Takashi Murakami's Smiley Face Flowers are SMILING!

Takashi Murakami is a really fun artist for the kids to study.

 

Takashi Murakami was born in 1962 in Tokyo, and received his BFA, MFA and PhD from the Tokyo University of the Arts (formerly the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music). He founded the Hiropon factory in Tokyo in 1996, which later evolved into Kaikai Kiki, an art production and art management corporation.

In 2000, he organized a paradigmatic exhibition of Japanese art titled “Superflat,” which traced the origins of contemporary Japanese visual pop culture in historical Japanese art. (information from http://www.gagosian.com/artists/takashi-murakami)

 

Directions:

 

I showed the video below.  About 1:40, I would stop the video.  At this point, kids have got it and are ready to paint some smiley face flowers.

 

 

Kids drew the flowers with pencil

Kids outlined the flowers with a black oil pastel.

Then, the kids painted with tempera cakes.

 

Fun project that got lots of compliments hanging in the hall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's Gnarls Barkley with, you guessed it, "Smiley Faces."

 



 

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