“I wish to approach truth as closely as is possible, and therefore I abstract everything until I arrive at the fundamental quality of objects.” – Piet Mondrian
Dutch modern painter Piet Modrian is best known for his 1920′s works of art that feature only horizontal and vertical lines along with black, white and primary colors. These pieces reflect his belief that objects must be simplified down to their basic elements to reveal their energy and balance. Though he began his artistic career as a traditional landscape painter, his artistic work evolved and progressed until they were purely abstract versions of modern reality.
With bold outlines, high contrast, and bright colors, Mondrian’s artwork is usually well received by children, and creating student artwork inspired by Mondrian is simple and fun!
What You’ll Need:
Canvas Panel (ours are 12″ x 12″)
Tempera or Acrylic Paint
Pencil
Ruler
Paintbrush
Black electrical tape
Start by using the pencil and ruler to create vertical and horizontal lines/spaces on the canvas.
Paint random sections (squares/rectangles) of the canvas with primary colors. There’s no need to worry about making the edges perfectly neat as they will get covered over in the next step! Allow to dry completely.
Use black electrical tape to cover over the pencil marks and create thick black grid lines.
Note: Mondrian was known for using parallel and perpendicular lines along with primary colors, but your children/students may want to use diagonal lines or an expanded color palette. As long as you have discussed the preferences of the inspiring author and the children are aware of the differences, I don’t see any reason to stifle their creativity – let them have fun with their colors and straight lines!
The fun part is turning the artwork different ways to decide how you’d like to display it!
For more information on Piet Mondrian, be sure to visit The Art Story and Artcyclopedia. Happy painting!
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