Thursday, September 8, 2011

Leroy Neiman Inspired Lions







Alexa wanted to create a "girl lion" and wanted no part of the expressive brushstrokes :)





Since I am a private art teacher and not required to follow any particular curriculum I was all over the map as to what my first "fall" art lesson would be. I found myself "pinning away"all types of lessons and ideas. (Yes, I too have been bitten by the bug, diving and weaving between boards, pinning things related to art, marvelous recipes, beautiful interiors, profound quotes ect... Pinterest is the ultimate resource for the visually inclined person. If you're interested, you can follow me here.)

For whatever reason, I decided to do lion faces. I had planned on a more realistic approach until I saw some fabulous Leroy Neiman inspired lions on Artsonia. (Here is Mr. Neiman's Lion.)I have definitely been on a Fauvist kick lately. Also I have ages 5 through 9, so I thought it would be a great inclusive project. After a step by step lesson of the facial features, the children used acrylic and tempera with bold expressive strokes to create their lions. We talked about trying to avoid mixing complimentary colors since they would create a brown muddy look we were trying to avoid with this particular project.Last, some chose to use Sharpie or paint to outline their facial features.


12 comments:

  1. our kiddos are really capturing the color and feel of Neiman!!

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  2. Sorry about the typo in my first comment. I MEANT to say, YOUR kiddos are really capturing the color and feel of Neiman!!

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  3. Hi Mary, love your lions. I will have to try the project. I to am a independent art teacher. I have been bitten by that same Pinterest Bug! Happy teaching. Susan/plateau art studio

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  4. really like this idea... thanks for sharing!

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  5. Mary these are brilliant! I love the colors and the BIGness!!!They are so different too! Fabulous!

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  6. Hi Mary. I teach private classes too, and also have a wide range of ages in one class. This summer I had a camp with ages 5 - 11! Finding appropriate lessons is a challenge!

    I wanted to drop you a line to thank you for your insightful lessons. I didn't follow much over the summer and just went back through 3 months of blogs copying the lessons I especially liked. The resulting list was decidedly Mary Making heavy!

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  7. Oh Mary!
    I love cats of all shapes and sizes and your lions are gorgeous! I am always so inspired by what you teach your students. Thanks!

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  8. I love the colors lines and textures in these lions.

    Your students did a fantastic job.

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  9. Thanks so much for all your nice comments! It's especially nice to hear now since I've been drastically limited to the number of classes I can provide. (I'll spare you the details).I have to say art teachers have generous spirits. :)

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  10. These are great. I'd love to try this with the little one I'm working with this year.

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  11. Mary,
    These are great! I think I'll have to borrow this one!

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  12. These paintings are inspiring. I want to become an art teacher in my next life! Thanks for generously sharing.

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I appreciate your comments and feedback!