PAINTING WITH THE FAUVES

This is the task you have to do as homework in your Easter Holidays!

PAINTING WITH THE FAUVES!!!!!

Fauves from escuadraypincel

A BIT OF HISTORY

Fauvism is a movement in French painting that revolutionized the concept of colour in modern art. Fauves earned their name ("les fauves"-wild beasts) by shocking exhibit visitors on their first public appearance, in 1905. 
At the end of the nineteenth century, neo Impressionist painters were already using pure colours, but they applied those colours to their canvases in small strokes. The fauves rejected the impressionist palette of soft, shimmering tones in favour of radical new style, full of violent colour and bold distortions     .
These painters never formed a movement in the strict sense of the word, but for years they would nurse a shared ambition, before each went his separate and more personal way.

Some representatives painters are: Henri Matisse, Paul Gauguin, Andre Derain…

MATERIALS:

Temperas.
Palettes.
Brushes.
Water-containers.
Drawing paper.
Newspapers to cover and protect your desk.

Wait till the classroom is set up for painting before you start.

DISCUSSION

Discuss the Fauves in class after listening to your teacher’s explanation. Describe the painting style of the Fauve artists. Try to understand why the works of Matisse and Derain outraged critics and labeled them as “wild beasts”. Discuss the non-traditional use of colour in Fauve paintings. Observe and discuss the style, technique, and colour used by Matisse and Derain. Why were their paintings described as unusual and unnatural?

SKETCHING THE COMPOSITION
Gather ideas for a landscape painting.
Make thumbnail sketches and choose a favourite for composition.
Draw a simple outline sketch of the painting plan with a graphite pencil on your painting surface.

PAINTING: GUIDED PRACTICE

This is our first painting experience of the year, so it would be a good idea to spend some time exploring colour mixing. Don’t be anxious!!!

And now…paint like the Fauves!

“You are going to paint like the Fauves. Have fun with colour. Painting the green grass and the sky blue would be too ordinary. Be original in your colour choice! Be as wild as the “Wild Beasts”. Today is your day to have fun and be free with your choice of colours! EXPLORE!”

You must complete a painting in one class period.

You can continue yourself at home and create a second more daring and expressive painting than the first.

CLASS CRITIQUE

Share and contrast your finished work to that of the Fauves with your class-mates.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Book: “Fauvism ” - Fauvism was an extremely short-lived movement in modern painting, and an extremely important one as well. This book covers the period quite nicely.

Book: “The Fauves: The Reign of Colour”- This illustrated book celebrates the work of Matisse, Braque, Dufy, Derain, Vlaminck, Van Dongen, and many other artists who were dubbed "Fauves, " or wild beasts, when their work was first introduced in the early 1900s. 170 colour illustrations.

VOCABULARY:

Canvases: lienzos.

small strokes: pequeñas pinceladas.

shimmering:  titilantes, vibrantes…

bold distortions: deformaciones audaces, valientes, atrevidas.

nurse: tener(ambición).

outraged: escandalizaron.

labeled: etiquetados.

dubbed: apodado.

The underline words in grey must be added to the glossary.

Here you have some examples made with temperas from a picture by Matisse and made by students in 2010-2011. Hope it helps!!!!