Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night Picture Study (Part 1)

We have a little artist in the making. We go through reams of paper like nobody’s biz. She loves to draw, paint, and make her own toys with paper and tape. Why tape? She doesn’t like the stickiness of glue. Understandable.

Anyways, I thought it would be fun for her to do an artist study via picture study. I came across THIS blog post on how to do picture study and created my own lessons.

The nice thing about doing a picture study is that you do not have to have any background in art, history, or anything really. It’s not a deep dive into color theory, painting techniques, or styles. You don’t even have to like the particular art (I personally do not like Starry Night but I think his Café Terrace is beautiful). And you don’t have to make it into an art project (but you can if you want).

The lessons are pretty quick and you and your children get that basic intro to different artists. YAY!

We look at the same picture for two weeks. The first week we look at the new picture, give background information about the artist, and share thoughts about the picture. The second week we review what we learned from the first week and answer discussion questions. There’s no right or wrong answers. We are beginning to create a relationship with art.

SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR VINCENT VAN GOGH STARRY NIGHT PICTURE STUDY:

-Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night print

-Vincent Van Gogh portrait

-Map/globe

HOW TO PREPARE FOR VINCENT VAN GOGH PICTURE STUDY:

1. Print a portrait of Vincent Van Gogh and his Starry Night painting using UPS’s online printing service. I printed my pictures on 80lb cardstock paper in colored matte. You could also use a book that has his picture and painting.

2. Find an excerpt in a book or do a search online to gather information about Vincent Van Gogh’s life and his Starry Night painting.

HOW TO DO PICTURE STUDY WITH VINCENT VAN GOGH’S STARRY NIGHT PAINTING:

1. Show a picture of Vincent Van Gogh. Read a short background excerpt about Vincent Van Gogh from a book or from the search you did earlier.

2. Use your map or globe to show where Vincent Van Gogh was born and travelled.

3. Hand each child a picture of the Starry Night painting. If you have a small group you can also share one print to look at together.

4. For younger children, spend 2-3 minutes silently looking at the picture. Older children can spend more time looking. My four and six year old last about 2 minutes.

5. After your allotted time, flip the painting over so the picture is no longer visible. Recall anything about the painting—what was in it, colors, how it made them feel etc.

6. Once your children are done sharing, flip the painting back over and share anything else that was missed from the picture.

7. Afterwards, share information about the painting. Read from an excerpt about the painting or share facts from your research.

8. Voilá! You’re done! The lesson should take 5-10 minutes.

If you are interested in trying picture study with your children, click the link below to download your free lesson plan for Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night!