Atelier Art, Level 1 - Module A, Lesson 2

Picasso Hands and Flowers

Although this was only our second time using Atelier Art, I have been quite impressed at how well Tessa listens to the instructor on the DVD. She follows her instructions and movements way better than she does mine. I'm always tense when an art project involves paint...more so when my laptop is sitting a mere two feet from the paint and water bucket. After we got past Tessa tracing her hands (I had to help her a bit...Tessa tracing with her left hand just wasn't happening) and I realized that hey, she's doing a pretty good job, my tension eased considerably. I was able to take some pics. By the end, I was actually enjoying myself watching her paint.

"Picasso Hands and Flowers" is a lesson on color. It teaches that there are three primary colors and that those colors may be mixed to make secondary colors. The lesson also introduces renowned painter Pablo Picasso and features his painting Mains Aux Fleurs. Since Picasso is the key artist for this module, I'm considering using this lesson as a jumping off point for a quick artist study.

Tessa carefully mixed yellow with red to make orange, blue with red to make violet, and yellow with blue to make green.

After tracing her hands and then painting the middles of the flowers, Tessa used her freshly mixed green paint to paint stems.

Tessa painted the last of her petals orange.

Although not instructed to do so during the instructional portion of the DVD, the children featured on the DVD embellish their traced hands. Tessa wanted to embellish hers too. This would have been much easier before painting, but she made it work.