Students make descriptive observations about a still-life. Using primary and secondary-colors, they make their own still-life.
Design a Descriptive Still-Life
Time Alloted45 - 60 Minutes
State Content Standards
ARTISTIC PERCEPTION: 1.1.3 Identify the elements of art in objects in nature, in the environment, and in works of art, emphasizing line, color, shape/form, and texture. 2.1.3 Identify the elements of art in objects in nature, the environment, and works of art, emphasizing line, color, shape/form, texture, and space.
CREATIVE EXPRESSION: 1.2.2 Mix secondary colors from primary colors and describe the process. 1.2.6 Draw or paint a still life, using secondary colors. 2.2.4 Create a painting or drawing, using warm or cool colors expressively.
English Language Arts:
Writing Strategies: 1.1.1 Select a focus when writing. 1.1.2 Use descriptive words when writing. 1.1.3 Print legibly and space letters, words, and sentences appropriately. 2.1.1 Group related ideas and maintain a consistent focus.
Writing Applications: 1.2.2 Write brief expository descriptions of a real object, person, place, or event, using sensory details. 2.2.1.b Describe the setting, characters, objects, and events in detail.
Written and Oral English Language Conventions: 1.1.1 Write and speak in complete, coherent sentences. 1.1.5 Use a period, exclamation point, or question mark at the end of sentences. 1.1.7 Capitalize the first word of a sentence, names of people, and the pronoun. 1.1.8 Spell three-and four-letter short-vowel words and grade-level-appropriate sight words correctly.
Listening and Speaking: 1.1.2 Ask questions for clarification and understanding. 1.1.3 Give, restate, and follow simple two-step directions. 2.1.6 Speak clearly and at an appropriate pace for the type of communication
Focus art work
Tempura paints in red, blue, and yellow
White construction paper (2 pieces/student)
2-3 large objects for a still life
Gallon-sized Ziploc bags cut into 2 pieces
Markers or colored pencils
1) Show students the focus art work Still Life with Flowers in a Glass Bowl or another still life from crockerartmuseum.org. Ask students to describe what they see in the artwork.
2) Focused Viewing Questions: Encourage the students to use descriptive words. As descriptive words are used, begin a word bank on the whiteboard.
a. What is the first object you see?
b. Why does that object jump out at you?
c. What do you notice second?
d. Describe the different types of flowers and bugs. How many can you find?
e. What objects would you use to create a still life?
f. Would your still life be created from objects you like, or because you want to make a point about something?
3) Once students have described the objects in the artwork ask the students to precisely describe different colors, both in the artwork and in the classroom.
4) Tell students that the primary colors are red, blue, and yellow. Ask students to find examples of primary colors in the painting. Next tell students that secondary colors are made from primary colors: blue and red make purple, red and yellow make orange, and blue and yellow make green. Ask students to find examples of secondary colors in the artwork. If the artwork is on a transparency, overlay a blank transparency and allow students to circle different colors on the transparency with an overhead pen. If the artwork is being shown on a whiteboard, allow students to use the whiteboard markers and circle examples.
5) Explain to students that still life is merely an arrangement of everyday objects chosen because they interest the artist or the artist is trying to make a point. Ask the students what they think the artist was trying to say with this still life.
6) Explain to students that they are going to work on creating their own secondary colors. Hand each student a piece of white construction paper and half of a large plastic gallon bag.
7) Give each student one paint drop of each of the primary colors (blue, yellow, and red) close together on their white construction paper.
8) On the count of three allow the students to take the half plastic bag and lay it directly over the paint, squishing and blending the paint on the construction paper. Have the students remove the plastic after they have blended the paint enough to create secondary colors, but not enough to create a big blob of brown.
9) When the paper is dry, allow students to locate the secondary colors on their paper, circle them with a black marker and label the color.
10) On a table in the center of the room, set up a still life composed of 2-3 large, simple objects. Hand out white construction paper and pencils so students may create their own still life.
11) Using markers or colored pencils, have the students color their still life using only the secondary colors of purple, green, and orange.
Have students choose one of the objects in their still life to describe using 2-3 sentences. Encourage students to use the word bank of descriptive words from step 4. Circulate around the classroom offering help where needed and making sure students understand to begin each sentence with a capital letter and end with a period. Allow students time to share their still life and descriptive paragraph.
Teach this lesson with:
David de Heem
Still Life with Fruit, 1622
Oil on panel
Crocker Art Museum, E. B. Crocker Collection
Willem Claesz Heda
Still Life, circa 1631
Oil on panel
Crocker Art Museum, E. B. Crocker Collection, conserved with funds provided by Anne and Malcolm McHenry
Title and Date: Still Life with Flowers in a Glass Bowl, after 1636
Artist: Jan Davidsz de Heem
About the Artist:
Born into a family of artists, Jan Davidsz made his career as a painter of still-life compositions, working for many years in the cities of Utrecht and Leiden, before settling permanently in Antwerp after 1672. Early in his career he specialized in vanitas subjects, which, by featuring skulls and snuffed candles, served a moralizing purpose, reminding viewers of time’s fleeting nature and of impending mortality. In 1636, he first traveled to Antwerp, where the example of Rubens offered tremendous artistic contrast to Rembrandt, the major artistic influence upon de Heem’s Dutch circle of artists. More significantly while in Antwerp, he was introduced to the floral painting of Daniel Seghers, a Flemish artist who elevated the status of flower subjects through his innovative compositions. De Heem, inspired by Seghers, began creating baroque floral extravaganzas that showcased his facility at naturalistic depiction.
About the Artwork:
This is an example of a still life which is an arrangement or work of art showing a collection of inanimate objects. Flower painting was a much-admired specialty in the seventeenth-century Netherlands. Such subjects were rarely based upon actual bouquets of fresh flowers, but were developed from sketches or gleaned from published botanical studies illustrated in color. From these sources, artists composed bouquets of blooming flowers that would not be found together in nature. These floral studies lack much of the specific symbolism of earlier fifteenth century painting, but their transient blooms serve as a poignant reminder of the fleeting nature of beauty and life.