Paint Like a Master: EL GRECO

So, El Greco ('that Greek guy') was named Domenikos Theotokopoulos. While he was from Greece, he made it big in Spain. Which reminds me a lot of how David Hasselhoff was a popular singer in Germany for awhile. I'm not kidding.

That was a tangent. A big one. Sorry.

Back to El Greco. Just another one of your basic, multi-talented, famous painter/sculptor dudes who started humbly and finished big.




Known for his stretched out solemn people (foreshadowing the elves in that one big trilogy?). And his big forehead, apparently.

Anyhow, this was a fun project. Using a sketch of Mona Lisa borrowed from somewhere else (like here), my class of 5 & 6 year olds cut through the sketch horizontally several times and then glued down the pieces..stretching vertically as they went. Then we just played connect-the-dots.







Areas I do not suggest cutting through: eyeballs, hands, nose. That's just weird.

I wish we'd had more time to color these pieces. But little fingers take longer with those kid scissors than you might think! And the glue sticks. Don't even get me started on the glue sticks!










I wasn't sure about using the other-colored paper under our pieces, but I actually kind of like how it turned out. It would've been nice to have time to paint, though.

Here's an example of another class' technique - they used tracing paper for their finished piece.

Next time, I think it'd be fun to turn a picture of my kids into a pencil line drawing (here's how) and then use that to do the same El Greco project.

Another idea - for those kids who like cars and trucks. Cut your picture vertically and stretch it out horizontally. You can turn anything into a limo! Tractor, helicoptor, ambulance, cow, etc.