Jazz Paintings
This project was inspired by a live performance on February 21, 2014 by the Los Angeles Jazz Society and listening to jazz in the classroom. Students puttered around with their paints while listening to the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong.
We talked about what instruments we saw in the jazz band during the performance--piano, saxophone, drums, trumpet, and bass. I reminded them of the rhythm, energy, loudness (!), and the musical sounds and colors of jazz music. I gave them printed clipart of these instruments in abstract form to guide them in sketching these instruments on their paper, then supplied them with various bright shades tempera paint. I also emphasized to them how important it was to draw big, to show only sections or portions of instruments to create an interesting composition. The paintings had to dry before we returned to them the following week, when I showed the children how to define shapes and background with various qualities of line (wavy, straight, zigzag, curly, etc.) in oil pastel. Here are the bold and brilliant results:
We talked about what instruments we saw in the jazz band during the performance--piano, saxophone, drums, trumpet, and bass. I reminded them of the rhythm, energy, loudness (!), and the musical sounds and colors of jazz music. I gave them printed clipart of these instruments in abstract form to guide them in sketching these instruments on their paper, then supplied them with various bright shades tempera paint. I also emphasized to them how important it was to draw big, to show only sections or portions of instruments to create an interesting composition. The paintings had to dry before we returned to them the following week, when I showed the children how to define shapes and background with various qualities of line (wavy, straight, zigzag, curly, etc.) in oil pastel. Here are the bold and brilliant results:
My thanks go to the wonderful art blog, SmArt Class, for giving me the idea for this jazz project.