Drawing is based upon perspective, which is nothing else than a thorough knowledge of the function of the eye.
– Leonardo Da Vinci
This past week I spent some time briefly reviewing some of the art movements post-Renaissance and I also asked them to look at some independent artists on Instagram and share some favourites.
They also made their own artwork inspired by some of the indie artists:
My main intention was to show how art is a reaction: a reaction to culture, to politics, to status quo, to tradition, to what we see and experience.
How do we see the world and how do we look at ourselves?
Looking at art with context and an overall appreciation.
For example, one of the teens remarked that they loved the Jackson Pollock paintings because everyone says that they could do it and they don’t know what the big deal is about paint splatters. And then the teens went on to say, “Yeah, but YOU didn’t do it. HE did. At that time, it was big. That’s the difference.”
I love that. It opens the discussion to discovery, innovation, and creativity. How to express yourself in the privacy of your own home to your own people is different than doing it publicly. It takes courage to present something – a new scientific theory, a new art expression, a new piece of writing – and invite scrutiny and criticism.
How many artists or inventors held back their expression because of fear or because there was no access?
For their journal prompt yesterday, I asked if their perspective has changed in any way this month. They wrote for ten minutes and then I asked them to share. Here are some of their responses:
I thought it was more complicated than it was or you needed special tools but all you need is a paper, some tape, and a straight edge.
Yes, I thought I couldn’t do it at first too but you can just follow the rules and it was a fun interactive activity we did together even though we weren’t together.
_I really didn’t like the Renaissance-style of paintings before but after watching that video on Raphael, and doing the perspective drawings, I have an appreciation for that period.
It was a good reminder that sometimes you can’t go back and re-do mistakes, like when you have a structure that hasn’t been built strong like these architectural structures of the Renaissance.
I liked it but at first it was confusing and frustrating – all the lines – but I still liked it.
It was fun to learn a new things and really opened my mind to this type of drawing. It’s just lines and so you can do this without too much skill. It is simpler than I thought.
I am looking at structures differently. It changed the way I see how things are built and how to draw them now that I know some of the rules of perspective drawing.
I loved our brief trip through art history and especially understanding what was happening through the Renaissance and art and architecture – it gave context to what we were doing.
This was only a month-long introduction to a particular subject and they found something new and interesting and possibly ignited interest in art. This block wasn’t meant to be a Master Class – an entire smorgasbord Entree of facts and lectures. It was a slow and methodical block – a tasting. A short introduction to a new way of seeing the world.
We took a virtual stroll through the MoMA. We discussed different pieces and why they loved some and didn’t love others. We talked about what art meant and what it means today and how imperative it is to keep creating it right now. To keep our humanity. To share how we see things. To see the world through another’s eyes.
To gain a new perspective.
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