Pencil Palette, The Great French Artists Edition

What a fantastic book! 'Pencil Palette ~ How to Draw: 12 Cute Drawings From The Great French Artists' is an easy-to-follow step-by-step guide to help children learn about and practice drawing artwork created by famous artists. The artists featured in this book include Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Henri De-Toulouse Lautrec, Paul Cezanne, and Henri Rousseau. 

Supplies needed:

• Pencil, colored pencils, wax crayons, watercolor crayons

• Eraser

• Curiosity

• Water to dip watercolor crayons into

Use your watercolor crayon to create a watercolor effect by dipping it into the water. Blot the excess water with a tissue, and color the image as usual. 

Two pages are dedicated to each artwork. On the first page, the title of the piece of art is accompanied by the artist's name.It specifies when the artist created the artwork. Several of the paintings contain artist biographical information or fascinating facts about the artist. This page also includes a picture of the artwork. Children are given step-by-step instructions on how to recreate the artist's work next to the artwork. The second page will contain a reproduction of the artist's work in some form. The page will never be blank. It always gives outlines, partially completed works, dots-to-dots, and color-by-number outlines. 

Claude Monet's painting 'The House of Parliament, Sunset' from 1904, depicting the Houses of Parliament in London, was said to be a regular theme in his work.

There is a color wheel showing the range of colors Monet used in his paintings. In addition to the reflections in the water, students are encouraged to blend the cooler colors of the building with the warmer colors of the sky. For this work of art students are to complete a dot-to-dot pattern that will give them a framework for the building in the painting. Instructions are then given step-by-step on how to apply color and brushstrokes. 

'Mr. Loulou' (Louis Le Ray) (1890) by Paul Gauguin. His full name, Eugene Henri Paul Gaugin was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer. 

In this painting, Gauguin uses both primary and secondary colors, such as blue, yellow, red, orange, green, and purple, in distinct areas. In order to separate colors, thick black lines are used. A pencil outline of the painting appears on the student canvas page. In the instructions, students are instructed to begin with the background colors and move toward the focal point - Mr. Loulou and the chair.

It is most definitely not just a book for children. Anyone who enjoys learning about artists and recreating art will appreciate this book. This would be equally enjoyable for adults. The book is targeted at children ages 8-12. I recommend this book for middle school and above.   

Disclaimer - I received this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. 
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