Starry, Starry Nights...

Carmel's Visual Arts students studied the artwork of Impressionists such as Claude Monet and Paul Cezanne, leading up to the artwork of post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Discussion topics centered around the way in which van Gogh's artwork was considered child-like and unimpressive at first, and was only appreciated later. These studies lead up to further discussion on Originality in Art, and questions surrounding what makes art "original." 


As their project for this unit, each student created their own reinterpretation of van Gogh's famous Starry Night, blending and layering oil pastels to create a paint-like effect that mimicking that of oil paints. Our starry nights transformed into everything from colorful fantasy lands, to meetings of fire and water, to eerie castle scenes, and more. Students later discussed and wrote on the subjective topic of whether or not their reinterpretations were, in fact, original.

8th Grade

7th Grade

6th Grade