Starting With Color

Here's a copy of our COLOR VOCAB SHEET and COLOR WHEEL.... We will us these terms and color relationships in talking about our work.

SARGENT's clever use of brushstrokes...

John S. Sargent, (1856 -1925) an American portrait painter, is known for his increadible control and use of brush strokes. His paintings look smooth, elegant and REAL- but are constructed of large shapes of color....look closely at the paintings to see the pattern of brushmarks used to create the image.

See more of his work here....

REMBRANDT's self portraits

Long considered the MASTER of portraits, Rembrandt has a lot to show us...

look how he lets the shadows swallow up details...

look how the background changes to push the subject forward (with contrast)

look how the light is from one side only...

See more of his work here...

Starting the values painting still life

Create a painting, using grey values, of the still life in our class. Here is the "checklist" to help you start- and the "grade sheet" to complete when you are done.

Here are images of Diebencorn's work- our inspiration for the values painting. Click this link...

MONET- the master Impressionist

Water Lilies, 1906

The Japanese Bridge, 1918-24

from the "Haystacks Series", 1890-91

- a detail of scumbled colors in his work-

Monet (1840-1926) is a painter you should recognize, by name and work.... He is a master of using color to describe form and light. monet was concerned with capturing a moment of time and light... he would often work on a canvas for a brief time, the same time every day, just to capture that particular light and atmosphere...

Notice his use of hot and cold colors and complementary colors to create effects... also notice his use of scumbled, layered paints - allowing your eye to mix the colors.

See more of his work here...

Anselm Kiefer- paintings with texture!!!

Kiefer, a German "Contemporary" painter (born 1945), has used painting to explore and express his feelings of the dark history of his country. His work contains imagery and symbols from WWII- including landscapes, text, objects and personal symbols.

*Look at how he adds textures to the painting's surface- placing hay, adding wax to the paints and even shaping the canvas into objects!! Wow! Also notice how he uses LARGE scale canvases to make the work visually powerful.

You can see more of his work here....

David Hockney- High Energy use of Color!

Hockney, a British painter, set designer, photographer and creative powerhouse, is one of the most recognized painters of our time. He was classically trained in painting and drawing - skills that are evident in all of his work. over the years, Hockney has explored many ways to be creative- photography, set design, and recently cell phone videos... challenging himself to adapt that media and technology to meet his creative ideas.

His recent work uses strong colors and patterns.... and are a great place to look for techniques and ideas of how to make dynamic colorful paintings!

See more of his work here....