Henri Matisse described collage as “drawing with scissors.”  I love that description.  Collage also challenges your brain, like a puzzle.  It can appear deceptively simple, but so many skills are engaged.  Last week, we began a collage using the master of collage, Henri Matisse for inspiration.  Normally, I only read one book during class, but I made an exception this time.  First we read, Henri’s Scissors by Jeanette Winter.  This short book very briefly tells how Matisse became an artist and how illness led him to collage.  The second book was Matisse’s Garden by Samantha Friedman, illustrations by Cristina Amodeo.  This is a Museum of Modern Art publication and focuses on his collage work.  It features many large reproductions of his original work and explains how his collages began and evolved.  All the illustrations are done in collage as well, really lovely book.

Each student began the project by choosing three colors to create a background.  I thought this would take a while, but they chose their colors quickly.  They then chose one of those three colors to be the background color and cut large shapes out of the other two colors.  After cutting out shapes, we then moved them around on the background, paying attention to how placement affected the composition.  We then used templates to create the body pieces on black paper.  Then they arranged their bodies with the goal of showing action.  This week we get to add details.  I am looking forward to seeing what they come up with!