Second Semester Starts

To begin our second semester, my Foundations of Studio Art 9th grade class began by continuing their work with the basic elements and principles of art and design. This time is was through a series of four landscapes inspired by four very Important artists: Leonora Carrington, Lilla Cabot Perry, Georgia O’Keeffe, and finally Grant Wood. Random selection of artists you say? Well I chose them because they are a few of my favorites to teach and also they are all American artists and they all have their own unique way of handling paint. This was the most important aspect of the assignment, the handling of paint. Since I teach a group of 9th grade 14 and 15 year old young woman I want to focus on giving each of them a chance to challenge themselves. I moved them out of their comfort zones by having them paint four different landscapes in four different styles.

Each of these styles was modeled after our American artists. The class worked through each style together, starting with Leonora Carrington. It was up to a class discussion to define the artists style. Through a series of discussions about brush strokes, color pallets, and composition we established what the unique characteristics of each artist were. Each of my four classes had similar, but varied definitions. Once our class discussions and definitions were complete, each student had to find a photograph that would be our reference. (It is far too cold to paint outside unfortunately.) From that photograph they created their masterpiece.

Below you can see some works in progress and other finished paintings. Can you tell which artist inspired which painting?