Posts Tagged with Art II

Recently in Art II we studied the still life. We discussed the whys and wherefores of the still life, and I got excited about something that I had previously found pretty boring. The still life is something that we have to do in Drawing class, but what’s it actually GOOD for? We talked about that. If I didn’t convince my students, I convinced myself! If nothing else, fortitude, surely. And of course, there’s the fact that the Dutch realists CHOSE to paint still lifes. I introduced students to “vanitas” — still lifes that take as their subject matter the fragility and brevity of life. “Vanitas” is latin; this genre take its name from the verse in Ecclesiastes — “Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” This type of still life was very symbolic, often containing objects which symbolized the transience of life — skulls, shells, stringed instruments, etc.

The vocabulary we studied as we prepared was as follows: balance, cast shadow, chiaroscuro, highlights, inanimate, movement, overlapping, proportion, still life, thumbnail sketch, vanitas, viewfinder 

We also discussed hierarchy, overlapping, and proportion in the still life, negative space in the still life, and how to set up a still life. All important!!

The students did wonderfully!! Here are some of the results, which represent hours of labor, and I hope to add more soon. I hope you enjoy!