Day 64 / 103 - Gainsborough

Every winter, we study a great artist and complete a related art project from the book Discovering Great Artists.  (You can see some past projects here, here, here, here, and here.)  I love this book, and I would recommend it to any home educator or parent.  The book teaches the styles, techniques, and works of many great artists and then includes a related activity for students to complete.

Last week we studied Thomas Gainsborough, an English painter of landscapes and portraits in the 18th century.  He preferred painting fancy, imaginary landscapes and often included his portraits on the elaborate landscapes.  Our related assignment was to explore Gainsborough's style of Portraits on Landscape.  My children were to paint an imaginary landscape and then glue cut-out portraits into the scenery.  The fun truly began once they realized their portraits could come from the American Girl and Lego catalogs.