Mondrian Painting

With the end of the year upon us, I have been trying to come up with meaningful one-class-period lessons so we don't run out of time and have projects left unfinished.  This one is a keeper.  Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian, took art to its most basic level with his distinctive grid and color designs.  I showed students several painting of his and we discussed the art elements that are important to his designs (line, color, and shape.)  They notice that he used only straight lines, primary colors, and squares or rectangles.  For our project, we drew horizontal lines and vertical lines with a ruler, then traced over them with black crayon.  Next, we erased four lines to create larger shapes that add interest.  Finally students painted shapes with red, blue, black or yellow, remembering that a balanced picture is more pleasing to the eye.