Being the big kids they are, I told the fourth graders that they could decide what artwork to choose for the art show. Their options were these tigers, inspired by Henri Rousseau, or their Fauvist portraits. We drew the tigers after reading The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau, where we learned that Rousseau was one of the best self-taught artists in the 20th century. He never had enough money to go to a jungle but he painted as though he did! His art had a very flat, dreamlike quality that critics originally made fun of, but ultimately he became a very famous and celebrated artist. He didn't even decide to start painting until his 40s! The students added paper and oil pastels to build up their jungles. Try not to be too frightened, the tigers are very nice!
|