Still Life - Vanitas - Drawing, painting, photography, composition, symbolism

This unit of work is built out from the key fundamentals of art and incorporates both traditional approaches to art making and appropriate modern interpretations of still-life art forms.

The unit covers a wide scope of skills that enable students to develop an understanding of space, form and composition when producing their artwork from several experimental approaches.

The unit can be reduced to be taught over a single semester or completed over an academic year dependent upon the scheduling and needs of the students. I have taught this unit in one form or another to students from Grade 8 to Grade 10. (Year 7 – 10).

The unit covers

1. Vanitas artwork
2. Symbolism
3. Developing an intention
4. Composition
5. Photography
6. Traditional drawing skills – Perspective, foreshortening, space & form
7. Painting techniques
8. Colour mixing, media application, mark making
9. Painting proposals and decision making
10. Realizing the intentions of a final artwork
11. Exploring modern approaches to art making