Beverly Ash Gilbert: still life collage

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Just For Fun!

'Hot Pear' - torn paper collage

For those of you who followed the color discussions / exercises from a few posts back (starting with Value of Texture), here is a fun project that goes just a little further! Inspired by the amazing collage work by Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson, this Still Life Collage project is one I do with 3rd through 6th graders after having them go through all of the color study work that you have done.

All of the elements we've discussed so far come into play:

Value and Texture - to show depth and movement
Color Transitions - to gently move the eye from one color to another
Saturation - elements of similar saturation stand out against backgrounds of different saturation

All you need to know on how to do these has been covered in the 3 posts referenced above. But if you have questions, please let me know!

Here are a few pieces I made - each in under an hour (that's how long my classroom time is). I don't claim to be a collage artist and many of you will do oh-so-much-more with this - but boy it's a blast! And that's what it is all about, isn't it?

Here is a variation on the pear theme. This time the background is low value and more saturated. The pear is high value and low saturation.

'White Pear' - torn paper collage

This scene was inspired by a logo on the magazine I tore up to make the collage!:

'Little House in the Hills' - torn paper collage

A few years ago I planted a symphony of sunflowers in my garden - red, orange, chocolate, yellow with red centers... with the idea that I would fill my house with huge, colorful bouquets all summer and fall. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to pollen and do you know how much pollen sunflowers contain? Aaaarrgh! I can't breathe within 15 minutes of walking into a house with them. So much for that. But I still love these gorgeous flowers and enjoy them in my garden.

'Sunflower' - torn paper collage

Apples and pears are such fabulous subjects for beginning artists learning about value - I have my little students (the grade schoolers) draw them with charcoal, reverse charcoal, paint them in acrylics and even use them in collage. I really dig them!

'Red Apple' - torn paper collage

'Tulips' - torn paper collage

All of the above are pretty simple shapes, but you could go even simpler and just try a sphere! This one started out on it's side but seemed to be eerily floating in air. So I tipped it over and added a lamp post - see it doesn't have to be a gorgeous work of art! It's just for fun!