Celebrating 50 Years!

Does this make you as giddy as it made me?

For the 50th anniversary of the first time Andy Warhol used the Campbell’s Soup can in his paintings and screenprints the soup manufacturer has released a limited edition set of soup cans!

This is the opposite reaction the famous soup manufacturer once took to Warhol’s work: when the work first appeared the company considered taking legal action, before deciding to wait to see how they were perceived. I don't know why this fact makes me laugh but it does. Warhol's work has probably single handedly improved their business more than anything else!!!!

I could not let this auspicious occasion go by without doing a project to commemorate with my own students. Last year my 3rd graders got to go see many of the soup cans in person at our local museum. So they seemed like an obvious choice to keep the excitment alive!

One of our visual arts education standards here in Georgia is to use direct observation to draw. Fourth graders tend to shut down over this. What happens to them between 3rd and 4th grade that makes them so self conscious of their art work all of a sudden? We also used this project as a major color study unit. Here are some of our finished projects:

 There are many more but this is just a taste for now. I found this handout that helps students draw the can shape itself. We worked hard on the hand lettering and I think they did a great job. Although I did not share this with my students I think this is fun: