Degas Dancers

For the most part, when I introduce the project we will be doing, I hear things like this from the kids: 

"Cool! That looks fun!"

"Awesome!"

But every so often I pick a lesson that gets met with:

"Uhhh... that looks hard" 

"I don't know if I can do that, Mrs. Lesley" 

This was that lesson. 

I had done two Mimicking the Masters classes in the winter and really enjoyed introducing the kids to great artists and their work. So I decided to do another round with different artist. After introducing Edgar Degas all the girls in this group decided that he was in love with ballerinas lol

To practice our ballerinas I had several printouts of Degas' and other artists for them to choose from. We practiced sketching with charcoal.

Then they set to work on their canvases.

Background color of their choice and a little dry brush black on the sides to frame our ballerina.

Painting in white first was a brilliant idea that was from Bloom Print Project lesson on Degas. The white allowed the girls to get the shape of the ballerina down without fear because as long as the paint was wet, a baby wipe would take care of a misplaced arm or a funky head without disturbing the background color.

Next they added the black paint. 

Some asked to have hints of a complementary color or gold to make their prima ballerina shimmer a bit. 

While others wanted something feminine💄

I got this fabulous lesson from Bloom Print Project to see more fabulous lessons check out the website here!