Drawing with Scissors - Exploring Matisse

1. Henri Matisse was a famous French artist with an interesting story of his life and art. Read the book Drawing with Scissors by Keesia Johnson and Jane O’Connor with the class. Point out the painting Still Life with Books and Candle, one of Matisse’s first paintings and The Snail, one of his last paintings. Discuss the differences in the compositions and why his art changed so much.
2. Have students look at the artwork Henri Matisse created later in life. He created compositions by cutting out paper shapes with scissors. He called it “drawing with scissors”. The artwork shown for this lesson plan was based on his piece called, Le Gerbe.
3. Matisse had his assistants paint pieces of paper and then he cut out shapes from the painted paper. He put his cutouts on the wall and rearranged them until he was happy with how it looked.
4. Students will take the roles of both Matisse and his assistants in the group art project. Cover the work area with recycled newspaper. Have students paint 2 large pieces of paper with Crayola® Washable Paint in various colors. Allow paper to air-dry.
5. While the paper is drying, students sketch out the composition they want to create with Erasable Colored Pencils. Students can choose to recreate one of Matisse’s pieces or create an original composition.
6. Gather the dried painted sheets of paper and pile them up in the front of the classroom so students can share. Instruct students to cut their shapes out close together so the paper isn’t wasted and more students can use the painted paper.
7. Students draw shapes on the painted paper with Erasable Colored Pencils and cut out with Crayola Scissors.
8. Arrange the cut out shapes on a large piece paper. When satisfied with the placement, glue the shapes in place with a Crayola Glue Stick.
9. Students write a paragraph about their artwork and how it represents Henri Matisse’s work.

LA: Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

LA: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

MATH: Analyze patterns and relationships.

SCI: Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live.

VA: Intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of experiences and ideas.

VA: Select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of ideas.

VA: Describe and place a variety of art objects in historical and cultural contexts.

Students practice collaboration. Instead of making individual compositions, have students work with a partner to create a collaborated piece.

Students learn about rebus and write and illustrate a rebus story using Matisse cutouts. The use of rebus dates back to the middle ages. Rebus uses pictures to represent words. Have students combine this writing technique with they what they learned about how Matisse used shapes for his compositions. The result will be a unique rebus story.