Essential Question: How do artists create the illusion of depth in an artwork
I Can . . . study ways to use color, color, and placement in landscapes
I Will . . . create a landscape painting with a foreground, mid-ground, and background using limited colors, 5 values, textures and patterns
When you complete your project, turn a photo of your finished work on Canvas
Inspirational Artist: Sarah Gayle Carter sarahgaylecarterpaintings.com/section/178621-places.html Below are some landscape paintings by Sarah Gayle Carter. Carter is originally from Virginia, and currently lives in Maine. "For many years Sarah Gayle Carter designed products for the home furnishings market. Best known for her line of custom rugs, she also turned her hand to mirrors, lamps, plates, furniture, and even scarves. Then, in 2007, she picked up her brushes again to paint in oils, something she hadn’t done since art school. “I wanted to play with line, form and color, to feel paint move under my hand. I wanted to paint for the shear joy and simple, direct pleasure of it. After so many years of working in a medium that requires very controlled expression, I’m having a great time with the looseness and freedom of this most traditional of all art forms.” "Coming from years spent as a designer, I respond to line, form, and color wherever I find them. I'm drawn to clean compositions, and tend to pare down my subject matter. I like to feel the texture of the paint and see the color hiding under the surface of forms. There's something inherently sensuous about the very process of painting. Whether land, or sea, or skin, I can almost feel my brush stroking the subject's surface as I work. Its magic."
Create Sketchbook Notes: Please put the following definition in your sketchbook Landscape painting, the depiction of natural scenery in art. Landscape paintings may capture mountains, valleys, bodies of water, fields, forests, and coasts and may or may not include man-made structures as well as people. (https://www.britannica.com/art/landscape-painting).
Thumbnail Sketches - Thumbnails are quick, small sketches that allow you to work out the placement of elements in your artwork. They are not detailed. Each one is different and you will use your favorite as the basis of your final design.
Directions For this project you will be creating a landscape based on the artwork of Sarah Gayle Carter.
1. Find a photo of a landscape - The landscape image should have a foreground, middle ground, and background. Avoid images that are extremely busy with lots of areas of trees, buildings, or other types of complex groupings. Landscapes with large fields, especially in the middle ground will work well. You may want to choose a photo that has some type of focal point like a small group of trees, an animal (s), building (like an old barn), hay bales, a piece of farm equipment or other natural features. These items could also be added to a plainer landscape as your focal point. Also chose images that have been sectioned off by small hills, fields, or roads. This will help you divide your space in interesting ways.\
2. Thumbnail sketches - Create 3 to 5 thumbnail sketches of your landscape. The purpose of your thumbnails is to try out a variety of simplified versions of your landscape. Make sure to include a foreground, middle ground and a background. You can also mark off areas for your focal point. Use a mix of curved, diagonal, and straight edges for your sections to create visual interest and variety. These drawings are basic line drawings that are solely for the purpose of laying out your composition.
3. Plan colors, patterns, and textures - Each of the sections should have its own color, texture and/or patterns. Colors don't need to be totally natural. Study some Carter's paintings above. Many of the colors have been lightened with white. A lot of the choices are in the green and blue family, but there are also pinks, corals, yellows, and lavender. Carters landscape patterns included stripped (plowed fields), dotted (flowers), and lined (grass). She also uses a pallet knife to create a textured effect. These effects may use several colors partially blended together, a monochromatic (light to dark versions of one color) blend of one color or simply a textured look in your main color. Also notice that many of Carters sections have a lighter color on top that blends to a darker color. This gives the effect of light washing over the tops of the hills.
4. Draw your rough draft - Draw out your final design on newsprint. Take time to get everything in place, add details and correct mistakes. Once you have got your final design just the way you want it, you will transfer it to your final paper using a light box.
5. Paint your landscape - The final step is to actually paint your piece. Take your time, blend out your tones, and keep straight edges. The entire surface of your paper should be covered in paint.
THUMBNAIL COMPOSITION
VALUE COMPOSITION
ORIGINAL PAINTING
Refinement Once you have completed your painting, set it up and step back to check for areas that need to be retouched or adjusted. Ask 3 classmates for one positive to your piece and a needs improvement tips. Make any necessary fixes at this time.