Final Reflection.

Create a post in which you reflect on the PROGRESS you've made this term in the following areas:
1. Use of color
2. Use of composition
3. Your ability to create the illusion of different surfaces and textures
4. Your ability to create the illusion of space and depth.
Be sure to use specific examples from your paintings in your description.

This is it!

This is the last week of class.

To do:
1. Make sure paintings are finished.
2. Write final reflection on your blog.
3. Use the end of term checklist to make sure you've done all the posts on your blog.
4. Clean materials and take them home or arrange for their storage.
5. Clean off you shelf.
6. Make sure any still lives you've built are cleaned up and the objects are put away.

On friday we will have a major clean-up.

this is week 11.

this is the second to last week of the term. 8 more days of class left after today.

there will not be a homework assignment this week. i expect you to use this time to update your blogs. make you've made all the required posts and have included images when appropriate.

keep in mind that i'll be assessing your paintings and your blogs to check your understanding of color, composition, how to create the illusion of surface and texture, and how to create the illusion of space and mood. if you feel you know more than you've demonstrated up to this point you'll want to either create a fourth painting (the self-portrait assignment), work on older paintings, or reflect on these concepts in your blog.

Observations on the History of Oil Painting.

Use your research from this term and concepts and terms we’ve discussed in class to make some general observations about the history of oil painting.

Use these questions to guide your writing:

Who have been the major players throughout the history of oil painting? Why is this so?

Who seems to be missing from the history of oil painting? Why is this so?

Where in the world did most oil painting taking place?

Where did all these oil paintings go? Why? How does where these paintings “live” affect who learns about them and why?

How has subject matter changed over time? Why?

 

Be sure to use specific examples to back up your opinions (some of these examples can be from your own personal experiences).

This is week 10.

This week you should get started on your Sense of Place paintings. Select your locations, make sketches, and get going. 

Don't forget to post a photo of your location on your blog and to describe the mood you've decided to communicate and how you will do so.

Additionally, there is a new homework assignment to do on your blog and, if you haven't already, post your notes from the critique of your first two paintings.

Why oil paint?

Do a little research on the history of oil paint.

Where does it come from? What is it made of? When was it invented?

Using your experiences this term, the concepts and terms we’ve discussed in class, and examples from art history to back up your opinions answer the following question:

WHY OIL PAINT?

With all the choices of materials out there for artmaking, especially in this day and age, why do artists still turn to oil paint? What does oil paint do that other materials don’t do?

This is week 9.

This is week 9.

I'll introduce the Sense of Place assignment so that you can begin your next painting as soon as possible. Your goal should be to finish the Surface and Texture painting and have your Sense of Place painting started by the end of the week. 

On Wednesday I'll be out for a meeting.

During your double block this week we'll have a critique of your finished White Objects paintings and your Surface and Texture paintings at whatever state they're in.

What is a portrait?

Look in the art folder on class conferences for a folder labeled Portraits.
Within this folder there are two more folders, one labeled paintings and one labeled Not Paintings.
Please look through them both.

In a post on your blog address the following questions/issues.
Remember to use vocabulary/concepts we’ve discussed in class and to use specific examples from the paintings to back up your ideas.

What is a portrait?

Choose three portraits, paste them into your post (include the artists’ names) and describe how the artist uses color, composition, and subject matter (objects, setting, clothing, etc.) to communicate something about the person whose portrait they’ve made OTHER than what the person looks like.

How do the artists you’ve chosen address the concept of portrait? How do they work within the tradition of portrait-making OR how do they reinvent the concept of a portrait?

This is week 8.

This is week 8. We are more than halfway through the course at this point.

This is a short week due to Parent-Teacher conferences on Thursday and Friday.

Our goal for the week is to get the Surface and Texture paintings as close to finished as possible so we can start something new after your long weekend.

Be sure to have an 18"x24" canvas ready to go before the end of the day Wednesday.

Over the long weekend you should spend some time updating your blog. This might just mean doing the most recent homework assignment. It might also mean looking at the feedback you got earlier in the week and catching up. Good luck. Email me with any concerns.

A Sense of Place homework update.

A few people have emailed me about the files on First Class not opening properly. I just reloaded all the pictures to the Art folder in the Oil Painting 2 class folder. If you're having trouble look there regardless of which class you're in. Email me if you're still having trouble.

I'll be looking for updated blogs tomorrow evening as I calculate mid-term grades.

A Sense of Place.

On class conferences you will fins a folder labeled ART.

Open it and look at ALL the images in the secondary folder labeled A Sense of Place.

Choose two paintings with very different MOODS and do the following:

• Paste them into a post on your blog. Be sure to include the artists' names. 
• Describe the moods of the two paintings.
• Describe HOW the artists created the moods using specific examples from the paintings and the vocabulary we've developed so far this term.

This is week 7.

This will be the week for you to really dive into and hopefully finish the Texture and Surface paintings. It probably feels like we just started them but hopefully all the knowledge you gained in working on the White Objects painting will pay off and you'll see yourself moving things along a little more quickly. 

Unfortunately, I'll be out on jury duty starting Wednesday. This will be an opportunity for you to utilize each other's strengths, whether they be in canvas stretching, color mixing, or remembering homework/blog stuff, so that you can do your best work without me here to push you. Ask each other questions. Share strategies. Check in on one another. I'll be reachable by email.

At the end of this week I'll be submitting mid-term grades. If you haven't finished a project I'll be assessing it in its current state...same goes for the blog. Please carefully check the blog rubric so you won't be shocked when you receive your mid-term grade. Any information you can't find here is on class conferences or the bulletin boards, as always.

Happy painting. 

Where are you at?

As we approach mid-term please take some time to reflect on your experience in the course up to this point by answering the three questions listed below. 

Be sure to use SPECIFIC examples form your paintings or your experiences in class to support your ideas.

What has been the most challenging aspect of the course so far?

In what areas have you progressed the most and how have you progressed?

How does looking at examples of painting from throughout history affect us as painters today?

This is week 6.

Most of you will be starting the Texture and Surface painting this week. This is an opportunity to work more independently. You will be arranging your own still life somewhere in the room and focusing on techniques that will allow you to create the illusion of different types of surfaces (reflective, transparent, shiny, matte, etc.) and different types of textures (fuzzy, rough, smooth, etc.).

By the end of the week you should have your set-up in place, have completed your thumbnail sketches and posted them to your blog, and started to work on the painting itself. Many of you will also need to make a plan for finishing the White Objects Painting by the end of next week.

Over the long weekend spend some time making sure your blog is up-to-date and doing the homework due on Monday. I will be writing mid-term progress reports next week.

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

Back-to-school.

This is the Oil Painting class blog.