Book Review: Discovering Great Artists
Children’s Art Projects in the Styles of Famous Artists
May 25, 2008
Many children would choose an art project at home over a visit to a local art gallery or museum. With Discovering Great Artists (Bright Ring Publishing, 1997) by MaryAnn Kohl and Kim Solga, children can explore the styles and artworks of famous artists while having fun and developing their own creativity.
Introducing Children to Great Artworks
Children will look forward to the opportunity to learn about famous artists and their greatest works when these hands-on activities are included as part of the lesson. With projects for children aged four to 12, Discovering Great Artists is suitable for primary school and homeschooling art lessons and ideal for extension projects for students studying famous artists or art history.
In addition to project information, each activity includes an artist profile with name, year of birth and death, name pronunciation, artistic philosophy and a brief two paragraph biography. Some prolific artists and/or artists with diverse styles and techniques feature in multiple projects. These include Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Degas and Picasso.
More than 60 artists are feature in the 80+ projects, including Matisse, Grandma Moses, Seurat, Van Allsburg, Van Eyck, Botticelli, Manet, Money, Gainsborough, Gauguin, Renoir, Dali, and Rockwell. The book does not feature reproductions of the works of these artists, however these could easily be accessed on the internet or in an art history book.
Easy, Hands-on Art Activities for Children
Discovering Great Artists offers children the opportunity to explore a variety of artistic mediums including paint, chalk and pencil drawings, sculpture, photography and construction. Artists from the Renaissance to the present time are included, covering artistic styles such as cubism, abstract, cartoon, naturalism, impressionism and folk art.
Activities are as diverse as the artists themselves, with Invention Art (Da Vinci), Action Spatter (Pollock), Starry night (Van Gogh), Colour Collage (Matisse) and Comic Dots (Lichtenstein).
Instructions are clear and easy to understand. A variety of icons provide a clear indication of the style, technique, student experience level and amount of planning and preparation required. Each project lists the materials required and provides step by step instructions for completing the task. Materials are generally common art supplies easily accessed by teachers and parents.
Additional Activities and Resources
Further art extension opportunities are provided in a separate chapter of Games and Activities, with 14 projects incorporating the art techniques used throughout the book to create games and keepsakes.
The final chapter is an art resource section containing:
- Great Art Words
- Great Art Materials
- Great Art Styles
- Great Art Techniques
- Great Art Birthdays
- Great Art Activities
MaryAnn Kohl and Kim Solga
MaryAnn Kohl has authored several award-winning books to encourage children to explore art styles and techniques including Storybook Art (Bright Ring Publishing, 2003). She is a national speaker at educational and publishing conferences.
Kim Solga has also authored several books and writes arts and crafts articles that appear regularly in national education and parenting magazines. She also writes and illustrates children’s books.
Encouraging Children to Explore Art
Discovering Great Artists is a great resource for those wishing to encourage children to explore a variety of art techniques and styles.
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