Explore the world of art with Piet Mondrian-inspired painting and a leafy self-portrait

Difficulty: Explorer (Level 1)

Art is about using visual tools to inspire people to think and feel. There are many ways to express yourself! Some artists enjoy painting beautiful scenes from nature. Others might even use scraps of paper to create a new image.

Piet Mondrian is an example of an artist who used something simple to make a big splash. He was born in the Netherlands and moved around the world to work on his art. He is most famous for his paintings, which use six main colours: red, blue, yellow, black, white, and grey. They also usually have straight lines running vertically or horizontally.

Mondrian was a pioneer of the abstract art movement, and his work is still very popular today.

Try your hand at making art with our activities below.

Create a Piet Mondrian-inspired painting

Materials

• white construction paper or a small white canvas

• red, yellow, blue, and black paint

• paintbrush

• tape

Instructions

1. If you are using construction paper, tape down the four corners so that the paper does not move.

2. Create boxes and rectangles on your paper or canvas by putting strips of tape across it. Make sure the tape is parallel to the side of the paper or canvas.

3. Paint the boxes created by the tape. Use colours like red, yellow, blue and black. You can also leave some of the boxes white, just like Piet Mondrian did.

4. If you are using a canvas, you can gently peel off the tape that created the boxes. Then, use black paint to fill in the strips where the tape used to be. If you are using construction paper, paint over the tape.

5. Let your creation dry, and then hang it up to enjoy.

Nature self-portrait

Materials

• plain brown cardboard

• scissors

• glue

• a variety of foliage found on a nature walk, such as various types of leaves, grass, twigs, small pebbles, and flowers

Instructions

1. The cardboard will be the head of your self-portrait. Cut out a circle or oval about the size of a football.

2. Choose the pieces of foliage you want to be your eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth. You can use flowers, small leaves or pebbles for these things! Perhaps find grass or long leaves for your mouth and eyebrows.

3. Choose what to use for your hair. If you have long hair, you could use long pieces of grass or leaves. If you have short hair, you could use twigs or small leaves.

4. Once you have laid out your design, it’s time to start glueing. Use your glue to stick these pieces of foliage to the cardboard.

5. Let the glue dry, then show off your piece to your friends and family.