Paint with Scissors

Create forms and shapes with paper rather than markers or crayons. This unique way of making art is just like Henri Matisse created masterpieces. Click here to listen to a book about Matisse.

For this activity you will need the following items:

• Construction paper (or make your own by coloring white paper with crayons or markers)
• Scissors
• Glue

Now here’s what you do:

1. Pick one piece of paper to be your base. You can use a larger poster board or any color of paper. 
   1. You can also paint a white piece of paper just like Matisse used to do!
2. Now, use scissors to create shapes with other colored pieces of paper. What kind of shapes will you make? 
   1. Some shapes to consider: wavy, straight, zig zag, blobs, sharp, etc…
   2. About colors: Certain colors belong in families. Cool colors are blue, purple, and green. Warm colors are red, yellow, and orange. Can you put all your cool color shapes in one pile and all of your warm color shapes in another pile?
   3. Now, mix the colors and shapes. Do some colors and shapes look better together than others? What shapes and colors do you like the best?
3. The next step is to make a plan on where to put all the shapes. Place your shapes on your paper and create a piece of art. Do not glue until your art is exactly how you want it.
4. Once everything is in order, use the glue to paste your shapes down. 

Share with us your artwork! What colors and shapes did you choose and why?

Inspiration: BuggyAndBuddy.com