Painting with Scissors

This was a quick activity that students could complete during class or continue working on their own. Students were given a brief introduction about Henri Matisse and the work he created during his cut-out period. The students were shown examples of Matisse's work, along with a sample of the project I created, so students could see what we would be doing. Students were provided with brightly colored pieces of paper, one sheet of black or white cardstock for their background, along with scissors and glue sticks.  They were given the option to choose any subject they liked and were encouraged to have fun, not to rush, and to use their imagination and creativity to create their paintings. The goal of this activity was for the students to experiment with color, shape (both organic and non-organic), and positive and negative space while learning a new technique.
 
The inspiration for this project was the paintings created by Henri Matisse during his Cut-outs period (1941 - 1954). Emphasis was placed on students to use their unique creative style.