Gogh’s sunflower print from 1888, give the students an extra large paper, (I used 10" x 13") and an old CD to use as a template. They are to trace the CD just once somewhere on the paper – left, top, or right side, extended a bit off the page.
2. Students may add their own radiating flower petals, stems and leaves. They should give some consideration to making their artwork look balanced. For instance, if one large flower is on the right, then a couple of smaller ones should be added to the left to create a visual balance.

3. When the pencil drawing is complete, all lines are traced with a gray oil pastel (I used the Portfolio® brand). The flowers and sky are colored in. Heavy coloring will imitate the dense look of Van Gogh’s paintings.

CA National Arts Standard: Grade Six

Analyze Art Elements and Principles of Design

1.4 Describe how balance is effectively used in a work of art (e.g., symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial).

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