“When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.”
This project is always one of the first I do with kids who are new to art. Georgia O’Keeffe takes something so simple, and explores it in detail. She makes it big, and beautiful. I want the kids to really LOOK at the world around them. I want them to see the details. Georgia O’Keefe’s art is also special in that her art is so seemingly simple- this is a project the kids can do and get amazing results. I teach kids ages 6-12, and every one of them ends up with a beautiful final project.
For this project, I start by having the kids sketch with pencil- we start with an oval in the middle of the page, and then draw petals that extend off the page. From there, I give the kids two colors for the petals. They do one color working from the outside of the petals in, and the second from the inside of the flower out. This lets them practice blending, and gives the flower some depth.
When the paint is dry, I give the kids oil pastels to add in the details for the center of the flower and define the petals more. We talk about how different flowers have different centers, and I encourage them to add as much detail as possible.
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