Fingerpainting: Imitation of Vincent van Gogh elements

In this project I set out to imitate some form of Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night” but I believe I fell short. I did not try to recreate Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” but rather a sunset in the evening that included some of the elements that Van Gogh used in his painting: like strokes, paint color, and space. When one looks at my picture without a critical eye, they will see that I actually managed to create a sunset at evening that includes some of the styles and elements that Van Gogh used.

My attempt to use Van Gogh elements

     Creating a painting like this was a new experience to me. I never had the opportunity to do some finger painting and I must admit I enjoyed it. My requirements for this project was to try to imitate Van Gogh “Starry Night” as closely as possible or create a scene of my own but by using the elements that Van Gogh included in his painting. In this painting I was only allowed to use the three primary colors and black and white.  I was required to use bright colors, create texture, mix primary and secondary colors to create new colors, use varying shades and tints, and include a foreground, middle ground, and background in our picture.

     I tried to imitate Van Gogh and incorporate his strokes into my painting but I believe I fell short of creating ideal strokes; although, upon analysis one will notice some Van Gogh type of strokes throughout the picture. I managed to include a foreground (tree stump), middle ground (house), and background (sunset) in my picture but once again it is not as realistic as Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. As I began my painting, I planned on using bright colors in my painting like Van Gogh but it became dark on me sooner than I anticipated. As for texture, new colors, shades and tints, the tree stump has texture, I created new colors from the primary colors we were allowed to use, and I also used shades and tints in various areas such as the grass and light blue sky. The strokes in the painting were created with the movement of the fingers and the paint was also applied with the fingers. When it was finished and dry, I glued it on to a piece of construction paper that was slightly larger to create a border for my painting. All in all, it turned out pretty good for a finger painting and for doing this the first time.

 Extension Activity:
This type of art project could be integrated into some type of science lesson, particularly when studying the solar system. When doing an astronomy lesson or perhaps a unit on the solar system, students could be asked to do a finger painting and imitate Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” This would not only reinforce their current astronomy lesson but it would also give them time to recreate a beautiful night sky and in the process increase their appreciation of our magnificent solar system.