Not far from where we live, The Huntington Museum has two Blue Boy's hanging in their Portrait Gallery; one by Thomas Gainsborough, and one by Kehinde Wiley. The two paintings are impressive displays of technique and drama.
Currently we also have two Blue Boy portraits hanging in our portrait gallery. What they lack in technique, they more than make up for in sheer cuteness.
Our latest Art project, inspired by the exquisite work of Kehinde Wiley, introduces several essential art concepts, serves as a nice introduction or easy practice with acrylics, can be scaled up or down depending on skill level of the toddler or preschooler, and is totally doable! In the end, kids create something they can be proud of while being exposed to one of the titans of Contemporary Art - all good things.
If you are not acquainted with Kehinde Wiley, then you should definitely pop over to The Art Story for a great overview, and his website for sheer beauty. He's a massive talent raised on a steady diet of Art History and practice. His story is a perfect model of how an enthusiastic kid with support, can turn into an adult who changes the world.
Far too often, when teaching Art, the focus is so intently on the art, that we don't really dig into the story of artists, their influences, and how they discovered their voice. After all, we don't seem particularly interested in raising Art Historians, we want to cultivate creative minds.
And while having your children paint and sculpt and collage their little hearts out is fantastic, I would argue that diving into the story of art is just as important. Through this story we lay the road map to the creative life. Children hear stories of how it all came together for an artist and recognize that behind every great idea is years of rigorous practice, passionate discovery, and emotional resiliency.
We started our project with this kind of storytelling. It's how we begin almost everything. The first stop was gaining a little context. Our initial discussions were around portraiture vs landscape or still life. I brought out famous examples of portraits painted by masters of the genre. The types of paintings that Kehinde Wiley grew up examining.
Then we dug into the works of Wiley. We were lucky enough to find this comprehensive book covering his earlier work at our library, but there are a few out there to choose from, like Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic. The kids loved having this book available and I would often find them together curled up on the couch (or in the hallway?!) flipping through the pages.
With this little bit of Art History, and with a whole lot of excitement about the artist, we were ready to head over to The Huntington Library. We did some play and social storytelling around visiting a museum, which I documented in the post, Raising a Museum Lover.
The museum visit was brief (hey, at 4 and not quite 2, even 10 minutes can be counted as a success!). But though we didn't spend too much time inside, the painting made an impact. Portrait of a Young Gentleman, is huge and looms large over the viewer, so it's no wonder the kids walked away impressed.
The next day, I brought out a Kehinde Wiley mix and match magnet set. I wanted to let the kids play with the concepts of background and subject. And by separating the background from the subject, they were able to better understand the difference and how the two play off each other in Wiley's paintings. More importantly, the kids delighted in playing with the works of art. For a deeper dive into our Kehinde Wiley magnets, check out this post, and then hop over to this free digital resource.
Now it was time for making art. And the level of excitement for the project was sky high because we took the time to do a full build up.
In separate sessions, I sat next to the kids and modeled how to paint the blue background, and then stamp flowers all over the canvas. They are well practiced in the art of stamping using a traditional stamp pad, but using acrylics with the stamps proved to be more difficult. They had to slow down. They had to think a bit. They had to work through moments of annoyance. It was great.
We then did a "Blue Boy" photo shoot. There were discussions around costuming, with Rémy eventually picking an orange shirt and blue shorts to match Kehinde Wiley's portrait. Sierra opted for her favorite pineapple dress. Then came the posing. Left hand on hip, right hand holding hat. Days later, Sierra was still walking around hitting the pose and calling herself "Blue Boy".
I cut out the pictures for them and then modeled how to apply the glue and place the picture on the background. It was Sierra's first time doing this and I was impressed with how carefully she followed each of the steps. The second the pictures were in place, I could see their faces light up.
After the glue dried, we pulled the stamps back out and added some flowers on top of the pictures. Before stamping, we looked at some of Kehinde Wiley pictures together and took note of the fact that the background flowers did not go over the faces of the subjects, so the kids took care not to stamp their faces.
Project complete! Now was the time to do a little reflecting. I asked them two questions: How is your painting like Kehinde Wiley's Portrait of a Young Gentleman? and What is your favorite part of your painting? I wasn't looking for a dissertation, I just wanted to get them talking about their art.
A few weeks later and not a day goes by without one of the kids pulling their portrait off the wall and talking about it. Sierra has taken to carrying around a small mounted printout of Portrait of a Young Gentleman everywhere she goes. It's like her own Kehinde Wiley security blanket. She loves the artist so much that for her second birthday she wanted a Kehinde Wiley "Blue Boy" party. It's the sweetest, most amazing embrace of Art History. It makes my whole body smile.
If you are interested in following this entire unit, or just want resources and guidance for parts that sound appealing, please email me. I am in the process of prototyping some Art Play/Create units, and would love to find a few willing to play along with me. The prototype includes all the resources, prep instructions, teaching guides, and step by step examples of the project. It has everything you need to hit it out of the park.
When you do give it a shot, let me know how it works out for you, and what kind of amazing moments you find along the way.
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