I have to admit, when my boy and I first start reading The Iridescence of Birds by Patricia MacLachlan we wondered where the book was going.
By the end of it though, my boy smiled (as did I). And we learned why Henri Matisse paints the way he does.
By the end of it though, my boy smiled (as did I). And we learned why Henri Matisse paints the way he does.
Do you want your student to get a touch of why an artist might have turned out the way they did?
In this book, Ms. MacLachlan draws us in to the childhood home of Henri Matisse, showing us how is mom let him arrange the produce, the flowers, etc and how we decorated the house. Red was a dominate colour.
In this book, Ms. MacLachlan draws us in to the childhood home of Henri Matisse, showing us how is mom let him arrange the produce, the flowers, etc and how we decorated the house. Red was a dominate colour.
click image to go to source: henri-matisse.
ow Matisse was raised, had a direct impact upon how he painted his artwork. (Which makes sense right? What we are raised with affects us in many ways, no reason why it wouldn't affect artists as well). :) It's just not always so obvious right? With Matisse and the red rooms he grew up with and the blue tablecloths.... it's so common and familiar that everyone knows.
In the book we see all the colour he grew up with and the illustrations are done in a similar style to what Matisse drew. Matisse attributes his artistic style to his mother, saying "I got my sense of colour from my mother". His type was "Fauve" which meant wild beasts. Painting emotions and feelings rather than "things".
In the book we see all the colour he grew up with and the illustrations are done in a similar style to what Matisse drew. Matisse attributes his artistic style to his mother, saying "I got my sense of colour from my mother". His type was "Fauve" which meant wild beasts. Painting emotions and feelings rather than "things".
So how would you draw if you were a boy named Henri Matisse who lived in a dreary town in northern France? Would you draw with colour and emotion, or do it differently?
Product Details:
Received: soft cover picture book
Title: The Iridescence of Birds
Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Illustrator: Hadley Hooper
Publisher: Roaring Book Press
Ages: ages 4-8
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books
Product Details:
Received: soft cover picture book
Title: The Iridescence of Birds
Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Illustrator: Hadley Hooper
Publisher: Roaring Book Press
Ages: ages 4-8
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books
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