In Art, Year Two have been learning all about Henri Matisse. They have explored what happens when colours are mixed and re-created a collage inspired by his work.
To begin, the children created a colour wheel using the primary and secondary colours. They painted the primary colours (red, yellow and blue) and then mixed these to create the secondary colours (green, orange and purple).
The children then learned about the life of Henri Matisse. When he was young, Henri began painting and decided to become an artist. However, he had to have an operation later in his life and, as a result, began to create collages. Did you know, he called this technique “painting with scissors”? The children looked at one of Matisse’s most famous collages – The Snail. Using a metre stick, they measured the size of Matisse’s artwork. They were shocked to discover that it would take up the majority of the classroom. The children looked more closely at Matisse’s work and identified that he had used both the primary and secondary colours. They then used squares of coloured paper to create their own version of Matisse’s snail.
Next, the children explored how to create a tint and a shade by mixing colours. The children mixed orange with white to create a lighter colour (tint) and orange with black to create a darker colour (shade). Once their work had dried, they tore and arranged the paper to create a fire collage. The boys and girls added the silhouette of a row of houses to recreate a scene from the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Article 31: We all have the right to take part in cultural and creative activities.
