Imagine the excitement that Vincent van Gogh would feel looking at his famous Starry Night painting that would sparkle with glittery stars and sky. That is exactly what young artists will be able to create using Sargent Art tempera paint and oil pastels.

http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.html Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

Goal (Terminal Objective):

Students will learn about the artist Vincent van Gogh and be able to create their own version of his Starry Night painting.

Objective:

The life and work of Vincent van Gogh will be introduced with special attention given to his famous painting, Starry Night.

National Standards:

Visual Arts Grades K­-4 Content Standard 1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes

Visual Arts Grades K­-4 Content Standard 2: Using knowledge of structures and functions

Visual Arts Grades K-­4 Content Standard 3: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas

Visual Arts Grades K-­4 Content Standard 4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures

Visual Arts Grades K­-4 Content Standard 5: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others

Purpose:

Students will look at Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night painting for inspiration to create their own version of a sparkling starry night.

New Vocabulary:

Vincent van Gogh, impasto paint, blending

Materials:

#22-4044 Assorted Modeling clay

#17-39xx Glitter paint

#22-2015 Large Oil Pastels

#22-1203 Washable Glue

#23-40xx 50 sheets construction paper solid color pack

#22-091412 ct. Pointed Tip Student Scissors Best Pack

#22-7244 144 ct. Graphic Pencils

Time:

Two art periods

Introduction and Motivation (Set):

Ask the students how many like to look at the stars at night. Ask them if they have ever seen a shooting star. Tell them that Vincent van Gogh also liked to look at the stars at night. Show them a picture of his painting Starry Night.

Give a brief biography of Vincent van Gogh: born in 1853 in the Netherlands and lived a very sad life. He was very sick and poor since he only sold one painting during his short life. His brother Theo worked in an art gallery in Paris and supported Vincent by sending him money. Vincent spent the money on paints instead of food and doctors. He painted with very thick paint (impasto) and it looked as though he painted very quickly since the paints were not smoothed out showing the brush strokes in the thick paint. He died in 1890 in France.

Instruction:

Cut one inch off the 12” X 18” paper so that it measures 12” X 17”.

Have the students begin by drawing the swirl in the sky using a pencil. No other drawing is necessary at this point.

Show students how they are going to dip one finger into the tempera paint to paint the sky. Use the blue, turquoise, white, and a little yellow to paint in the swirl. The students will drag their finger with the paint across the paper. Colors will blend together as the students work.

Point out these features to the students as they progress in their work.
Paint in the moon by making a double circle like Vincent did using yellow and orange.

Add a few stars using orange and yellow tempera paint. Go around the moon and stars using only one finger with short strokes of white, yellow, orange, turquoise, and blue. Fill the sky area referring to the picture of the Starry Night as necessary.

Now add the glitter paint over the tempera paint, still using only a finger to drag the colors over the tempera paint.

The ground, tree, and buildings will be made from construction paper with oil pastel details. The ground will bow out from the background painting since it is one inch longer than the painting creating a 3D effect.

Activities:

(1) Guided Practice:

1. Demonstrate how to draw the swirl in the sky.
2. Add tempera paint using only one finger dipped into the paint and drag the finger to wipe off the paint onto the paper.
3. Use the 6” X 18”construction paper to cut one edge to resemble the rolling hills shown in Starry Night. Use oil pastels to add lines similar to those in the painting. Create the tree and buildings using construction paper and oil pastels. Glue these onto the ground as each piece is finished.
4. Glue one end of the ground to the side edge of the sky painting. The other end of the ground is one inch longer than the sky paper, so it will bow out when glued creating a 3D effect.

(2) Independent Practice and Check for Understanding: Teacher will circulate around the students making sure that the objectives are being demonstrated, asking direct questions when understanding is not visible. Teacher will help with the work when necessary and reinforce students as they work.

(3) Closure: Students will display their work. The teacher will guide a critique to point out the strong qualities of successful compositions.

Evaluation:

Teacher will evaluate the works individually based on the following criteria:

Level One- ­­ The finished painting has the entire sky filled with the large swirl, the moon, and several stars. The stars and moon have short strokes of color going around them creating a feeling of movement. Sufficient glitter paint has been added on top of the tempera paint to create a swirling, sparkling sky. The ground, tree, and buildings have oil pastel details added to further represent the original Starry Night painting. The craftsmanship is excellent.

Level Two- ­­ The finished painting has most of the sky filled with the large swirl, the moon, and

several stars. The stars and moon have a few short strokes of color going around them trying to creating a feeling of movement. Insufficient glitter paint has been added on top of the tempera paint to create a swirling, sparkling sky. The ground, tree, and buildings have some oil pastel details added.
The craftsmanship is good.

Level Three- ­­ The finished painting has some of the sky filled with the large swirl, the moon, and a couple of stars. The stars and moon have very few short strokes of color going around them but does not create a feeling of movement. Insufficient glitter paint has been added on top of the tempera paint to create a swirling, sparkling sky. The ground, tree, and buildings have few oil pastel details added. The craftsmanship is variable.

Level Four- ­­ The finished painting has little of the sky filled with the large swirl, the moon, and stars. The stars and moon have very few short strokes of color going around them and does not create a feeling of movement. Insufficient or no glitter paint has been added on top of the tempera paint to create a swirling, sparkling sky. The ground, tree, and buildings have no oil pastel details added. The craftsmanship is poor. It appears that the objectives were not followed or understood.

Extension:

Students could explore more about Vincent van Gogh’s paintings and try other recreations of them.

Resources:

http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.html
http://www.expo­vangogh.com/2.cfm
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:VanGogh­starry_night_edit.jpg