Collection of Things 2021

Collection of Things

Students will create four compositions with one thematic subject. The compositions will emulate four different artistic styles of famous artists from different artistic movements.

Students will use reference images for their compositional subject and think through compositional concerns, such as cropping, color palette, light and shadow, depth and flatness, negative space, and eye movement.

Materials

Final Paper (Thick)
Tempera Paint
Brush
Can for Water
Newspaper or other paper for workspace
Other art media allowed when dictated by style

Content

Choose 4 Different Art Styles
Research the Defining Features
Look at Artwork from Artists who Worked in that Style, During that Time Period
Watch a video about a particular artist or art style for each style

Composition

4 Compositions
4 Different Art Styles
Consistent Subject of your Choosing in all 4 Compositions

Technical Skills

Tempera Painting
Color Mixing
Using Reference Images
Designing Compositional Space
1/4" Borders

Project Overview

CHOOSE AN OBJECT TO BE THE SUBJECT OF FOUR COMPOSITIONS

Your object should have an interesting silhouette (not a solid, block shape)
Your object should have good negative space (there should be sticky-outie parts or holes or extensions)
Your object should look different from different views (not symmetry from all views - it changes silhouette as you walk around it)

LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT ART STYLES

Read about the style, time period, and famous artists of the period
Look at artwork from the time period in that style (not just contemporary artists working in an neo version of the style)
Watch a video about an artist from that style

CHOOSE FOUR ART STYLES

Use your new knowledge from that art style to create your own composition of your chosen object in that style.
Use reference images of your chosen object
Pay attention to the style and try to faithfully recreate the color palettes, compositional choices, and intentions of the artists who worked in that style

COMPOSITION FORMAT

Your four compositions can be on four pieces of final paper with 1/4" borders around the paper edge - OR - your four compositions can be small pieces on each spread of a folding book.

Choosing the Subject of Your Compositions

IT'S A GREAT IDEA TO CHOOSE SOMETHING RECOGNIZABLE, RATHER THAN SOMETHING REALLY OBSCURE.
The more obscure the subject is, the higher skill level you'll need to pull it off. The more recognizable the subject is, the more forgiving your art talents can be because people will understand what it is with less visual information.

CHOOSE AN OBJECT TO BE THE SUBJECT OF FOUR COMPOSITIONS

INTERESTING SILHOUETTE

Your object should have an interesting silhouette (not a solid, block shape)
An apple is a bad idea, because it is solid, is the same all the way around, and has no parts that stick out to create negative space.
A banana would be better than the apple, because it has a curve to it, the peel can be partially removed and hang off for negative space, and you can find them in bunches, on the tree, or by themselves. It would be better if the silhouette looked better as it turns in space. It is way more interesting when you are looking at the curve than when you are looking at it straight on. When you look at it straight on, it looks like a rectangle.
A chair is a great idea, because it has holes created by the arms, parts that stick out (the legs create good negative space), and it looks dimensional in 3/4 view from frontal, aerial, or side view.

GOOD NEGATIVE SPACE

Your object should have good negative space (there should be sticky-outie parts or holes or extensions)
A cell phone is a bad idea. It has no holes or parts that extend out. It looks like a rectangle all of the time.
A tea set is a great idea. The pot has negative space in the handle and spout, the cups have handles and recesses, and the grouping together is very recognizable.
Another great idea is an animal with interesting legs, like a frog. The frog's legs and toes create great negative space and it can be repositioned to look volumetric from different views.

LOOKS DIFFERENT FROM DIFFERENT VIEWS

Your object should look different from different views (not symmetry from all views - it changes silhouette as you walk around it)
A pencil or a water bottle is a bad idea, because it looks the same as you turn it around.
A hot dog would be a better idea, because it has different views from the side and the top and front, it's very recognizable, it can have different toppings. It doesn't have a very interesting silhouette though.
An animal or a person would be a great idea, because they have the ability to make asymmetric poses, they have appendages that stick out, and as you turn around them the front view, 3/4 view, and side views are really different from each other. Some animals will be better than others. For instance, a bird is a great choice because it looks really different when it flies as compared to when it is perched. A rolly polly is a bad choice because it looks the same from most views.

