Oil Pastel Resist Strips

Wassily Kandinsky

Kandinsky was born in Moscow and went to university to study law and economics. He was successful in his career and didn’t start taking an interest in Art until he was 30 when he moved to Germany and enrolled in Art school in Munich. He later moved to France where he lived for the rest of his life.

Kandinsky’s paintings are often full of patterns, shapes and colours so it may help the children to focus in on one small part of the painting or to hunt for shapes that they like. A viewfinder might also be useful to isolate areas of the painting so that the children can pick out elements that they like and can use on their fabric strips.

Cy Twombly

An American painter, draughtsman and sculptor with a fascination for the expressive possibilities of mark-making. Early work included experiments in Abstract Expressionism (like Jackson Pollock) then Twombly began to use repetitive marks that suggest calligraphy and graffiti on canvas and paper for which he is best known.

Encourage the children to look at some of Twombly’s paintings as inspiration for the marks that they will make on their fabric strips. You could also discuss his choice of colours and then ask the children to use the same colour range.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Hundertwasser painted wherever he happened to be and didn’t have a studio - he just laid his canvas or paper flat in front of him. He believed in living a very simple, quiet life and wanted to paint a paradise on earth for each person. Hundertwasser also created screen prints, etching, woodcuts and tapestries.

Look at a variety of work by Hundertwasser and ask the children to pick out one they are particularly drawn to. Encourage them to make a few simple statements about what they like then see if they can use this work to inspire their work on the fabric strips.