Examples of 7th Grade Personal Object Still Lifes

Personal Object Still Life

Activity: Still Life: Arranging, Sketching, Painting

Video: Looking at Painting, Program 1: “Realism”

Grade Level: 7^th grade

Length of Lesson: 4 class periods

Web Site Resources:

Sheldon Tapley: biography; five paintings beginning at gallery page 27

Ann Tower: biography; five paintings beginning at gallery page 58

Paul Cézanne: Two Apples on a Table

Concept/Objectives:

Students will:

1. Collect and assemble objects for a still life.

2. Further their painting and color-mixing skills.

Questions To Guide Your Instruction

Ask these questions of your students at the beginning of the first class period:

1. What is a still life?

2. Why would artists want to paint a still life? [Answers might include the following: It is convenient; an artist can stay in the studio and have complete control over the selecting, arranging, and lighting of the objects; the arrangement can remain in exactly the same position for long periods of time; it is easy to rearrange and modify the subject; it allows a painter to try out different color schemes and techniques using the same subject.]

3. What kinds of objects might be included in a still life?

4. How can an artist organize a still life to prevent it from being chaotic? [Answers might include the following: Select objects with a theme in mind; choose one or two colors which appear on most of the objects; limit the area selected for the final painting; use a variety of the same objects.]

Critical Vocabulary:

Balance, color, contrast, emphasis, form, line, movement, pattern, shape, space, still life, texture, unity, value, variety

Instructional Strategies and Activities

Initiate the lesson by viewing and discussing the segments on Sheldon Tapley and Ann Tower. Compare and contrast their approaches to painting still life’s, using the Questions To Guide Your Instruction as a guide. Display prints or actual still life paintings that depict a variety of objects and painting styles and techniques. Visit the web site Gallery to view and discuss artworks featuring still life as subject matter. Supplement with slides or transparencies of professional and student artworks. Include works by the following artists:

* Sheldon Tapley

* Ann Tower

* Paul Cézanne

* Henri Matisse

* Georges Braque

* Pablo Picasso

* Juan Gris

* Janet Fish

* James Rosenquist

* Audrey Flack

* Georgia O’Keeffe

* Paul Gauguin

Gather a selection of many different still life items to lend to students. Ask students to bring in objects they will include in their own personal still life arrangements. Instruct them to bring in some three-dimensional objects, rather than all two-dimensional ones. Suggest that they choose items that are “treasures” to them and that reveal something about personality—e.g., sports equipment, things from their locker, band instruments, etc…

Have students go through their items, plus items the teacher has in the room, and do the following:

1. Select a variety of forms—some curved, some boxy.

2. Pick items of different sizes.

3. Choose objects that show variations in surfaces—patterned, plain, smooth, textured, shiny, dull.

In groups have students create their own still life at their tables. They should set objects at different levels to create interest in all parts of the arrangement and drape a cloth or scarf around or under the objects as a way to create visual movement and help unify the objects.

Have students use a viewfinder to find the part of the composition that looks best. Use the viewfinder both vertically and horizontally. Remind them that their paintings will look more stable if most of the forms and shapes are vertical and horizontal and that they should balance any strong diagonal lines with objects going in the other direction.

Have students develop the painting, using watercolor either realistically or expressively. Before they finish their paintings, do a critique where the students display their work and analyze the compositions. Limit the time for this. (A good reference to help guide them in this activity can be found in Chapter 3 of Brommer’s Exploring Painting).

Materials

Still life objects

Viewfinder

Pencil

Water paint

Brushes

Drawing paper

Mixing palette

Water containers

Rags or paper towels

Drawing board with clips or tape (optional)

Resources

Books, videos, and web site used in this lesson:

* Brommer, Gerald F. and Nancy K. Kinne. Exploring Painting. Worcester, MA: Davis Publications Inc., 1995.

* Clark, Gilbert and Enid Zimmerman. ART/design: Communicating Visually. Blauvelt, NY: Art Education Inc., 1978.

* Gatto, Joseph A., Albert W. Porter, and Jack Selleck. Exploring Visual Design. Worcester, MA: Davis Publications Inc., 2000.

* Ragans, Rosalind. Arttalk, Teacher’s Wraparound Edition. New York: Glencoe Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, 1995.

* Looking at Painting, Program 1: “Realism”

* Looking at Painting, Program 2: “Expressionism”

* Looking at Painting web site Gallery

* Art talk, Fine Art Transparencies and Instructor’s Guide. New York: Glencoe Macmillan/McGraw Hill, 1995.

Ideas

Having students bring in their own objects helps them feel an ownership of the completed work: It is a painting of their objects. The teacher-collected objects are just a backup.

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