Reference Images for Your Subject

OPTION 1 : PHOTOS FROM THE INTERNET

YOU NEED 8+ REFERENCE IMAGES OF YOUR CHOSEN SUBJECT

2 IMAGES OF FRONTAL VIEW

2 IMAGES OF 3/4 AND/OR SIDE VIEW

2 IMAGES OF LOW OR HIGH ANGLE VANTAGE POINT

2 IMAGES OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR NEW POSITION OR GROUP

PHOTOGRAPHS ONLY

OPTION 2 : PHOTOS YOU TAKE AT HOME

YOU NEED 8+ REFERENCE IMAGES OF YOUR CHOSEN SUBJECT

2 IMAGES OF FRONTAL VIEW

2 IMAGES OF 3/4 AND/OR SIDE VIEW

2 IMAGES OF LOW OR HIGH ANGLE VANTAGE POINT

2 IMAGES OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR NEW POSITION OR GROUP

PHOTOGRAPHS ONLY

Researching Art Styles

CHOOSE AN ART STYLE TO LEARN ABOUT

You can choose any art style you want, but you want your four choices to be distinctly different.

PAY ATTENTION TO THE PLACE AND TIME FOR THE ART STYLE

Art styles describe the characteristics of art work from a particular time and place. Those stylistic features can be made by anyone at any time, but when researching it is important to find the original sources for the style, not copy cats making work now. Often in art history we use the prefix "neo" to describe people copying an earlier style at a later date. For example, neoclassical is an art style where artist from the 1700s emulated the art from ancient Greek and Roman artists in the 100s.

USING ART MUSEUM SOURCES IS BETTER THAN A GOOGLE SEARCH

Often typing the name of an art style will pull up images a student made for a class on that style. While sometimes that is super cool, other times the student didn't really understand that style. While we are learning about art styles, use reputable sources that can assure you that the artwork is from the time and place for the style you've chosen.

Places to Start

https://artsandculture.google.com/explore
The art style guide (chart below)
Museum collections (list below)
Video Links Below

You can look up your own preferred art styles and movements on your own, or choose from some of the art styles listed below.

When looking for style reference artwork, be sure to choose works from the time in history the style originated in. You don't want to accidentally get contemporary copies of past styles as your reference examples. Use museum galleries rather than google search to find the artwork.

Art Styles & Movements

GENERAL ART HISTORY OVERVIEW
VIDEO: A Timeline of Visual Art Movements

VIDEO : Why You Can't be an Abstract Expressionist

TLINGIT ART
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION: 9000 BCE - PRESENT DAY (Entrance into the western art market in 1800) Indigenous Peoples of Alaska and Northern Canada
DEFINING FEATURES:

Bold, graphic organic compositions of a single object
Limited color palette (black, red, light blue/green, cream/white
Stylized, abstracted shapes with pattern and repetition inside of the shape

VIDEO: Master Carver Nathan Jackson
VIDEO: Contemporary Tlingit Painting

James Johnson - Yéil S'aaxwu (Raven Headress)

James Johnson - Sea Otter Skateboard

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ART
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION : 3100 BCE - 300 CE EGYPT
DEFINING FEATURES:

Figures in profile with symbols depicting attributes
Flat compositions without backgrounds
Graphic use of color, limited palette (ochre, yellow, green, black)

VIDEO: Egyptian Art History - Goodbye Art

Egyptian Book fo the Dead : Anubis, 1275 BCE

ANCIENT MAYAN
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION: 400 - 1400 CENTRAL AMERICA
DEFINING FEATURES:

Figures in profile (often facing left) with symbols depicting attributes
Flat compositions without backgrounds
Graphic use of color, limited palette (red, gold, turquoise, black)

VIDEO: Breaking the Mayan Code Script -Nightfire Films
VIDEO: Maya Blue - LittleArtTalks
MAYAN CODEX

ANCIENT MAYAN CODEX (Dresden) 1000-1100

SHAN SHUI - CHINESE LANDSCAPE PAINTING
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION: 400 - 1700
DEFINING FEATURES:

Ink & Brush Painting
Meandering paths leading to a threshold
Mountains and mist
Limited color palette (green, red, tan/gold, black)
Repetition and stylization

VIDEO: Chinese Landscape Painting MET

RENAISSANCE DRAWING
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION: 1400 - 1600 EUROPE
DEFINING FEATURES:

Varying line quality (light and heavy pressure create dark and light lines to create visual dominance and emphasis)
Hatching and modeling create value
Areas of finish (value/shading) and areas left unfinished (outlines/contours)

