We took a little time to do some artist study today.  It has been sadly lacking of late. I don't know if it is just me being lazy or me be busy but I just never seemed to get to it.

We have had Linnea in Monet's Garden on our shelf for weeks. I found it on the used book shelf at the library for 50 cents.  I couldn't pass it up especially since it was hard back and in perfect condition.

My kids sat around me as I read the narrative and we all poured over the pictures. There are illustrations, some of Monet's actual paintings and photographs from Monet's garden in Giverny scattered throughout.


It really is a lovely book to read through. I also happened to put the movie of the book on our Netflix instant queue so after we read the book we watched it. The film didn't include all the book but it included a few extra paintings and different pictures that aren't included in the book so it was nice to watch. The kids were a little disappointed that the film seemed to cut off just before she actually got to see the water lily paintings.

So what good artist study would be complete without an art project. So I got out the paints. I read about this project done just a few days ago and thought it would be perfect for my kids to attempt.

We taped down our paper (I really wish I had had some good watercolor paper or sturdy paper. I just used cardstock but it ended up a little flimsy when it became saturated with paint.) and got started on laying down a fluid, water like  background. I had a really hard time getting them to not just make is one solid block of blue. I kept telling them to leave some of the green and blue and brown showing but in the end each paper looked pretty much blue with little to break up the monotony of the color.

I took them outside for a short bike ride to get them out of the house while their backgrounds dried. I knew they wouldn't be able to wait if they were sitting waiting for the paint to dry.

When we returned we added the water lilies and finishing touches to the paintings.

Henry didn't want to do the water lilies on a separate paper and then glue them on. He wanted to paint his one just like Monet did. So after he had his whole blue painted paper dry enough he added his own water lilies and vines and things to his painting. It actually turned out better than I thought it would. This kid usually goes overboard with the paint and it becomes a massive mess.

Ian almost always goes with the simple.

Here is Sophie's finished product.

And even Molly got into the action and did a painting of her own. She of course required PINK. She can't paint without her favorite color.

My kids are very proud of their finished works. They can't wait until I say they are fully dry and they can hang them on their walls.

I am happy that they were able to get a little art study in today.