Artist Study: Claude Monet

Paintings Studied

The Water Lily Pond

Impression Sunrise

Waterlillies

Red Poppies at Argenteuil

La Japonaise

Quotes

"What could be said about me -- a man to whom only his painting matters? And of course his garden and his flowers as well."

Activities We Did

Impression Sunrise Re-Creation

We attempted to recreate the Impression Sunrise on canvas with oil paints – we talked about how these paints are different than paints we’ve used before, they take a long time to dry (which we saw first hand after 24 hours and they weren’t dry AT ALL) and are hard to clean. We also don’t normally paint on canvas, but Claude Monet did, so we talked about the difference between canvas and paper. 

Treyton rushed through it a little bit after I warned him about getting it on his skin. That it would be hard to get off: for my “clean kid” this is not his idea of a good time :) But it turned out nice I think.

I painted it too  – I really enjoy doing the artist recreations.

For the record, we will not be using oil paints again for a long, long time (if ever) – I still have blue paint in my sink I can’t get out!

The Water Lily Pond – Bridge I got this idea from the crafty classroom.

Treyton was very methodical with the entire process, he had a reason for every color he used and how he used it. I love to watch his creative juices flowing.

Treyton’s project, drying:

Alexa loves painting, and really enjoyed this activity, but no matter how many times i asked her, she would not cover the entire page with paint :) Needless to say, it didn’t reveal much of a bridge…. but she had a lot of fun. Treyton and I’s finished projects. Books

We read lots of books this time, while studying Monet.

Katie Meets the Impressionists by James Mayhew (not just about Claude Monet)

Katie and the Waterlily Pond by James Mayhew

The Magical Garden of Claude Monet (Treyton’s favorite) by Laurence Anholt

What Makes a Monet a Monet (We didn’t read the entire, but used for pictures and I skimmed a few pages with Treyton)

Claude Monet the Painter Who Stopped the Trains by P.I. Maltbie (haven’t read yet but we will)

Usborne First Book of Art (pages 38-39)

Usborne the Children’s Book of Art (pages 28-29)

Spot the Difference: Art Masterpiece Mysteries (page 40-41)

Links & Resources

Claude Monet Craft @ The Crafty Classroom

Monet Coloring Page @ Enchanted Learning

Olga’s Gallery of Monet Paintings (over 200)

Monet Artist Study on Squidoo