SOME famous paintings.

Below you will see some paintings that are considered famous and important to the history of painting. 

Select the one YOU think is most interesting and describe it in detail on your blog in terms of color, composition, and texture using the terms we've learned in class. Do NOT put the picture in your post. Use its title and the name of the artist and your description skills to "paint" the picture.

Do  little research on the painting. Find out who made it and where they are from. What is the painting about?

Then, describe why you chose this painting as the most interesting one and why you think it is considered important to the history of art.

Rites of Spring by Sandro Botticelli                  

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo daVinci
 

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali

The Oath of Horatii by Jaques Louis David

Water Lilies by Claude Monet

 

American Gothic by Granty Wood

Broadway Boogie Woogie by Piet Mondrian

Desmoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp

This is week 5.

Our biggest goal for the week is to get the White Objects Painting finished. This means you'll have to plan your time well. Class 1 will miss their double block on Tuesday for the holiday so they'll have to be extra thoughtful about time management. 

In addition, you'll need to make sure your canvas is stretched and has three coats of gesso on it by the end of the week so we can start a new project in week 6. 

And, as always, homework should be posted to your blog on Friday and you should leave comments for two of your classmates each weekend. I will also be leaving you comments on your blog. Make sure you have your blog set to email you when someone leaves you a comment. I expect you to answer any questions you might be asked by me or by one of your classmates.

Creating the illusion of surface and texture

In the paintings below you will find many different types of textures and surfaces (reflective, transparent, shiny, rough, etc.). What did these artists DO to create these illusions? Use specific examples form the paintings in your description and be sure to use the vocabulary we've discussed in class.

Still LIfe With a Ginger Jar, Paul Cezanne

Vase of Flowers (plus detail), Jan Davidsz de Heem

Chair, Vincent Van Gogh

Banquet With Mince Pie (plus detail), Willem Claesz Heda

Still Life With Fish and Vegetables, Jean Simeon Chardin

Still Life With Peaches and a Silver Goblet, Jean Simeon Chardin

This is week 4.

This week we'll really dig into the White Objects Painting assignment. Many of you are progressing well having already sketched everything in and laid in the local colors of the objects. Now you'll start thinking about light and shadow and how to use what you've learned about color to show the variety of whites in the still life.

You should also make sure your blog is completely up-to-date because we'll be having and official "check-in" on Wednesday. I'll be using the checklist I made for you to do this and you can find copies on the bulletin board in the studio or on First Class in our class folder. Be sure you've made comments on your classmates' blogs as well. Remember...post for Friday. Comment by Monday.

The homework for this week will be good preparation for the painting we'll start next week which will involve thinking about surface and texture.

White Objects Thumbnail Sketches

  

These are three possible compositions for my White Objects Painting. I chose the horizontal one because I liked the symmetry of the two pitchers facing in opposite directions.

Using composition as a tool

We have been and will be using everyday objects as the subjects of our paintings. At times you might feel like you're not getting to tell a story or create an exciting painting because you aren't always able to select the objects you paint. One way to make a required still life YOURS is to use composition as a tool.

Composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art. It can also be thought of as the organization of the elements of art (color, line, shape, form, space, texture) according to the principles of art (movement, balance, emphasis, contrast, proportion, pattern, rhythm).

Look carefully at the paintings below. In which painting does the composition take the painting beyond being just a picture of everyday objects? Which composition is the most interesting and why? 

Choose the painting you think answers these questions and paste it into a post on your blog (don't forget to add the title, artist, and date). Answer the questions above using the vocabulary we've been building in class.

Still Life With Three Puppies, by Paul Gaughin, 1888

Custard Cascade, by Will Cotton, 2001

Still Life With Watermelon, by Fernando Botero, 1992

Lemons on a Pewter Plate, Henri Matisse, 1926

This is week 3.

This week we'll be aiming to get our color charts and Studies in Smallness finished so we can start a larger painting of all White Objects. Students last year across the board said the White Objects Painting was the most frustrating assignment of the course, but that they also learned the most from doing it. The learning curve is about to get steeper!

Also, make sure your blog is up-to-date by checking the blog roll hanging next to the bulletin board in the studio and in the BLOG BLOG BLOG folder on First Class. It's time to get into the routine of posting homework and works-in-progress to your blog by Friday and commenting on two of your classmates' blogs by Monday.

I'll continue to post examples of what you should be posting to your blog here on the class blog and label those posts TO DO ON YOUR BLOG.

Studies in Smallness: finished paintings

  

These are my three finished paintings.

I struggled with _______________ because of _______________. I felt successful about ___________________________ because of ______________.

Studies in smallness: my set-ups

Create a post with a photo of each of the three set-ups you made for the Studies in Smallness project. If I took the pictures for you you can find them in your First Class email account. Don't forget to check the labels.

Color mixing chart

Post a picture of your color mixing chart.

Morandi vs. Van Gogh: Color

Below you see two paintings by Giorgio Morandi and two paintings by Vincent Van Gogh.

Describe the differences between the artists' choices of color palette and subject matter in these particular paintings.

Also, how does the choice of color palette influence or affect the subject matter?

Still Life, 1955, Giorgio Morandi

Still Life, 1955, Giorgio Morandi

Irises, 1890, Vincent Van Gogh

Sunflowers, 1888, Vincent Van Gogh