Van Gogh Resources for Art Teachers
I’m a huge fan of Van Gogh. I know some art teachers get bored with his work, but the potential for teaching within his paintings and drawings never ceases to blow me away. I love his frantic, daubed paintings almost as much as I love the marks that build to create his drawings. There is so much to teach with and so much for students to learn. This blog post details some Van Gogh Resources for Art Teachers which I know you will use again and again. I know I have!
First up is this super-useful presentation. It covers many aspects of Van Gogh’s life and works. There is a script included with questions to engage your learners.
The resource below guides your student through how to analyse a Van Gogh artwork. It uses Blooms Taxonomy to create higher order thinking questions that cover describing, understanding, analysing, evaluating and creating.
These are simply 4 of Van Gogh’s drawings. I’ve laminated these and it’s surprised me how many times they’ve been used over the years. They are high-resolution so your students can easily see all the different marks Van Gogh uses.
This one-page Van Gogh Mark Making resource asks students to draw squares in their sketchbook and then copy the marks they see in the squares on the Van Gogh drawing. I have had great results with this activity using stick and ink. I love doing this activity with my students!
You can buy these resources individually but it’s much better value to subscribe. When you subscribe you can download 10 resources a month and they are a fraction of the price. Learn more about subscribing to The Arty Teacher.
This Art Venn diagram includes Art, Maths & Literacy! It’s not always easy to introduce maths and literacy into one art lesson but by using this Venn Diagram for analysis you are doing just that.
Are you fed up with students cutting and pasting chunks from the internet and calling it research? Using a crossword puts you in control and makes students research real facts.
Lastly, I have this very popular sunflower grid drawing. The one-page resource comes with three different titles so you can use it as just a drawing exercise or a Van Gogh exercise!
More Van Gogh resources for art teachers will be coming soon, so keep checking back!
Useful Links:
Here are some useful links if you are planning a Van Gogh project. The Van Gogh Museum and the Van Gogh Gallery should be your first port of call to learn more. There is also a whole website dedicated to Van Gogh’s letters!
If you are easily moved to tears, don’t watch this uplifting clip on Youtube which was part of Doctor Who series 5. Vincent Van Gogh Visits the Gallery It would make a great starter to a lesson.
Don Mclean wrote a song inspired by Van Gogh’s The Starry Night. Great lyrics which make reference to his mental state and suicide. Very moving! Don McLean – Vincent ( Starry, Starry Night) With Lyrics
Art and maths! The unexpected math behind Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” Top set students might appreciate this link to turbulence and maths!
You may have heard about the film Loving Vincent, you can buy it here:
Or if you are in Australia, you can get the DVD Here.
