Kindergarten Expressionist Animals

Kindergarteners observed and compared two paintings of cows, Yellow cow by Expressionist artist Franz Marc (1911), and Children and a Cow by Albert Cuyp (1635). I asked them which painting they thought was older, and they figured it out. We discussed why Cuyp's painting looks older- the style of clothing, and the duller colors. I told them that was only within the last 150 years (which is a small amount of time in art, which has been around 10,000 years) that artists really started to "break the rules" and create things that did not look realistic. I explained that Expressionism was a kind of art where artists changed how things looked in order to express themselves, and we brainstormed other different ways people express themselves, such as through their words and their clothes. 

They drafted their Expressionist animals in pencil on big 18x24 papers. Then, they outlined the animals in black paint. Finally, they used bright colors of their choice to create their beautiful paintings.