Art Lesson - Andy Warhol Pop Art

I did this art lesson with a large group of 4th graders a couple of weeks ago. It takes a brave person to do a lesson with tempera paint, especially with a large group of 35!! Because of this, the kids don't get to use the tempera as much as they should. So I thought I'd use my patience skills, and let them do a little experimenting with this paint.


First I explained a little about Pop Art. I talked about how in pop art things that are "popular" in our culture are used. I asked them what might that be. One boy said an iPod. Good, I also said how maybe Hannah Montana might be used. There was a bit of an uproar at this, mainly from the boys! I then showed some examples of Andy Warhol's work. The kids were amazed when I showed the Campbell's soup art, and couldn't believe it when I told them that Warhol made lots of money off of this! I also showed his Marilyn Monroe work. The kids didn't know who she was, one thought it was Madonna. But with these examples, I think they got a good understanding of Pop Art.


I decided to do a simple design, with something that might be "popular" with them. Although many didn't seem to want to do an ice cream cone, I wanted the design to be simple so they could work with mixing colors a little. First we folded our paper into 4 sections. Then drew our simple ice cream cones.

The first cone we painted with complementary colors. (I showed them a color wheel and explained a little about this) This was good since the California art standards for 4th grade include using complementary colors. Then the second cone was done with a solid color, then by adding white (a tint of the color). I could've done more lessons with color and mixing, but my time was running out, so I had them paint the remaining 2 ice cream cones however they wanted. And as usual a lot of kids just wanted a chance to mix the colors up. Most waited until their painting was nearly done before they went at it with the mixing. To some this was the funnest part about the lesson. Surprisingly, only 1 made this mess too soon, before he used the fresh colors. There's always at least one in the group who doesn't follow directions very well.

So if you're a brave soul, go and let those kids make a mess with the tempera... They really need it!