Modern Art Adventures -- Book Review

Disclosure: Chicago Review Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

My plan was to do some of these projects with Hazel over the summer; explore more art this past summer like we had one in the previous one. However summer somehow came and went and we hadn't tried one. We finally sat down and tried a couple. The book Modern Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw has thirty six projects for children to try based on eighteen modern artists including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Andy Warhol, and Frida Kahlo. With each artist a famous painting is shared with information about the painting and artist and then there are projects based on that famous painting and artist's style.

 The book is divided into seven sections: Impressionism, Expressionism, Portraits, Abstract, Graphic Art, Pop Art, and Street Art. We decided to try one of the projects that go with Franz Marc's The Little Horse. 

The Little Horse by Franz Marc [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 We chose the Blue Hand Horse because I thought Hazel could do it by herself for the most part (while I got our second project ready). She had a lot of fun doing it. She used watercolors for the ground, ink pads for the handprint (with a little water color to touch up some spots), and colored pencils for everything else. She did not realize the thumb was suppose to be the head and drew one on.

Hazel's Blue Hand Horse

 The second artist we looked at was Piet Mondrian. The book shared his Composition with Blue and Yellow. Here is a similar painting of his with red as well.

Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue by Piet Mondrian 
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Hazel really enjoyed this one. She loves modern art and especially abstract art. My only issue was the electrical tape seemed to make the cardstock curl a bit. I cut strips of red, yellow and blue cardstock with adhesive on it for our shapes. I also did the electrical tape on both.

Hazel's

 I made one since we had extra papers and I wasn't sure how hers was really going to come out. Though I like how hers did come out.

The book says the projects are for ages 6 and up. Hazel is almost seven and there were definitely some I would not try with her right now. Her abilities just are not there yet. However in a few years I am sure she could do them. Overall I love how the book shares a bit about each type of art, the painters and their artwork and then give projects to try it on your own in an easier way. It is a book we will be keeping so we can continue to explore art.

Be sure to check out our Exploring Color Series for even more on what we have done with art and learning about it.  For even more art ideas check out my Art Lesson for Children Pinterest Board.