Session 03: Matisse’s Magical Goldfish Worlds

FULL DESCRIPTION

Step into Matisse’s world, where colors sing, patterns dance, and goldfish swim through dreamlike rooms bursting with rhythm and joy. In this imaginative mixed-media workshop, young artists will create their own vibrant interior scenes, inspired by Henri Matisse’s Goldfish (1912), blending painting, drawing, and collage to build a whimsical goldfish habitat full of personality and play.

Paint a Patterned Room That Pulses with Rhythm

We begin by painting the backgrounds — designing walls that feel alive with motion. Students will learn how to create a 3D room using flat shapes, decorating their spaces with bold acrylics and textured oil pastels. Through repeating stripes, spirals, florals, and organic forms, they’ll explore rhythm and pattern while making meaningful design choices: Why that swirl? What does that shape mean? It’s their visual story to tell.

Draw Furniture That’s Full of Personality

Next up: interior design! Students will sketch out tables, pedestals, and whimsical chairs to give their goldfish bowls a stylish home. With geometric building blocks and perspective tricks (like ellipses and overlapping), they’ll create the illusion of depth while still embracing the graphic, playful charm of Matisse’s flat style. Furniture isn’t just furniture — it’s flair, story, and structure.

Bring Goldfish to Life with Watercolor Resist and Oil Pastel Glow

Time for the stars of the scene! Students will draw radiant goldfish using oil pastels, then layer on watercolor washes for that magical resist effect. Watch in awe as the water dances around the pastel lines — a mini chemistry lesson in every brushstroke! They’ll explore transparency, light reflections, and layering techniques to bring their bowls to life with color and motion.

Fill the Space with Imagination and Style

Where do these goldfish live? In a sun-drenched studio? A leafy jungle room? A greenhouse full of hanging vines? Students will complete their interiors

with drawn and collaged details — rugs, windows, plants, and fantastical flourishes. They’ll learn how to use intricate details and bold outlines to create graphic contrast, unify their designs, and deepen the story their room tells.

Cut, Collage, and Sculpt with Paper Like Matisse

Finally, we break out the scissors! Inspired by Matisse’s iconic paper cut-outs, students will “paint with scissors,” cutting, assembling, and layering vibrant paper shapes into a final collage that pulls all the parts of their world together. This last step adds dimension, energy, and a burst of creative joy — just like Matisse did in his late work.

The Magic Behind the Making: Highlights & Takeaways

• Design with rhythm using pattern, color, and repetition to make your room come alive

• Create depth by using ellipses and overlapping to turn a flat page into a 3D scene

• Furnish with flair by sketching tables and chairs full of charm and character

• Experiment with watercolor resist to make goldfish bowls shimmer and glow

• Paint with scissors to collage bold shapes in Matisse’s playful cut-out style

• Tell a visual story by connecting space, objects, and color in one imaginative scene

• By the end of the workshop, each young artist will have created a magical goldfish world — bursting with pattern, perspective, and personality — and discovered new tools for visual storytelling, design, and mixed-media expression.

• Let’s paint with scissors and make some artistic waves!