Sonia Delaunay

I try to keep the first few art projects I do with first grade pretty abstract. I don't want anyone to feel defeated because their artwork doesn't "look right". Sonia Delaunay is a Ukrainian-French abstract painter. She is noted for using strong color choices and geometric shapes. First graders drew circles with oil pastels, we then painted with water color over the circles. Next we used stamping techniques using only the primary colors and again only circles. Lastly we talked about how to create emphasis in our artwork. We did this by outlining some of our circles in black tempera paint. I do this project every year at the beginning of the year, it is one of my favorites because they all turn out so beautiful and they make such a great display in the hall all hung up together!