Celebrate fall colors with some fun, artists-inspired fall art ideas featuring a variety of well-known artists. Elementary ideas are first, with a couple projects for grades 5+ at the end.
Scarecrow Inspired by Paul Klee
Paul Klee was a Swiss-German artist whose playful, imaginative artwork combined abstract forms, symbols, lines, and expressive color, encouraging viewers to see the world through a creative and childlike perspective. I use a guided drawing with my students to draw a simple face, neck, and shoulders. My students have the option to use a hat tracer or draw their own hat. We use crayons to add color to the scarecrow and watercolors to the negative space around the head and body. It is a great way to practice holding a paintbrush and using watercolor paints while using the crayon resist method.
Fall Collage Inspired by Lois Ehlert
Lois Ehlert was an American author and illustrator celebrated for her colorful, playful collage illustrations, which combined cut paper, found materials, bold shapes, and patterns to create engaging images inspired by nature and everyday life. My students use scraps of painted, construction paper or printed paper to make a fall colors collage. I provide a variety of fruit, leaves and nut tracers, as well as a cornucopia. My students practice tracing the objects on paper and cutting out the shapes. Once they have a variety of pieces they glue the collage together. This is a great way to practice cutting and gluing, while applying the element of space to their collage.
Corn Inspired by Piet Mondrian
Piet Mondrian was a Dutch artist and a pioneer of De Stijl, a movement that emphasized simplicity, balance, and geometric abstraction. His iconic paintings use straight lines, rectangular shapes, and primary colors. In this lesson my students have the option to trace the corn cob using a tracer or draw their own. I demonstrate how to add husks to the corn and draw another cob of corn behind the first corn cob. Next, my students draw corn. They use primary colors and black and white to add color to each kernel of corn. Lastly, they use pencils to trace over the lines on the corn and husks and smudge the pencil to create a 3D appearance.
Autumn Squirrel Inspired by Indi Maverick
Indi Maverick is a contemporary Mexican artist and graphic designer known for bold, playful artwork featuring whimsical characters that explore imagination, identity, and everyday life. My students draw the squirrel with me. I encourage them to add a fun hat and place something in the hands of the squirrel to humanize the squirrel similar to the style of Indi Maverick. Then, they use markers to add color to the squirrel, background, and frame. My students have so much fun with this drawing!
Sunflowers Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist artist whose expressive paintings use bold color, energetic brushstrokes, and emotional landscapes and portraits to communicate mood and personal experience. My students love to mimic Vincent van Gogh and his big strokes of vivid paint. We create this sunflower painting lesson as a guided painting. It is important to use the right paint for this lesson, Crayola Premier Tempera paint is a must, as it is thicker and works well with overlapping paint and colors. We paint from dark to light and wash the brush very few times to allow the colors to mix and overlap, creating a variety of colors and bold brush strokes. Although it is a guided painting lesson, every painting is unique.
Fall Colors Inspired by Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a French Impressionist who used loose brushstrokes, changing light, and vibrant color to capture the atmosphere and fleeting beauty of landscapes and everyday scenes. My students create a symmetrical painting by folding the paper lengthwise and adding blobs of paint for the sky and trees with fall colors. Rubbing the paper allows for a reflective image of the sky and trees in the water. After my students perfect the landscape, they use a smaller brush to add boats, smaller trees and buildings in the distance. Students have to work quickly with this one, so it encourages them to get into the Impressionist mindset.
All six of the Summer Art Lessons above are all available in my Artist Inspired Lessons for Fall bundle.
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ARTIST-INSPIRED FALL ART IDEAS FOR OLDER STUDENTS
Circles of Gratitude Inspired by Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist and a leading figure of Fauvism, known for his bold use of color, simplified forms, and expressive compositions. Later in life, he developed his famous cut-paper collage technique, creating vibrant compositions from painted paper that allowed him to explore shape, movement, pattern, and color in a fresh and accessible way. Students create a list of both tangible and intangible items they are grateful for in their life. They also use creative problem-solving to incorporate a circle in each of their collages. The circle unifies the collages and is a symbol of wholeness, which can be found in many cultures. Circles can be seen in sacred symbols, such as Native American medicine wheels. Students use a variety of mediums to create their collage. The outcome is very heart warming and makes perfect display for November. Check out my Gratitude Lesson here.
Pie Sculptures Inspired by Claes Olderburg
Claes Oldenburg was a Swedish American artist best known for transforming ordinary, everyday objects into playful, oversized sculptures that challenged traditional ideas about art. A leading figure in the Pop Art movement, he often used soft materials, bright colors, and humor to explore consumer culture and the relationship between art and everyday life. My students create oversized pieces of pie with cardboard and paper maché. Plaster gauze strips also work. Once the form has been created, students use acrylic paint to add color to the pie. In addition, we use Model Magic to add details to the pie, such as whipped cream, lime slice, cherries, etc. The results look good enough to eat. Again, a perfect lesson for the cozy all months! Check out my Pie Sculptures Lesson here.
Thanks for reading! – Trista
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