Thursday, March 31, 2011

Cats a la Rosina Wachtmeister




Jonathon (6) "all boy" wanted no part of the cheerful palette
I love his muted and mysterious trio




I first heard about Austrian artist Rosina Wachtmeister a couple years ago from Jacqueline at Kids Artists. Don't ask me why I waited all the way until now to do an art lesson based on her cheerful abstract cats. This was the last week in my 6 week art session for February and March. I wanted to do a fun and lively 1 day project (reflecting the mood of the kids itching for spring break, still a few weeks away :)

I did provide a crescent shaped head template so the children could feel comfortable in beginning their piece and eliminate the pinhead syndrome :) (something I don't always do) From there we followed a loose direct line drawing lesson. They completed their art works with oil pastel and watercolor. I encouraged them to really have fun with color.I think my 1st graders did a wonderful job creating a trio of cats in the spirit of this artist who now lives near Rome surrounded by her many beloved felines.


11 comments:

  1. I love the strong colors. Did you use liquid watercolors??

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  2. No we just used Prang palettes. Since it was the last day and they were going to take them home, I took pictures of them wet as they finished. Maybe that's why the colors look more intense. :)

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  3. These turned out great! I love the combination of oil pastels and water colour, they are so bright! I think these are even better then the cats my students made with tempera. The only thing is that Wachtmeister uses a lot of gold paint, and gold isn't available in water colour.

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  4. Oh, really lovely.
    animals always do well!
    Great results!

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  5. Just wanted to let you know, I tried the fireflies too.. thanks so much!
    http://mmereddickart.blogspot.com/

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  6. These cats look amazing; I love the colors.

    I am in the process of a project (Cats in Art) where students will create cats in the style of one of our local artists as well as cats in the style of Rosina Wachtmeister and Laurel Burch. We completed part I this week.

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  7. I just found your blog today and I am loving looking around at all of your wonderful projects! I am so thankful for teachers like you that are ready and willing to share!

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  8. Thanks very much for all your nice comments! :D

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  9. I am glad you liked Mr.Norval's work.
    The students are working on Part II of the "Cats in Art".

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  10. We just completed part II of the "Cats in art".
    Part II was based on Rosita Wachtmeister's cats.

    I can see that your students did a trio of cats.
    My students did either one cat or a duet cat show :)

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  11. This lesson made the Weekly Top Twenty best art lessons over at The Art Fairy.
    http://msjuliesartschool.blogspot.com/
    Come by and pick up your button if you get a chance. Great lesson!

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