An Artist Study: Claude Monet
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Bonjour! It’s time to study an artist…my way! That means food, treats, art supplies, and field trips. This month we studied Claude Monet, the inventor of the Impressionist movement. He was one of the early artists in the 1860’s and 70’s who painted how the landscape made him feel, and not exactly as it was. This movement was all about the impression the beautiful scenery made on the artist at a single point in time. When the trend at the time was painting still life inside a studio, these Impressionists became quite the rebels!
So, what did we do for our artist study?
Paris, France
Day 1 - First, we learned about Paris, Monet’s hometown basically. We watched a couple YouTube videos of families exploring Paris with their kids. I also shared with my kids about my own experiences in Paris as well. For historical reference, we studied a little bit of Monet’s time period.
Crepes & Monet Picture Book
Next, we dined at a creperie nearby. We watched our crepes spread across the griddle in that therapeutic round way - I could watch people make crepes all day! Then we devoured them as if it was our last meal. I had a savory one with eggs, cheese, bacon, grilled onion and mushrooms, and chipotle aioli sauce. My kids enjoyed their sweet crepes - s’mores, strawberry, and cookies and cream (pictured above). While they finished licking up their chocolate sauces, I read the children’s picture book, Portrait of an Artist: Claude Monet, by Lucy Brownridge. It’s quite accessible for all ages, with beautiful artwork and actual pictures of Monet’s art.
Parisian Music
While we were in the car to and from the creperie, I turned on the playlist I had made of classic French music, (with songs from Casablanca and Ratatouille too). That made for a relaxing drive, it kept us in the Parisian mood, and it furthered our theme for the year (music genres).
Monet YouTubes
When we arrived home, I turned on a couple of really fun-for-kids (and adults too!) YouTube videos about Claude Monet to really bring home who he was and the impact he made on the art world at that time. I had curated a playlist of YouTube videos the night before, that was dense with information but full of fun graphics and storytelling. My favorite one we watched is “Getting to Know Claude Monet” which is fun and although long, kept the attention of my three kids ages 5-10.
Oil Painting Basics
Day 2 - We watched three YouTube videos (that I had curated and put on our Claude Monet playlist) that taught kids how to paint in the Impressionist style. One video we watched was how to blend colors. Then, we went straight to work, watched the video again, and step-by-step followed the video to a T. My kids amazed me with how well they followed instruction. Then, I let them free paint for however long they wanted. Two hours later, they were still painting! My son, who normally doesn’t get too excited about art, redid his blending exercise two more times! The next day, all three of my kids made their own YouTube videos teaching the same blending lesson. In the video they titled “How to paint like an Impressionist - part 1,” they talked about the water lilies with “some really good artist from France painted.” They couldn’t remember Monet’s name, but they remembered some of his most famous paintings, where he was from, and the name of the art movement he basically invented! Pretty good for three kids ages 5, 8, and 10! (Please note that we chose to use oil paints because that is what Monet used - but oil paints are incredibly messy and very hard to clean-up. Acrylics, although not as beautiful nor as historical - invented in 1953, would be a much easier choice.)
We used these supplies for our artwork: oil paint, paint pallets, brushes, oil paper for practice, oil canvases on location, and easels. I’ve been advised by several different artists that when kids do art, that it’s super important they have high quality art supplies. This helps ensure that your kids a) will not be frustrated by brush bristles loosening and being lost in their art, b) will avoid runny paint, and c) will have a realistic fulfilling experience of creating with that particular medium. You don’t want your child to have a bad experience creating art all due to low quality art supplies.
French Movie
So, since I built this unit study on a whim just the night before with no time to really research, I chose one of my girls’ top 10 favorite French-themed movies - Ratatouille. They were super excited to watch this French “film” and snuggled in my bed together. Of course I would have LOVED to have them watch an actual French film, hearing the French language and reading subtitles, like one with Audrey Tautou who has a number of good ones. But again, I threw this together pretty quickly and did not have time to watch some of my old favorites with kid eyes.
On Location - Lily Pads & Art Museum
Day 3 - This last day of our artist study, I wanted my kids to get to experience creating art the way Claude Monet did - in nature, outside, and using easels and oil paints. We needed water lilies to paint, since that was one of Monet’s most favorite subjects. I knew Balboa Park in San Diego (and much loved by my kids) was complete with lily pads in a coy pond as well as a renowned art museum. So I looked up to see if any Monet paintings were on exhibit (downloaded the museum’s app and searched Monet). There were two listed! I grabbed our art supplies and easels, and we headed on down to the lily pad pond and the San Diego Museum of Art.
1) Lily Pad Painting
The lily pads were in bloom! (They bloom in August and September in our area, but check your local zones.) With a beautiful array of colors and sizes to choose from, my kids settled on the largest collection of pads to paint. My kids loved this experience and painted for almost an hour. I played French music from my phone for some ambiance for part of the time, and a nearby live musician played the saxophone when it was quiet. My kids were enraptured with their own art process. I reminded them about how Monet did the same thing as them about 150 years ago! (Next time, I need to remember to bring a towel or blanket to sit on, so that they are not sitting directly on the cement.)
2) Art Museum
We were so excited to go to the art museum, Covid mask and all! But, spoiler alert - the Impressionist exhibit was closed for construction! No Claude for us. After I got over the shock of this news, the front desk informed me there were a few Impressionist paintings on display in the American Artists exhibit…but no beloved Claude. So we found our way there, enjoyed looking at the American art, especially the Impressionist ones, and then explored the rest of the first floor. Despite the anti-climatic moment, it still was a delightful, memorable time.
Yums
If you have a French bakery nearby then you may want to get some fancy French foods - like macarons! We headed to San Diego’s Liberty Station Public Market in Point Loma to get our macaron on! We mostly all ordered different flavors. After taste-testing our one dozen macarons, we all mostly landed on passion fruit as number 1, and oreo as number 2 as our favorites.
Why Teach Art
I am a crafter more than an artist; I cannot draw well, nor have the aesthetic - but I teach it anyway. You do not need gifts and skills in a subject area to be able to teach it…you just need resources! I plan to teach four artist studies this year. I teach art, because we consider it a core curriculum that is just as important as reading and math. Finding beauty all around us is one of our top five core values for our family, and so teaching our children to understand art and art history is a method we use to help our children find the beauty. We want our children to be able to enjoy the art in museums and delight in the God-created art all around them. We want our children to relate to art, to feel it, and to be able to create it with a gamut of skills and experiences to pull from. An artist study is one way to help them do this. Claude Monet taught us more than Impressionism. Monet taught us through Impressionism that you can be radical…you can adventure to follow your conviction even though others laugh at you. You can create the impression that any kind of beauty made on your own heart!
“I am following Nature without being able to grasp her, I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.”
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