Lesson Overview Focus Artist: Georgia O Keeffe Focus Elements: Color: light, striking an object, reflected back to the eye. Value:-the lightness or darkness of a color. Focus Principles: Harmony: repetition of an element to create unity. Unity: using elements in a way that makes the parts of the artwork feel like they all belong together. Contrast: putting opposite aspects of an element together to create interest
Georgia O Keeffe was born in 1887 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin and died in 1986 at the age of 98, in New Mexico. She was taught art in her home early in her childhood was recognized has having artistic talent. By the time she graduated from High School she knew she wanted a career in art. She started in college learning imitative realism painting things to look real. She decided she couldn t make her mark using this style. She quit making art for four years. Georgia O Keeffe
Georgia then took a course taught by Arthur Wesley Dow who believed that the goal of art was the expression of the artist's personal ideas and feelings and that such subject matter was best realized through harmonious arrangements of line, color, and value. She started experimenting with this idea using charcoal.
Red Canna 1923 Georgia O Keeffe is best known for her paintings of flowers. She would focus in on a small part of the flower and then enlarge it to fit a big canvas. Harmony in art is the repetition of an element to create a sense of unity. What are some elements that O Keeffe has repeated in this painting to create Harmony? What feelings do you think she was trying to communicate in this painting?
Variety creates interest. However, too much variety can be unpleasing to look at. That is why harmony is also important. Remember, harmony is repetition of an element. Talk about what elements in this painting create harmony and which create variety. (The elements are line, shape, color, value, texture, space, and form.)
What feelings do you think of when you see these paintings? How are they different than the last ones? Notice how different color choices help the artist to communicate different feelings. Also notice the different values on the painting on the left. Using dark blues with light blues make more contrast and has a more dramatic effect.
During her later years, Georgia moved to New Mexico. She was very inspired by the landscapes of the red deserts. Notice how her subject matter, landscapes or flowers, is not as important as the shapes, lines, colors, and feelings of the paintings.
Nature Up Close PUT YOUR NAME AND TEACHER ON THE BACK OF YOUR PAPER!!! Choose a photograph of nature. Use a viewfinder (paper with a window cut out) to frame a portion of the photograph. Think about the colors, shapes, variety, lines, etc. when choosing where to place the window. Use a small piece of tape to hold it in place. Remember we are not thinking of it as a flower, but as a composition of lines, shapes and color. Now LIGHTLY sketch the lines onto your paper. The art should fill up your whole paper. Use watercolors or tempera to paint Nature Up Close. Remember to use different values (light and dark) to create contrast between similar colors.