Georgia Totto O'Keeffe ( ) Born in Wisconsin, she grew up close to nature on a large farm. By age ten, she had already decided that she would

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2 Georgia Totto O'Keeffe ( ) Born in Wisconsin, she grew up close to nature on a large farm. By age ten, she had already decided that she would grow up to be an artist.

3 After studying art in both Chicago and New York, O'Keeffe spent several years teaching in an elementary school and later in a college. In the early 1920's, she stopped teaching and moved to New York to marry Alfred Stieglitz, a renown photographer and gallery curator who was impressed by her drawing. Drawing XII, 1915 Georgia O Keefe, 1918 photo by Alfred Stieglitz

4 In New York, to capture the grandeur of the city, O Keeffe painted what she saw looking down from her skyscraper apartment and looking up from street level. City Night, 1926 The Radiator Building at Night 1927 New York Night,

5 Petunias, 1924 Nobody sees a flower really; it is so small. We haven t time, and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time. - Georgia O Keeffe By the mid-1920 s, feeling that busy New Yorkers paid too little attention to the natural world, O Keeffe began painting large, magnified abstracted flowers focusing on shape, color and tiny details. Red Canna 1924 Oriental Poppies, 1928 Two Calla Lilli on Pink, 1928

6 When O Keeffe visited Mabel Dodge Luhan, a wealthy patron living in Taos, New Mexico, she fell in love with the beauty of the desert and went back to visit every year. Black Mesa Landscape, 1930 After the death of her husband in 1946, O'Keeffe moved to New Mexico and painted the nature she loved so much. My Front Yard, 1941 My Backyard, 1937 Pedernal Mountain was one of Georgia s most favorite subjects to paint.

7 By the time O Keeffe died at 98 years old, she had produced a substantial body of work over seven decades and was recognized as the "Mother of American Modernism. I found I could say things with color and shape that I couldn t say any other way things I had no words for. Jimson Weed, 1936 Georgia O Keeffe In 2014, the Georgia O Keeffe Museum sold this painting for $44.4 million dollars to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, achieving the highest price ever for the work of a female artist. Jimson Weed/White Flower #1, 1932

8 Key Vocabulary Balance: The way in which the elements in visual arts are arranged to create a feeling of equilibrium in a work of art. The three types of balance are symmetry, asymmetry, and radial. Color relationships: Also called color schemes or harmonies. They refer to the relationships of colors on the color wheel. Basic color schemes include, monochromatic, analogous, and complementary. Complementary colors: Colors opposite one another on the color wheel. Red/green, blue/orange, and yellow/violet are examples of complementary colors. Cool colors: Colors suggesting coolness: blue, green, and violet. Warm colors: Colors suggesting warmth: red, yellow, and orange. Positive: Shapes or spaces that are or represent solid objects. Negative: Refers to shapes or spaces that are or represent areas unoccupied by objects. Texture: The surface quality of materials, either actual (tactile) or implied (visual). One of the elements of art. Modernism: A style or movement in the arts that aims to break with classical and traditional forms.

9 1. Reprints of the flowers are in black and white so you won t be limited by the picture in choosing colors. 2. Compare the size of the flower reprints with the project paper. 3. Since the project paper is smaller use the viewfinder to help locate the part of the flower you will copy.

10 4. Place the viewfinder over the copy, moving it around until satisfied with what is seen through the window. 5. With a pencil, draw what is seen through the viewfinder window onto the project paper. Draw big so that lines go to the project paper s edges. 6. Once the portion of the flower that shows through the window has been transferred, trace over the pencil lines with the Sharpie marker. Details should be avoided. To help see the background, use a pencil to mark a light X in spaces/shapes outside and around the flower. X X X

11 7. Compare the warm and cool tissue paper palettes. The warm palette consists of red, yellow, orange, green, and purple. The flower, or the positive shape/space, will be covered in the warm colors: red, yellow, and/or orange tissue papers. The background (around the flower) or the negative shape/space, will be covered with complementary cool colors: green or purple. The cool palette consists of blue, purple, green, pink, and yellow. The flower, or the positive shape/space will be covered in cool colors: blue, purple, and/or green tissue papers. The background, or the negative shapes/space, will be covered with complementary warm colors: pink or yellow.

12 8. Review layering technique: Starting with the petals Select the base color for the petals first. Tear the tissue paper into shapes that will fit inside the petals and arrange on drawing. Lay down torn shapes within the black lines. Select a darker color to layer on top and arrange on drawing. This will help create a sense of dimension.

13 9. Gluing the positive space/shape with torn pieces: Apply a bit of glue to the drawing and arrange the torn shape(s) on top. Using small amounts of glue, sponge brush the shape(s) starting with the edges. Note: Tissue paper can tear, run its color, and take a long time to dry if too wet. Each shape should be glued separately paying attention to staying within the black lines, but since the shapes are not precisely cut, it s ok if some of the tissue paper extends beyond the lines. Continue until the flower is completely covered.

14 10. Gluing the negative space with torn pieces: Select paper color for negative space. Use the complementary color of the flower s base color. Use several torn shapes to fill in any large areas, but typically, smaller pieces will be needed to fit into areas between the petals. Have tissue paper extend off the page. Excess to be trimmed later. Glue in place using small amounts of glue, sponge brush torn shapes starting with the edges. Allow drying time about 12 minutes.

15 11. When the artwork is dry enough to touch, add oil pastels: Darken areas on one side of the petals with a dark color. Highlight the opposite side with a lighter color. Add pollen with the pastels or the Sharpie marker to the center of the flower to create texture. Do not cover the entire flower with the oil pastels. 12. Apply a thin layer of glue over the entire page.

16 REFLECTION: 1. When looking through the viewfinder, could the flower or just shapes be seen? 2. Did adding a complementary color to the negative space affect the look of the color of the flower? 3. What other objects in nature can be made into an abstract drawing or painting? 4. What was your favorite part about creating this abstract artwork?