H@H Kids Edition: View From Your Window (Episode 21)

Create this project along with Lisa!
Watch video right here or on the Museum’s YouTube Channel.

Project Overview

For this week’s Heckscher at Home Kids Edition, we will learn about Long Island Biennial 2020 artist Glen Hansen! Together we will look closely at his artwork and see what he created with his photorealistic painting skills. After getting inspired by his painting Ellis Island, we will get creative and make our own artwork!

Materials

  • white paper
  • colored construction paper
  • pencil
  • eraser
  • ruler
  • scissors
  • colored pencils/crayons/markers

Key Concepts

  • details
  • perspective
  • background & foreground
  • collage
  • shapes
  • overlapping

Discussion

Glen Hansen is one of 52 artists featured in the Long Island Biennial 2020. Let’s take a closer look at his work and make observations about details that we notice. Hansen’s painting looks incredibly realistic and lifelike. Imagine yourself inside the painting, where would you be looking? We’re looking through a glass ceiling or skylight, looking carefully how can you tell? As you look through the windows, we only see the top of a building. Glen’s painting is called Ellis Island and it’s where many immigrants first arrived when they came to our country.

We can see reflections in the glass and the sunlight hitting the window. Looking even closer, can you see anything in the reflections? Not only can you see the building outside, but also it looks like images of people that are inside visiting. Even though we can’t see the interior, the artist uses his painting skills to show both the inside (in the foreground) and outside (in the background) from an unusual perspective. 

For today’s project, we will be creating a work of art that will be a view through a window. You can use the real view outside your house, or get creative and make something new from your imagination! Brainstorm ideas for a landscape or transport yourself to anywhere in the world (or maybe out of this world, extraterrestrial views are encouraged!)

Once you have drawn and colored your landscape, the last step is to collage your window frame. Windows come in all different shapes and sizes, so design one that will highlight your drawing to the fullest. Cut long strips of colored paper construction paper using your scissors and arrange them on top of your drawing to create a collaged window frame! Experiment by overlapping the paper strips in different ways on top of one another to create interesting shapes.

Share!

Please share photos of your finished works of art with us on social media and check back soon for our next project! #HeckscheratHome #MuseumfromHome