Hello all,
This is Aoife reporting again from the ARI volunteer base! This morning proved to me that if you wish and wish upon a star, all your dreams can come true! This was certainly the case, as I got to implement a lesson plan that I had meticulously prepared before volunteering, with the girls of the New Life Centre. In this lesson, I utilised one of my favourite paintings ('Starry Night'), by my favourite artist, Vincent Van Gogh! Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' has always entranced me. I particularly like the gestural quality of the brushstrokes, which encourage the use of different textures.
Van Gogh's Starry Night
Thus, before I became a volunteer here, I worked on my own textural version of Van Gogh's Starry night, using two central techniques: the first was a wax crayon and black tempura paint relief and the second focused on the contrast between the rounded rolling quality of the hills (evoked using corrugated cardboard painted in various blue and green hues) and the rigid structure of the houses in the foreground (using painted matchsticks).
My full recreation of Van Gogh's Starry Night
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| Crayon and black tempura paint technique |
Corrugated card technique
Matchstick technique
In the workshop, I initially revised the colour wheel with the girls, focusing on the differences between warm, cool, complimentary and harmonious colours. I also recapped on some history of Van Gogh's life before introducing the first textural technique. The girls got busy laying down thick layers of yellow, light blue, dark blue and green crayons. As I said during the workshop; 'You know you are doing well when the crayon breaks!' The girls then had fun slathering the crayon in shiny black tempura paint, completely covering the colourful hues hidden underneath. While these samples were drying, I moved onto the second textural technique. I demonstrated to the girls how to trace the lines of the hills and houses, following the form set out in the painting. I then got them to paint the pieces of corrugated card in light/dark blue and green hues, using a copy of the painting as a reference point. After letting the pieces dry for a few minutes, the girls began to stick them down, following the flow of the hills. Next week, the girls will have fun with the first technique, unearthing the colours hidden underneath by scratching the surface of the paint with matchsticks. As for the second technique, the girls will begin sticking down the matchsticks to replicate the houses.
Sadly, this is my last week volunteering here with ARI (this will probably be my last blog post!) and I will not see my project come to full fruition. I felt so proud to see my idea beginning to be realised! I have left the project in good hands and +will be keeping a watch on this blogspot as the girls continue their samples, and wait with baited breath for the large recreation of the painting (using the techniques I have taught them) in a few weeks time. Then, all my 'I wish, I wish upon a star' dreams will have fully come true!
Bye for now,
Aoife.
