First graders learned all about Vincent Van Gogh and his unusual style of painting, known as impressionism, with this colorful project. Impressionism is a way of painting where the artist tries to capture things as they move – like the tide, wind, or shadows. Van Gogh’s art was unpopular and he never sold any pieces while he was alive, but he’s incredibly famous now. In the last 10 years of his life, he painted over 800 paintings, and was so consumed with his work that he often forgot to eat or sleep.
Some classes made glue and acrylic paint batiks; others made watercolor and oil pastel resists, and some created paintings with collage and oil pastel.