Cityscapes Take 5 Lesson

CITYSCAPES

ELEMENTS OF DESIGN:                            PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN:

                                      Color                                                                   Unity

                                        Line                                                                 Balance

                                     Value                                                                 Contrast

                                   Texture                                                          Rhythm and movement

                                  Shape/form                                                   Dominance or Emphasis

                                     Space

 Romare Bearden, American 19-14-1988, Pittsburgh Memories, collage on board
[Discussion questions: What shape do you see repeated? How does this repetition make the picture seem organized, unified? What else has been repeated throughout? Where are most of the warm colors? Why do you think the artist used this contrast between the inside and the outside of the building?Is the space deep or shallow? While many of the shapes seem flat, others show textures. Can you find them? What message do you receive about the artists's feelings for his black friends in this Pittsburgh neighborhood?

George Wesley Bellows, American, 1882-1925, Cliff Dwellers, oil on canvas

[Discussion questions: Why do you think the artist chose this name for his painting of a New York City neighborhood? What clues can you find to show that many people lived near where they played and worked? Where is the center-of-interest in this painting? Where, if anywhere, do your eyes come to rest? What kind of colors did Bellows use? Why do you think people who were used to art that showed pretty subjects painted in clear, light colors, called the artists who painted these scenes of New York life the "Ashcan School"? Does this subject matter or way of painting seem extraordinary today? Why or why not?]

 Charles E. Burchfield, American 1893-1967, Rainy Night, watercolor
[Discussion questions: Where do you think the artist may have been when he did this painting? How do you know aside from the title, that this picture is of a rainy night? How do you know this painting was dne in the 30's? What is the mood of the picture? What colors has the artist used to achieve this effect? What shapes have been repeated and what is the effect of such repetition? What is your interpretation of what Burchfield has expressed?

 Francesco Guardi, Italian, 1712-1793, Grand Canal with the Rialto Bridge, oil on canvas
[Discussion questions: What do you see first in this picture and why? What is happening in the picture? What information does the bridge give us? What kinds of buildings line the canal? How does the color enhance the subject of the painting? Is the space shallow or deep? What part of the painting seems to be the center of interest? Speaking horizontally, is the painting balanced? Would you have wanted such a remembrance of this city?]

Gene Steffen, American, New York New York, 1977, photograph

[Discussion questions: What is the basic color of this photograph? What kind of line predominates? Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curved ...? What about the shapes? Do you see any contrast? What do you think the photographer wanted to communicate about the city of New York? What mood do you feel as you look at this work?]

http://elementaryartfun.blogspot.com/search/label/city%20skyline%20prints

Self Portrait Information

A portrait is a representation of the physical or psychological likeness of a real or imaginary person. Portraits are most often created with the media and techniques of drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture. Thy are made for a wide variety of purposes - authority or power, fame, as memorials, self-obsession, self-expression, or social standing, Two conflicting objectives characterize portrait art in all cultures: the desire t represent the subject accurately and the desire to transform or idealize the subject, This task falls on the artist who must also decide the degree to which he or she is willing to please the sitter.

Portraits include visual clues to the subject's identity, status, personality, and character. In most portraits, the focus is on the face with all the elements of the composition designed to draw attention to the face. Before the invention of photography, a portrait was the only way to record someone's likeness. After photography made realistic portraiture possible to many social classes, not just the rich ad powerful artists were free to become more experimental and explore new kinds or portraiture.

The characteristics of the portrait are amplified in the self-portrait, a subject long undertaken by artists, using a model who is always available and at no cost. The self-portrait is the optimum opportunity for an artist to make the most pleasing or piercing revelation of his or her character and personality. Artists choose to represent themselves objectively or present a more personal expression of their personalities or characters. A self-portrait is the most personal story an artist can tell.

For most artists, a self-portrait is an opportunity to express their identity to depict how they perceive themselves, not how others may perceive them.

Identity Profile Questions:

• Who are you?
• Where do you live?
• Why were you given your name?
• Is there a specific culture or heritage with which you identify? If so, what is it?
• How would you describe how you look?
• How would you describe your personality?
• What are your likes and dislikes?
• Do you think others see you as you see yourself?
• What do you most want people to know or understand about you?
• What clues about yourself could you present in a self-portrait?

Chuck Close Self Portrait

This Self Portrait was painted in 1997. Chuck Close was born in 1940 in Tacoma, Washington. As a child he was severely dyslexic, but wasn't officially diagnosed until he was an adult. Even so, he found ways to overcome his disorder by breaking down information into small units for individual focus. This organizational strategy helped with his studying, but later it also contributed to the development of his unique adult painting style.

Portrait of Kara Walker

Up Close

Jacob Lawrence Self Portrait

Jacob Lawrence was born in 1917 in New Jersey. He is considered to be one of the most prominent African-American artists. He was influenced by the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. 

This is part of his sixty panel series called The Migration of the Negro, which became the turning point of his artistic career.

This is one of his narrative series titled Harriet Tubman.

Though his work specifically honors African-American social history and culture, it also conveys universally shared experiences of the struggle for freedom and justice for all people. His Builders series depicts men and women of different colors constructively working together.

Grant Wood Self Portrait

Grant Wood was born in 1891 and grew up on a small farm in Iowa. He attended art classes as often as funds would allow and at the University of Iowa he went to classes without enrolling. When he was drafted in World War I he painted camouflage on artillery. When he returned home he taught to high school students until he could support himself as an artist. He traveled to Europe often.

This is Wood's famous American Gothic painting that brought the artist overnight popular and critical national fame at age 39.

Vincent Van Gogh, Self Portrait

Vincent Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853. This self portrait is one of 43 that he painted in his lifetime. Self-portrait was painted in 1889, one year before he died.

This is The Potato Eaters, regarded as his first masterpiece, painted in 1885.

This is one of Van Gogh's more recognizable paintings, Starry Night over the Rhone.

Van Gogh completed over 450 works between 1884 and 1889, and surprisingly this is the only painting he ever sold. It is The Red Vineyard painted in 1888.

Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-Lebrun

 Born in Paris in 1755. Her father Louis Vigee was himself a painter. She married Pierre Lebrun and later had one daughter, Julie, in 1780.

 She became a success with this painting of Marie Antionette in 1778. The French Revolution began in 1789 and Lebrun had to escape with her daughter to Italy.

This is Madame Rousseau and her daughter (1789)

This is Portrait of Alexander Borisovich Kurakin (1797)