5th Grade - Miro Abstracts!

This lesson was a fast filler lesson that turned out great! Students were inspired by Joan Miro by viewing a slideshow with many of his works of art. Then students brainstormed on a 9x12 by drawing several overlapping freeform shapes. From there they were to break up the spaces further and could turn them into alien like creatures or just an abstract... whatever the shapes inspired! 

We worked on a cold press 9x12 watercolor paper that we had on hand. First used watercolor paint and blew it with short straw pieces. Once dry, students drew with pencil first and outlined with Big Brush PITT Pens. Last step, we colored a few of our shapes in with oil pastel. For a quick lesson, these turned out really cool!!!

3rd Grade - Joan Miro Abstract Freeform Shape Designs

Some of my favorite Joan Miro paintings are the ones with many shapes overlapping and creating new shapes.  We looked at several of his works of art that created some interesting shapes from layering.  To create our compositions, we drew two very large, loopy freeform shapes, with the goal to create other shapes. This lesson is a great transition between two larger lessons that take a few meeting times.  This one only takes 2 class times and is very productive!  Enjoy!

2nd Grade - Miro BUGS!

I love this silly work of art by Joan Miro. It looks like a crazy bug to me!  

We made it fun by turning the square paper to a diamond to create OUR silly bugs. 

It is nice to have a creative way to display artwork.  Creating the artwork in a diamond shape
created some variety in the arts festival display!

1st Grade - Joan Miro Abstracts

Joan Miro's bold abstracts with the heavy black line and scribbly backgrounds make me happy! I love to use Miro to teach my younger students how to balance line making... teaching them how to make it look random, but really, there was a plan all along.  They did a great job here! My main goal is to have students create lines that crisscross in an interesting way.  

We discuss Miro's color choices as well.  We notice he likes the primary colors.... plus green.  It must have been his favorite color combination, he used it a lot! 

This project is always successful!  Students love to learn about Miro and create something unique in his style.  Sometimes I think they are better Miro's than Miro!