Skip to main content

Frescoes!

Image
By

If you have been following along on our journey, you know that Dane has opted to add Art History to his curriculum this year, and we tend to focus on that every Thursday. (It is abundantly clear that all of the subjects are interwoven, but we tend to start with a focus and add all kinds of other aspects into that focus each day.) Today, we started to look at Frescoes.

Many artists throughout time have used a Fresco technique in their work. Our focus today was on the Minoan Frescoes. If you are not familiar with the technique, artists used pigments on wet plaster to create their works of art on a wall. As the plaster dries it soaks up the pigment and the work of art is then part of the wall.

Being that this was our first attempt at creating a Fresco, we opted to make ours on a cardboard/plaster canvas instead of on the wall. However, don't be surprised if you see a post in the future where we put this technique to use on the walls!!!!

We started with some cardboard pieces taken from our recycle bin. We just happened to have some cracker boxes in our stash today.

Then we mixed up a batch of Plaster of Paris, and spread it on the cardboard. (I opted to put it on the colored side, but if your children dig down into the plaster, you might prefer it to be on the solid side as some of the color has the potential to show through.)

Finally, it was time to paint while the plaster was still wet.

We had a wide variety of color choices, but only a small amount of each color. (Our wonderful paint pallets are from Toffifay candy. We recycle a lot around here ;).


The children really spent some time exploring this new medium, I have a feeling it is one we will be revisiting often.






If you are interested in some of our other art history projects, you may want to look at these:

Cave Paintings

Mummy and Decorating a Sarcophagus (Part of a longer post)
Labels:

Comments

Jessica Lapp said…
Wow Amy you always have such fun ideas...Im going to try this one at the center I work in! ~Jess
September 23, 2010 at 1:37 PM
Ticia said…
That looks fun. It's be great for a renaissance study
September 23, 2010 at 2:44 PM
Teacher Tom said…
We've been painting our plaster art with liquid water color, which is fantastic going on. (I mean, it's really fun -- the parents have even become obsessed with using it.) But since the plaster soaks it up, there's not much to look at the next day. Is this tempera? Acrylic?
May 3, 2011 at 8:59 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Would You Do With It? Wednesday #4, Cardboard Tubes (Toilet Paper, Paper Towel, etc)

By
Welcome to this week's edition of What Would You Do With It? Wednesday. This week's item(s) are paper tubes. You most often find them at the end of a roll of toilet paper or paper toweling. I'm having trouble hunting up the photos I was going to post for this, so when I find them, I will add them. We have made: rain sticks kaleidoscopes marble runs and we have also cut the tubes and made them into flowers or snowflakes like these. If you would like to visit and link to some of our previous What Would You Do With It Wednesdays, please click here.
2 comments
Read more

Yes, WE CLIMB UP THE SLIDE!

By
Yes, we do climb up the slide. We climb up the slide here at Child Central Station in the backyard... We climb up the slides when we are at the park..... and here are a few reasons why we think you could reconsider climbing up and allowing the children in your care to climb up the slide too! 1. Climbing up the Slide uses MUSCLE!  Young children need to be active and climbing up the slide requires a lot of muscle and coordination. It is not an easy feat- and requires strength, concentration, determination, and will power. 2. Climbing up the Slide is RISKY! Yes- climbing up the slide is potentially risky, but so is sliding down! Your job as a caregiver is to carefully observe and monitor the situation, to be close by- but not to interfere unless necessary. Part of a child's learning process must include managing risks- climbing up the slide is a perfect way to practice this skill. 3. Climbing up the Slide involves potential CONFLICT! It is al
24 comments
Read more

Making Moon Mud!

By
We usually make our moon sand with cornstarch , sand, and baby oil. However a blog reader commented that when they make their moon sand- they use water instead of oil.  So, of course, my first thought was- why make moon sand when you could make MOON MUD?  And so you have it- our homemade moon mud! Basically, it ends up being a sandy- runny oobleck! It acts kind of like a solid- and kind of like a liquid..... Now, I'm sure I will get all kinds of questions on the exact recipe and proportions to make this stuff.....  The truth is, we rarely measure. We just mix it up until it looks and feels about right! Today, we made ours with too much water. (It was an experiment.) So, we removed some off the top.  After we were done playing in the mud- we let it sit. A little bit more of the water evaporated while we napped.... Then, this afternoon- It was perfect! Hard as a rock on the bottom, until you dig into grab it... Then....
2 comments
Read more