Matisse magic - art project using Model Magic modeling compound to make Matisse style refrigerator magnets - Brief Article

Arts & Activities, May, 2002 by Marcia Gibson

While studying the artwork of Henri Matisse, I decided to introduce my K/1 art students to Model Magic[R]--a fun, versatile medium that's easy to form into shapes, air-dries overnight and is not messy! Because Model Magic is relatively expensive, however, the project needed to be small. The project? We would make Matisse-style refrigerator magnets that could be used to help display the children's artwork.

Our one-hour art lesson began by viewing reproductions of Matisse's work. We discussed several of his paintings and line drawings, focusing on how Matisse portrayed faces. We noticed that although he used a lot of bright colors and busy patterns in his paintings, his delineation of the model's face was often very simple.

We also discovered that in many of his portraits he drew a Z-shape to represent the eyebrow, nose and nostril of the face. The eyes were drawn as serene, delicate almond shapes. Matisse seemed to enjoy embellishing his elegant portraits with a dramatic flourish of hair.

I also shared with them many passages from the book, Matisse from A to Z, by Marie Sellier. The letter C, tells about the "cage aux fauves," the letter V explains his interest in "visages" (faces), and the letter X describes how he transformed his tragic immobility into joy and persevered with his artwork.

After our discussion, I unveiled the Model Magic. I showed them how easy it was to roll it into a ball or a worm, flatten it into a pancake, join two pieces together, cut it with scissors, make impressions in it with a pencil, and mix two primary colors together to make a secondary color. The students could hardly wait to try it themselves. So, I had each student mix two pinches of color together to get some hands-on experience--they loved it!

I directed the creation of the first Matisse face by leading the class in step-by-step instructions. We started with a cube of white Model Magic, rolled it into a ball, then flattened it into an oval pancake. Then we rolled out a skinny worm of red, made a Z-shape (for the eyebrow, nose and nostril) and placed it in the center of the white oval--it didn't take much pressure for it to stick onto the white piece. We used the rest of the red worm to form the mouth.

Next, we used the blue to roll tiny balls for the eyes (some children even tried to pinch them into almond shapes) and pressed them onto the white oval. Each student made a skinny worm out of the color they mixed and formed a second eyebrow. Lots of skinny yellow worms were formed to create the hair. As the students finished, I collected the faces and used a felt pen to write each student's name on the back of their artwork. After gluing a magnet to the back of each face, I set the faces on a clean surface to dry overnight.

The real fun began when the students each made a second Matisse-style face on their own, using the remaining modeling compound. There was a buzz of activity with the delight of creative freedom. The children rolled out balls and worms, flattened pancakes, mixed their own colors, made Z-shapes, and added a flourish of hair. They were all very enthusiastic about making their very own creation.

The energy that was present during the art lesson was evident in the variety and flair of the finished work. Could it be that just experiencing the magic of Matisse released a new "cage of wild beasts" into the art world? Let's hope so!

MATERIALS

* Crayola[R] Model Magic" (assorted colors, 2-lb. bucket); one bucket per 20 students

* Small magnet, two per student

* White glue

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The students will learn ...

* about Henri Matisse (1869-1954), a French painter.

* about finding similarities and differences in several works of art.

* how to mix primary colors to make secondary colors.

* how to use a modeling compound to create three-dimensional art.

REFERENCES/ARTWORKS

(1.) Essers, V. Matisse. Taschen (publisher), Germany, 1993.

"The Rumanian Blouse," 1940.

"Woman in a Blouse, Dreaming," 1936.

"Hair," 1932.

"The Dream," 1940.

(2.) Matisse (Posterbook). Taschen (publisher), Germany, 1995.

"Harmony in Red," 1908.

"Lady in Blue," 1937.

"Red Interior: Still Life on a Blue Table," 1947.

(3.) Sellier, M. Matisse from A to Z. Peter Berdick Books, New York, 1995.

"Music," 1939.

"Interior with an Etruscan Vase," 1940.

"Marguerite," 1906.

"Marguerite," line drawing (no date).

"Parsiphae," engraving (no date).

Marcia Gibson is an art teacher in Santa Ynez, Calif.