Fishbowls and Shapes with Henri Matisse

1st grade students have now moved from learning about different types of lines to now being introduced to different types of shapes. The students were introduced to the life and artwork of the artist Henri Matisse through a powerpoint presentation. Matisse created collages and paintings that were abstract AND realistic. When Matisse began creating his collages, he once said that it was like painting with scissors. The students were shown as a final image, the painting called "The Goldfish". They first painted and entire piece of paper blue and blotted wet sections using a paper towel to give it a texture that shows a watery effect. They then will create the "wallpaper" of the room the fishbowl is in by collaging cut pieces of construction paper using organic and geometric shapes. They then will cut the fishbowl out of the painted paper they previously painted. Inside the fishbowl they will then draw in their different types of fish using oil pastels. (I am not limiting them to goldfish because this is their artwork, not Matisse's!) After all is complete they will paste their fishbowl onto a "table" cut out also of construction paper and paste both of those into the wallpapered room they have created. And viola! You have a wonderful masterpiece, inspired by the artist Henri Matisse!

Learning Objectives: cutting, pasting, shape, multimedia artwork

ART WORDS: 
Collage: cutting and pasting pieces of paper to create a composition. 
Organic shapes: shapes that have rounded edges.
Geometric shapes: shapes that have straight edges. 

Click the link below to see the powerpoint presentation the students received on Henri Matisse!
/uploads/3/9/1/4/39148519/henri_matisse.pptx