Conceptual Still-Life Paintings
My sophomores are doing conceptual still-life paintings. We studied 17th century and contemporary vanitas painting and talked about using objects as symbols. Then, they chose a person significant to them to represent conceptually. They selected five or more objects to symbolize that person and arranged them in still-lifes, that they then photographed to paint from.
I was nervous about teaching painting because I was a painter in undergrad and I felt a lot of pressure to be “good.” I realized very quickly that my students were nervous about painting too. It can be an intimidating medium! As soon as I broke open the package of canvases though, excitement filled the air. I am loving teaching painting and my students are really into it. I demonstrate on my own painting how to tackle challenges and use different techniques, and I circle the classroom to help each student troubleshoot with their paintings.
I can’t wait to see how these turn out!
