1st Grade Wang Yani Monkeys

Wang Yani Monkeys

The 1^st grade students learned about the artist Wang Yani through a power point and video.  Wang Yani was from China and became an artist at a very young age.  Her father was a painter and an art teacher so he was able to help her.  She held her first exhibition when she was only 4 years old! By the time she was 6 years old she had created over 4,000 paintings! When she was 8 year old one of her paintings was made into a Chinese stamp.  Yani’s favorite subjects in her early paintings were animals, especially monkeys, since she had a pet monkey when she was growing up.  She usually painted them playing and being mischievous.  Yani’s later work shows landscapes and people and many of her painting tell a story.  The 1^st graders were able to see many examples of Yani’s work and then they created their own monkey scene using watercolors.  They also learned about Chinese writing and created black Chinese symbols in their art.  Then they created a red chop symbol, which is how the Chinese sign their name on their art. Thanks to http://greenbayartroom.blogspot.com/ for the inspiration.