Monet Inspired Water Lilies by MWF Class 

The MWF North Class studied the artist Claude Monet. We focused on his painting Water Lilies from 1916. Inspired by Monet’s painting, the children created their own version using a big canvas as a collaborative group art project.   

The Pond
The first step was to create the canvas’ background.  The students explored with blue and purple paint just like Monet explored on the background of his famous Water Lilies paintings.  The students learned that Monet was the leading figure of French Impressionism, using loose brushstrokes and reflected colors to paint the immediate visual impression of light on a subject.  

The Reflection
We learned that a large portion of the painting shows the surface of the water. Monet painted both the actual flower clusters on the water’s surface as well as the changing effects of light reflected in the water. For Monet, the reflection was really the subject of his painting. He said, “The water flowers are far from being the whole scene; really, they are just the accompaniment. The essence of the motif is the mirror of water whose appearance alters at every moment.” To recreate the water's reflection students used small blue, green, and turquoise glass gems, white sand and glue and added them to the big canvas.

Lily Pads and Water Lilies
The students added oval shaped green tissue paper to represent the lily pads.
To create the Water Lilies, the students used droppers, water colors and coffee filters.  The students practiced their pincer grasp and their hand eye coordination by placing drops of colored water on coffee filters. The students used primary colors and they mixed on the coffee filter to create secondary colors.