Vermeer Masterpiece; His glowing colours.

The Artist on show this month in the House of Sparrow is Jan Vermeer (1632-1675).

Now on paper for Artist Study we have a change in exhibitor every 3 weeks.....in reality our artists stick around for more like 4 before we move on and change the scenery.

Week 1..... is always an introduction to the artist, the sparrows get to look at a large selection of works, some in books, or on the IPAD and printed out and laminated. They learn a little about the artist himself and the talent he/she displayed and then they choose their favourite piece. The pieces they choose are displayed in the 'Dining Room Gallery'.

We have an art file on the IPAD with all the artists work that we have covered to date for them to look at (and scribble on!!) at their leisure. The laminated copies are also left out in the lounge for perusal.

This year I have used a great book "13 Artists children should know" by Angela Wenzel, to plan out the artist study schedule. Just to lay a foundation really...after that we are free to dive into the plethora of amazing artists waiting to be discovered.

Week 2....We take a more detailed look at the pieces they choose. Usually we play an observation game and the story game with each piece. They like to talk about what makes it their favourite work. We also recap on artist details.

Week 3...... Create your own masterpiece!!

We are in our last weeks of enjoying Mr. Vermeer's beautiful pieces and it was time to create our own masterpieces!

I chose for recreation 'The girl with the pearl earring' as of the 3 displayed pieces it best demonstrated Vermeer's skill with colour and the contrast in his paintings.

First we stuck white paper to the wall. Then the two biggest sparrows (No.3 didn't want to play!)chose coloured scarves, just like pirates I was told, to cover their heads. Once the lamp was pointed at them we were able to trace the silhouettes. I pencil drew in a few details for them (eyes, lips mouth) and they created the masterpiece, aiming to show Vermeer's glowing use of colour. Gabe used acrylics and Jesse used oil pastels (my favourite).

The boys really concentrated on the pieces and once finished I mounted their portraits on black paper and added them to the Dining Room Gallery. Gabe's is in red, Jesses' is the orange. I was so pleased with the effort they put in and loved their finished paintings.

The Sparrows admiring the new additions, with Toran casting his discerning eye over them.

All the while, No.3, who didn't want to paint, was sorting dinosaurs :)