31 Days of Children's Books Inspired by Artists- DAY 18: Kandinsky

Title: The Noisy Paint Box  
Estimated time: 30-45 minutes
Project: Kandinsky felt board
About the artist: (1866-1944) Wassily Kandinsky was born in Moscow, Russia. At an early age, he exhibited a very special gift called synaesthesia cognate. It gave him the ability to hear colors and see sounds. His father encouraged this special ability and enrolled him in piano,cello  and art lessons. He studied law and economics. After he got a job at the University of Moscow he shortly decided that art was what he wanted pursue.
Summary: Read The Noisy Paint Box, then study Kandinsky's work. Follow this lesson to make a felt board inspired by Wassily Kandinsky. Maybe try playing music in the background while you make your felt board.
Objectives: Identify the elements of art (line, shape, form, space, value, texture and color), Understand and apply media, techniques, and processes, Understand the visual arts in relation to history and cultures.

 Supplies:

• Felt
• Scissors

Squares with Concentric Circles: 1913, The Cow: 1910, Several Circles: 1926

 

What shapes do you see?  Do they overlap? Are the repeated? Do you see complementary colors (colors across from one another on color wheel- Red and Green, Blue and Orange, Yellow and Purple)

1. Gather felt scraps and sheets. Set a whole sheet aside for the back.
2. When cutting you can draw the shape on the back side with a sharpie, but we didn't find it necessary as the more rough the edges are the more the felt looks like paint.
3. Continue cutting until you have plenty of shapes so you can make many different combinations.We made some donut shapes by folding the oval in half and cutting a smaller oval inside.
4. Arrange any way you would like!
5. Voila! A Kandinsky inspired felt board.