The eighth week was given over to art and creativity, and the topics followed the order in which art is actually learned: first the elements, then the techniques, then the people.
We explored the essential elements of art and the way they combine into expressive work. It is the part children usually skip, rushing straight to colour, yet line, shape and texture are what separates a drawing from a considered composition.
Then we brought nature into art. We talked about snails and how they can become a source of inspiration in drawing and painting — a far richer topic than it sounds, because the spiral of a shell is one of the few forms children can recognise at once in nature, in a drawing and in geometry.
We experimented with various painting techniques, combining colours and textures. Every new technique changes the way a child holds the brush: the same colour looks different if you lay it down differently.
Then came the week's most painstaking piece of work, painting on glass — an icon of the Virgin Mary. Glass forgives neither haste nor correction, so the activity demanded attention and a steady hand. The children worked carefully, and the dexterity practised there shows up later in anything else that calls for precision.
We finished by learning about the lives and work of two great masters, Constantin Brâncuși and Vincent van Gogh, drawing inspiration from their styles and techniques. Two very different artists, placed side by side on purpose: one who strips a form of everything unnecessary, the other who loads the canvas with visible strokes. In this way the children understood that there is no single correct way to make art.
The week closed with a surprise from the Mystery Box.
About the PlusKids Summer School: https://pluskids.ro/en/summer-school