Reminiscing with Rousseau Through Torn Paper Animal Collages!

Henri Rousseau, 1890

Henri Rousseau, Exotic Landscape, 1918

Henri Rousseau, Surprised, 1891

After coming off of a unit where our second graders became familiar with the artist and collages from Henri Matisse, we were able to learn the difference between organic (free form) shapes and geometric shapes.  We defined ORGANIC SHAPES as shapes we find in nature that are often times irregular and hard to name.  Where as GEOMETRIC SHAPES are shapes that can be categorized using mathematical terms and often found in man made items, because they are easy to produce (square, rectangle, diamond, circle, pentagon, hexagon etc.)  Students even practiced cutting their own organic shapes and were surprised by the the infinite possibilities.  

The next step to prepare for our torn paper collages, which were going to feature animals showing affection, was to make our own paper, similar to Eric Carle's techniques, which we watched closely in a video.  We used a variety of paper making tools such has paint brushes, sponges, q-tips, and other found objects. While creating different textures, we focused in on how to make our own TERTIARY COLORS (colors that are made by mixing a primary color and a secondary color that are next to each other on the color wheel).  Students moved from station to station and made blue-greens, red-violets, yellow-orange and more!

Finally, we were ready to start our torn paper collages of animals showing affection.  We viewed examples of how different animals show affection towards each other.  Additionally, we examined work from artist Henri Rousseau who become known for depicting jungle scenes which exotic animals, even though our students were shocked to find out he never left France! Students used plain paper and their newly created painted paper to create their collages and were challenged to make shapes by tearing rather than cutting (scissors were safely stored for this project).  The torn paper shapes were ultimately all organic shapes and helped create a more convincing scene of animals in nature.  

Student Examples

Swans kissing to form a heart shape.

Teaching younger bird to fly.

Sloths cuddling from tree branch.  

Teaching baby bird to fly.

Keeping baby penguin warm.