See the world through the eyes of Vincent Van Gogh: Using line andtexture to bring your landscapes to life

Olive Trees from the sketchbook of Vincent Van Gogh

How did Vincent Van Gogh use line and texture to bring a landscape to life?

How To Paint Like Vincent Van Gogh from Rachel Wintemberg on Vimeo.

By the Helpful Art Teacher

Tips and Tricks to help you understand his process. The drawings at the very beginning and end are of course Van Gogh's. In between I create a few pictures of my own in an attempt to see through his eyes.

PRINTABLE STEP BY STEP WORKSHEETS

SHOWING VINCENT VAN GOGH'S PAINTING PROCESS

By The Helpful Art Teacher

BLACK AND WHITE PRINTABLE VERSIONS OF 

VINCENT VAN GOGH'S INK STUDIES

From the sketchbook of Vincent Van Gogh

Ink drawings After Millet from the sketchbook of Vincent Van Gogh

Cypresses
Ink drawings from the sketchbook of Vincent Van Gogh

Ink drawings from the sketchbook of Vincent Van Gogh

Cypresses
Ink drawing from the sketchbook of Vincent Van Go

Olive Trees
Ink drawing from the sketchbook of Vincent Van Gogh


PHOTOGRAPHS OF LANDSCAPES THAT ARE DENSELY PACKED WITH A VARIETY OF TEXTURES
I took  these photographs in Northern California. The landscape was similar in lushness and climate to the area in Southern France where Van Gogh created many of the sketches above. Feel free to use my photos for your Van Gogh process painting experiments, or better yet, take a walk with your camera and try to find your own densely textured subjects. Try photographing gardens, trees, streets and buildings.

 To learn more about Vincent Van Gogh, 
please visit my other posts on the subject 
by clicking here and here.

A detailed analysis of Vincent Van Gogh's creative process, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

 Excerpt from What Makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh? By Richard Muhlberger http://www.amazon.com/What-Makes-Van-Gogh/dp/0670851981 Copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 Excerpt from What Makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh? By Richard Muhlberger http://www.amazon.com/What-Makes-Van-Gogh/dp/0670851981 Copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 Excerpt from What Makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh? By Richard Muhlberger http://www.amazon.com/What-Makes-Van-Gogh/dp/0670851981 Copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Questions for discussion:

Why did the art teacher give out only small brushes?

How am I supposed to fill in the space on my paper, once I begin painting?

STUDENT ART GALLERY:

After Van Gogh by a 5th grade student, instant coffee and black paint on paper

After Van Gogh by a 5th grade student, instant coffee and black paint on paper

After Van Gogh by a 5th grade student, instant coffee and black acrylic paint on paper. Allowed to dry and then 

painted with watercolors 

After Van Gogh, by a 5th grade boy. Instant coffee on paper

After Van Gogh by a 5th grade student, instant coffee on paper

THE WATERCOLOR PAINTINGS BELOW WERE CREATED BY 7TH GRADE STUDENTS; ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS 'AFTER VAN GOGH'. 

These were one day exercises designed to explore 

Van Gogh's line quality.