Lesson 53 - Andy Warhol Inspired Paintings

Marilyn Monroe by Warhol

Andy Warhol was a famous artist, filmmaker, performance artist, and magazine illustrator of the 1960’s pop-art scene. He was born in 1928 of immigrant parents, and upon graduating from college in 1949 with a bachelor of fine arts, he moved to New York and went to work for Glamour magazine. He became one of the most popular pop artists of the time. Among his iconic paintings are the Campbell soup cans, and the Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and

Mao Zedong. His “eight Elvises”portrait sold in 2008 for $100 million.

We will be paying our tribute to the art of Andy Warhol, by recreating the style of his famous Monroe painting. We will, however, be using fall inspirations such as apples, turkeys, and leaves.

Our first task was to let the children familiarize themselves with a canvas. I bought individual 8x10 canvases the children used to create their painting. Since we have younger children in the group, it is important they all  familiarize themselves with the canvas. These are a stretched canvas, wood framed, stapled in the back. The children learned that the front of the canvas is rough rather than smooth like paper. Also, you cannot turn the canvas over and paint on the other side like you do with paper.

Once the children handled the canvas for awhile, we began our painting. First we separated  the canvas into four squares by using masking tape. The children were then told to choose four different colors of paint and paint each square with a different color. Once this was done, the canvas was set aside to dry.

Next time we meet for art class, we will stamp our fall foliage (or apple, or hand turkey) onto each square on the canvas. Then the children will have the chance to paint their choice with contrasting colors. This will be a fun and exciting conclusion to our art class, and the children will have their own mini Warhol inspired  works of art.