Things that grow
•Painting and drawing nature requires you to observe the world around you. Landscape artists often take in the whole picture and try to capture most of what they see or they may take a scene from a landscape that interests them and paint or draw only a part of what they see. Look at The Hay Wain, 1821 by John Constable.
•When artists want to capture nature close up they have to be more selective and look for the details, the shapes and patterns which occur, the contrast between the striking colourful flowers, the wispy grass and glimmering water, the smooth or jagged rocks and the coarse texture of the tree bark. Look at the landscape work of Gustave Klimt and the works The Butterfly Hunt, 1874 by Berthe Morisot and Montaigne Sainte Victoire, c. 1887 by Paul Cezanne and the dramatic magnification and close-up views of flowers by American artist Georgia O’Keeffe.
•Trees and flowers are a common subject matter and offer artists an amazing variety of shapes and forms. The trunks and branches of trees can create interesting structural shapes and a variety of smooth and rough textures while the soft rounded or angular form and subtle colour variations of flowers can create challenges to artists to capture successfully. Look at Adrian Feint’s, The jetties, Palm Beach, 1942 and Flowers in a Terracotta Vase, 1736 by Jan van Huysum and the prints of Australian flowers by Margaret Preston .
•Fruit, and food in general, have been another popular subject matter with artists as they also provide them with opportunities to explore their shapes, forms, textures and colours. See Still Life with Fruit. c. 1879-82 by Paul Cezanne.
•They can be painted abstractly or realistically and in a wide range of medium to capture their qualities and characteristics. Look at The Gate, 2000 by David Hockney and Gray Tree, 1911 by Piet Mondrian and compare the way they have painted trees.
Can you recognise any of these things that grow? CLICK on the images below to find out more!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