VIDEO: Leonardo Drawing Materials
VIDEO: Medici's Patronage of Art Renaissance
VIDEO: Exploring the Renaissance for kids

Leonardo Da Vinci - Muscles of the Back, 1508

CHIAROSCURO & TENEBRISM
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION: 1600 EUROPE
DEFINING FEATURES:

Strong contrast between light and dark
Dramatic lighting that affects the entire composition
Single Light Source & Areas of solid black

VIDEO: The Power of Chiaroscuro

Caravaggio - David with the Head of Goliath, 1610

BAROQUE
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION: 1600 EUROPE
DEFINING FEATURES:

Exaggerated Motion
Drama, Tension, Exuberance
Crowded Composition

VIDEO: Baroque Overview - Goodbye Art Academy
VIDEO: Understanding Art Styles: Baroque

Rubens - The Massacre of the Innocents, 1611

UKIYO-E
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION: 1600 - 1900 Japan
DEFINING FEATURES:

Asymmetric black line drawing compositions with flat, graphic fills and gradient backgrounds
Repetition of objects add detail and complexity to a simple, graphic composition
Often includes a landscape and people with a great distance visible
Limited color palette

VIDEO: Ukiyo-e Explained

IMPRESSIONISM
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION : 1870 - 1900 France
DEFINING FEATURES:

Small, thin visible brush strokes
Accurately depicts light
Interested in movement of nature, showing time of day, how light changes what you see
Outdoor painting (plein air)

VIDEO : Overview of Impressionism - Phil Hansen
VIDEO : What is Impressionism?
VIDEO : Monet painting water lilies (silent film)
VIDEO : 10 Facts about Monet

Monet - Haystacks Morning, 1890

Monet - Haystacks Midday, 1890

Monet - Grainstack Sunset, 1890

EXPRESSIONISM
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION : 1905 - 1930 Europe
DEFINING FEATURES:

Depicts what the artist feels rather than accurate visual representation
Express emotion
Distort the shape and color of subjects for emotional effect

VIDEO : What is Expressionism?

Franz Marc - Die Großen Blauen Pferde (The Large Blue Horses) 1911

CUBISM
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION : 1910 - 1930 PARIS
DEFINING FEATURES:

Abstracting the subject by breaking it apart into small flat planes
Depicting a subject from multiple points of view in the same composition

VIDEO : What is Cubism?
VIDEO : Why You Can't Be an Abstract Expressionist

Georges Braque - Violin and Sheet Music: "Petit Oiseau" 1913

Pablo Picasso - Guernica 1937

CONSTRUCTIVISM
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION: 1919 - 1932 Russia, then Europe
DEFINING FEATURES:

Diagonals & dynamic movement
Flat, graphic design with negative space
Bold Lines, repetition
Limited color palette (red, black)

VIDEO: Russian Constructivism Overview
VIDEO: Alexander Rodchenko

SURREALISM
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION : 1920 - 1950 France, Belgium
DEFINING FEATURES:

Dream-like scenes of non-reality
Illogical compositions with realistic renderings
Everyday objects used in new and novel ways

VIDEO : What is Surrealism?
VIDEO : Surrealism: The Big Idea

Dorothea Tanning - Voltage 1942

Philippe Halsman - Dali Atomicus 1948

DADAISM
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION : 1915 - 1925 Zürich and Paris
DEFINING FEATURES:

Making absurd choices
Using chance or other formulas to make decisions

VIDEO : Dadaism Explained
VIDEO : Sophie Tauber-Arp

Sophie Tauber-Arp - Dada Head, 1920

Hugo Ball - Karawane 1917; Tristan Tzara - Dadaphone 1920

COLORFIELD PAINTING
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION: 1940 - 1960 New York
DEFINING FEATURES:

Large, sparse compositions
Non-representational composition of few colors

VIDEO: Understanding Minimalism & Color Field
VIDEO: Color Field Exhibit
VIDEO: Mark Rothko
VIDEO: Helen Frankenthaler / Frankenthaler 2

POP ART
TIME PERIOD & LOCATION: 1950 - 1960 US
DEFINING FEATURES:

Flat, graphic compositions
Incorporates popular culture
Brightly colored
Sometimes references advertisements, cartoons, regular/everyday items, benday dots
Usually the subject of the artwork references popular culture

VIDEO: What is Pop Art?
VIDEO: Roy Lichetenstein
VIDEO: Andy Warhol