In the style of Van Gogh

With Y4 on this occasion, we looked at a number of Van Gogh paintings and talked about the mood he was created and the way he used paint to express his very particular way of seeing. We then took the actual Van Gogh pictures away so that the children worked from memory and what they had learned. Their images were, therefore, not trying to be direct copies of Van Gogh, but their own impression of his ‘impression’.

This is not, of course, particular individual creative work, but I think that this type of experience, from time to time, helps expand children’s awareness of possible approaches and what painting can be. Hopefully, this will help them build the confidence to create their own impression of the world they experience. 

(For anyone interested, notes on the teaching approaches that helped children towards these outcomes are on the COMMENTARY PAGES of this blog.)