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Home , August Macke, Franz Marc

Kindergarten: Lesson 6 (May)

Art Masterpiece: Blue Parrots by

Keywords: Color, Shape, , Emotion

Activity: Colorful Parrot Puppets

About the Artist:

• August Macke was born in in 1887. His father, Hermann, was an artist and building contractor, and his mother came from a farming family. • He went to school at a large school in Germany during his childhood. One of his schoolmates, Walter Gerhardt, became a close friend. A few years later, Macke married Gerhardt’s sister, Elisabeth. • After his father died in 1904, Macke enrolled in college and took art classes at night. He also worked as a stage and costume designer during this time. Kindergarten: Lesson 6 (May)

• Macke was influenced greatly by his father Hermann’s artwork, Japanese prints, and . As he traveled throughout Europe, he also formed associations with the artists , Vassily Kandinsky, , and . • Delaunay experimented with various styles of art, including Post- Impressionism, , , and . • Ultimately, Macke’s style of followed the Expressionist movement. In Expressionism, the focus is on expressing feelings and moods rather than reproducing reality. Distortion of color and form is common. • In 1914, August Macke’s career was cut short by his early death in the army in the second month of in France. His final painting, Farewell, depicts the mood of gloom that settled in France after the outbreak of war.

Possible Questions:

• What colors do you see in the painting? • What shapes do you see? • Do the parrots look exactly like you would see them in real life? How are they different? • How does the painting make you feel? • How many people do you see in the painting? What are the people doing? • Where do you think these parrots live? (They could live in a zoo, in a nature preserve, or in an arboretum.)

Activity: Colorful Parrot Puppets

1) Pass out 1 cardstock parrot to each student and have the students write their name on the back. Distribute the colored pencils and instruct the students to color their parrots with various colors. Encourage the students to use their imagination when choosing colors. Kindergarten: Lesson 6 (May)

2) The parrots do not need to be colored in completely (tell the students to focus mostly on coloring the , beak, feet, and tree branch). The parrot’s body will be mostly covered up by feathers glued on later, so the body can be colored, but only if time allows (about 10 minutes total for coloring). 3) After students are done coloring, collect the colored pencils and hand out the bottles of glue. Have the students turn their parrots over to the back. Give each student a large tongue depressor; show them how to glue the stick to the bottom half of their parrot to make a puppet. 4) Once the puppet stick is glued on, have the students carefully turn their parrots back over to the front. Give each student one wiggle eye; help them glue it onto their parrot. 5) Distribute small amounts of fluffy feathers and cardstock “feathers” in individual small bins. About 15 total pieces is a good amount for each student to glue onto their parrot, but they can use more or less, if desired. Students will then proceed to glue the fluffy feathers and cardstock cutouts onto their parrots. Students can choose feathers that follow the color scheme of their pencil coloring, if they choose (i.e. red feathers on an area that was colored with red pencil, etc.). 6) Allow the glue to dry completely before allowing students to take their parrots home. Collect any feathers and cardstock cutouts that were not used and save them for future students to use.

Materials Needed: • Parrot template copied onto heavy cardstock, 1 per student (cut parrots out in advance to save time) • Colored pencils • Glue bottles • Large tongue depressors, 1 per student • Wiggle eyes, 1 per student • Fluffy colored feathers, approximately 5-6 per student • Colored cardstock “feather” cutouts, approximately 10-12 per student • Baby wipes to clean hands and desks Kindergarten: Lesson 6 (May)

Artwork Examples: