Learning Art Through Apprenticeships

Until only recently—the last 200 years or so—artists learned about their trade and made their name known to art buyers by becoming a famous artist’s apprentice. The artist acted as the teacher and the apprentice was the student. For some, becoming an artist’s apprentice meant they could do a job they loved and earn enough money for their families to live. Others never became artists, either because they weren’t talented enough, or did not please the artist they were supposed to be learning from.

A new artist’s apprentice would do tasks that were not even related to art, such as cleaning the studio. Eventually, he would be allowed to clean the paintbrushes and help mix paints. After several years of these tasks, if the artist liked the apprentice enough and thought he had enough talent, the artist would let him work along side him. Sometimes the apprentice would get good enough and become well known enough to be an artist himself, with his own apprentices.

Today, anyone can be an artist. Anyone who wants to can go to school to learn art. Though art apprenticeships still exist, they are different than those of the past. They do not involve years of cleaning another artist’s studio.

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Create Your Own Papier Mache Sculpture

Making a huge papier mache sculpture like Niki de Saint Phalle is not easy, but making a smaller one is very simple. Follow the directions below to create one of your own.

Supplies Needed:

Newspaper, torn into strips
Flour
Water
Salt
Bowl
Acrylic Craft Paint
Paintbrush
Cup for rinsing paintbrush
Craft Sealant
Coated Craft Wire (Optional)

Cover your work space with sheets of newspaper to make clean up easy. Gather your supplies.

In a bowl, mix one cup of flour, two tablespoons of salt, and two cups of water and stir until the mixture is smooth. You’ll know you’ve stirred it enough when it looks like thick glue. In the picture you can see that my mixture still has a few lumps left but it worked fine. Keep you wooden spoon handy for stirring later because the floor tends to settle at the bottom of the bowl .
I find it’s easier to create a sculpture if you make a frame out of wire and then attach the papier mache to the frame. This is what Edgar Degas did when he created Little Dancer, Age Fourteen. You don’t have to do this, though. Be careful when twisting the wire—the ends can be sharp.
Dip a strip of newspaper into the papier mache mixture and wet both sides. Try to wipe off any extra mixture. This will allow your sculpture will dry faster. I find it’s easiest to run the strip through your fingers to wipe off the excess. Then add the strip to your sculpture. Keep adding strips until the sculpture looks the way you want it.
Let your sculpture dry. This could take as long as two days depending on how much papier mache you used.

When the sculpture has dried, use your acrylic craft paint to decorate it. Let the paint dry and then brush on some craft sealant like Mod Podge to protect your sculpture and to make it shiny.

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Sculpture Spotlight: Niki de Saint Phalle

Niki de Saint Phalle, born in Paris in 1930, became famous for her enormous and colorful sculptures. Most of these sculptures are of women, and are called Nanas, but she did sculpt other subjects, as you can see here. These are picture of Stravinsky Fountain in Paris, France.

De Saint Phalle created her first Nana in 1965 out of papier mache. Later, she began using plaster because it was sturdier and allowed her to make sculptures so huge that people could walk through them. The Grotto in Hannover, Germany and the Tarot Garden in Tuscany, Italy are two of these sites.

After building a sculpture, she painted or applied mosaic in wild patterns and bright colors. If you ever get a chance to visit one of de Saint Phalle’s sculpture gardens you will have a great time. They are like playgrounds made out of beautiful sculpture.

You’ll also notice that there are a lot of fountains and metal sculptures in de Saint Phalle’s gardens. These were created by her husband, Jean Tinguely. I like the contrast between the dark, cold, metal sculptures by Tinguely and the rounded, happy, colorful sculptures by de Saint Phalle. What do you think?

For more information about Niki de Saint Phalle, click to visit her official website.

Check back tomorrow to learn how to make your own papier mache sculpture!

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Monet Painting Damaged

I have written only briefly about French Impressionist painter, Claude Monet but I thought I should say something about the events of the weekend. Early yesterday morning (Oct. 7, 2007) a group of people broke into the Orsay Museum in Paris, France. When they heard the alarm go off the group left, but on the way out someone punched through one the Monet paintings and left a four inch hole in the canvas.

I remember seeing the beautiful Le Pont d’Argenteul when I visited this museum and it makes me sad that someone would destroy it. Above, you can see a picture of the painting before it was damaged yesterday. Click here to see the damage done to Monet's painting. The tear is in the middle of the painting, just right of center, and runs horizontally. Cross your fingers that Monet’s Le Pont d’Argenteul can be fixed.

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Book Review: Vincent van Gogh by Eileen Lucas

Today’s book review is again on a book featuring van Gogh. So many great picture books have been written about this artist that it can be difficult to choose one. There will certainly be more to come.

For a review of the Yellow House by Susan Goldman Rubin, click here.

Click here for more information on Vincent van Gogh.

Eileen Lucas’ Vincent van Gogh is perfect for kids just able to read on their own. She begins at the start of van Gogh’s career when he is making sketches of the poor and continues until the end of his life. She writes about van Gogh’s life and how he created his artwork, squeezing paint straight from the tube onto the canvas and layering the paint in thick textures. Lucas also introduces the idea of Impressionism.

The book is beautifully illustrated by Rochelle Draper who used van Gogh’s own paintings, including his many self-portraits, as inspiration. The pictures have the appearance of having been painted on canvas, just as van Gogh’s were.

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Seeing van Gogh’s paintings in a museum helped me to understand the difference between a poster and real painting. There’s is something truly special about looking at the same canvas that the artist worked on. When you look the Yellow House you know that Vincent van Gogh himself placed his hands on that canvas. Plus, the layering of paint makes van Gogh’s subjects almost 3D. You can’t see that in a book or online. Seeing van Gogh’s paintings is a great reason to visit a museum.

Because van Gogh painted so many pieces, it is almost impossible to visit a major art museum without seeing at least one. Also, he painted subjects that everyone is familiar with. Most people have seen sunflowers up close. Most people know what farm land looks like. It’s easy to be comfortable looking at van Gogh’s masterpieces because you can understand what he was painting. He also used bright, attractive colors in many of his paintings which make looking at them fun.

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