Wetland landscapes with Roy De Forest

Discussion: Landscape

Forground 

Middle Ground

Back Ground

Horizon Line

Using Chalk

Artist Roy De Forest

Look at the artwork: Rainforest Painter By Roy De Forest

Do you see a horizon line? 

what is in the foreground? 

What do you see in the middle ground?

What is happening in the background

Do you see any shapes? 

ARTIST: Roy De Forest (1930–2007) 

American painter known for his comic-like patchwork regionalist (California) style, often depicting dogs & other figurative content in his art.

Born in North Platte, Nebraska, De Forest grew up in Yakima, Washington and attended junior college there. He then attended San Francisco Art Institute and earned a bachelor's degree and master's degree at San Francisco State University.

His first show was in 1955. He taught at the University of California, Davis, from 1965 to 1992. A retrospective organized by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art toured in 1975.

He was one of the originators of a Northern California art movement once described by Washington Post art reviewer Sidney Lawrence as a style "in which counterculture thinking fused with an anything-goes, anti-art attitude harking back to the Dadaists of the World War I era." called "California funk," a classification De Forest disliked.

"At 75, Mr. De Forest is painting pretty much what he has painted for years: dogs, men in hats or headdresses, and supernatural beings against a flattened terrain 

De Forest was born in 1930 in North Platte, Neb., the son of migrant farmworkers. 

In addition to Thiebaud and Arneson, De Forest's colleagues in the UC Davis art department included such prominent artists as William Wiley, Manuel Neri and Ralph Johnson.

Prominent American sculptor John Buck, a student and longtime friend of De Forest, called the artist "the champion of imagination."

De Forest and his wife, Gloria, lived in Port Costa, Calif., on land populated by cattle, birds and the dogs that inspired so much of his art. 

PROJECT: Using sharpies and chalk pastels create a wetland landscape:

Step1: Draw a triangle on the right hand side

Step2: Draw a horizon line from the middle of the triangle to the other side below this is now water

Step3: At the top of the triangle draw a tree trunk and have it y off over the water

Step4: draw a circle at the top of the left hand side

Step5: Draw a square anywhere you have space

Step6: Draw a heron on the bank

Small circle, two lines down, large circle, two lines down add feet, tuff of hair on both circles

Step7: Add tall grass on shore with tulles, ADD a moon or sun

Step8: in The circle add a wetland creature

Step9: in the square add another wetland creature

Step10: fill in the picture with fun color, dots and details like deforest. 

MATERIALS: 

Thick Paper

Chalk Pastels

Hair spray 

sharpies or pencils

Value and Movement with Van Gogh

THIS PROJECT IS MEANT TO CREATE THE MOVING NIGHT SKY. A successful project will have blue colored in in circular motion and a change in value in each color used. 

Discussion Value

What makes Colors lighter? 

What makes colors darker?

Why do we need colors to be lighter or darker? 

Does green grass look the same at dinner time as it does at lunch time? 

Artists have to show that color change

What if we have red roses and pink roses? But no pink paint? 

Movement Show Starry Night

When we look at Starry Night, does it look like the the clouds are moving?

Do you think Van Gogh moved his hands slowly or quickly when he was painting the night sky? 

Why is movement or rhythm so important in artwork? 

ARTIST: Vincent  van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890)

Dutch Post-Impressionist painter 

His work had a far-reaching influence on 20th century art

Known for his  vivid colors and emotional impact. 

Van Gogh did not begin painting until his late twenties

most of his best-known works were produced during his final two years. 

He produced more than 2,000 artworks, consisting of around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches. 

His work was a strong influence on the Modernist art that followed. 

Today many of his pieces—including his numerous self portraits, landscapes, portraits and sunflowers—are among the world's most recognizable and expensive works of art.

Known for his paint application creating texture and movement.

He suffered from anxiety and increasingly frequent bouts of mental illness throughout his life,

died largely unknown, at the age of 37

sold only one painting while he was alive

PROJECT: 

Step1: on left hand side add black triangle

Step2: on Right hand side add in yellow and orange moon

Step3: between the moon and the black tree add 5 stars in yellow and orange 

Step4: now color your sky blue but avoid the stars by going around them in circles. Keep you hand moving in a circular motion while adding all the blue.

Step5: Now add white on top of each of the colors in the artwork. Does white change the colors? 

MATERIALS:
Chalk Pastels

White paper

water