Fourth grade Edgar Dégas and Jackson Pollock figure drawing

Fourth grade artists reviewed the artist that they learned about last year, Jackson Pollock. We talked about how his art is abstract and is more about the action of painting than the representation of what is painted. We used his style of painting to be the background for our Edgar Degas figure drawing project. 

First, we had fun dripping paint onto our papers and then blowing through a straw to push and mix the paint around on our papers.

We also reviewed warm and cool color schemes by painting one half of the paper with each color group.

Next, we watched a movie about Edgar Degas and wrote down our favorite 5 or 6 facts on a bookmark to put on the backs of our artworks. They use these facts to share with their families what they have learned about this project when they get to bring it home. We had a few kids volunteer to model some poses for us to practice our figure drawing. We tried to focus on having poses that included diagonals so that we could see more movement in our artworks like Edgar Degas did.  

We carefully cut out our figure drawing silhouettes and glued them to our warm/cool papers.

On the back of the artwork, students wrote six facts that they knew about the artist.

Learning Goals:
I can recognize the art of Edgar Degas.
I can recognize the art of Jackson Pollock.
I can tell some facts about Degas and Pollock's life and art.
I can paint in the style of Pollock.
I can draw a human figure with the correct proportions.

4th Grade Edgar Degas and Figure Drawing

4th grade artists are learning about the art of Edgar Degas and how he did a lot of figure drawing. We are studying how to draw proportions of the human body correctly and to scale using mannequins and even real models! Students drew their own figures and are coloring around them using their choice of patterned color schemes.

4th Grade Figure Drawing

4th Grade Figure Drawing  

The 4th graders have been learning about figure drawing and movement through studying the artist Edgar Degas. We discussed how Degas showed movement through blurry lines and color. Degas' favorite subject to paint was ballerinas because they constantly move in a graceful manner. We had a blast discussing proportions by picking models to pose on a pedestal as the rest of the class drew them! Then we used mannequins to draw their own figures in three different poses. We used a pattern of color and squiggly lines to show movement similar to Degas!

   

Aubrey modeling for figure drawing!

4th Grade Edgar Degas Figure Drawing

4th graders studies the art and life of Edgar Degas. Degas liked to draw subjects in movement like ballerinas and horses. We studied how to draw people with correct proportions. We then chose a figure in movement with correct proportions, showed blending, value and space, and painted with watercolor. They are all so unique and make a wonderful collection in our hallway!