2nd Grade Gets Deep...

2nd Grade has been entrenched in a 3 part unit focusing on creating the illusion of depth in their artwork. Artists have a few tricks up their sleeves when it comes to making a realistic looking space in which items appear close or far as they relate to each other and as they relate to us.

We began simply, by looking at some still life paintings and analyzing which objects on the tables looked like they were at the front and which were behind or at the back of the table. We noticed how the closer objects, the ones that appeared to be at the front of the table, were painted near the bottom of the page, while the farther objects were closer to the top. In conclusion, the closer something is to us, the lower it will be in the picture, and the farther away something is, the higher up it will be.

Students drew a simple still life from observation using a vase and a gourd. Each table had their own still life set up, with one object placed at one end of the table and the other at the other end. The students were also asked to move to one end of the table so that one object was clearly closer to them than the other. They were asked to draw both objects, placing the closer one lower on their paper than the farther one. I also reminded them not to forget to draw the table, or else their objects would just be floating in space!

As an added bonus, we used this opportunity to practice our pattern making, filling each object, and sometimes the table and wall, with an abundance of pattern!

Because these still life drawings were meant as an exercise to help demonstrate how artists place objects in a picture to create depth, and not as a formal finished work, some were not finished, and continue to be worked on during art class. They have not all been photographed to be put on the website, but look for them to come home sooner than some of the more formal artworks.