Our Artist Study: Joan Miro

This semester the children have been interested in drawing and painting. One of the ways we can extend the children's learning and thinking about drawing and painting is by introducing them to different artists and a variety of art styles. During group time, I introduced the children to the art of Joan Miro. We discussed what the children saw in the painting and how they think the art was made.



The children noticed the cross-hatch marks and named them "stars" or "snowflakes." We also discussed how Miro used color. In one painting the background is painted, in the others the color is in the design.

Our next step was to have the children practice drawing the types of lines they saw in the paintings. As the children drew, we discussed how to make the various lines and how to incorporate different types of lines together, such as a straight line and a swirl. As the children practiced drawing, we gave their lines names. For instances, "You drew a curved line" or "The line that goes around and around like that is sometimes called a swirl." This gave the children the opportunity to add new terminology to their vocabulary and encouraged them to be specific about what they were doing.



Next,  we encouraged the children to draw a design on good paper in preparation for painting.For this step in the process, we switched to permanent pens so their drawings would not wash away when they added paint. We had the Miro artwork on the table as inspiration for the children. Finally, the children painted their work. Some of the children incorporated ideas from the Miro paintings into their own work, while other children painted according to their own aesthetics.


 


Through this experience, the children were developing fine motor and observation skills. They were also strengthening their critical thinking skills by looking at and describing works of art. During this exploration we talked to the children about doing their "best work," provided them with materials which would typically be "adults-only" (sharpie pens for drawing) and documented their ideas. As a result, children realized we valued their work and saw importance in their thoughts and ideas.

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