Art Lesson w/ Ms. Jennifer: Juan Gris
Let’s express ourselves by creating a still life drawing in the Cubist style of Juan Gris.
About the Artist
Juan Gris was born as José Victoriano Carmelo Carlos González-Pérez in 1887 in Madrid, Spain. As a young art student, he began studying under Carbonero, one of the teachers of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. He changed his name at this time to the simpler Juan Gris, and moved to France, where he spent most of his life. There, he became inspired by the work of Picasso and Georges Braque, and began working in the cubist style. He also became friends with Henri Matisse, and later marked his work with bright color schemes different from that of earlier cubism.
Materials:
Newsprint
Brown craft paper or paper bag scraps
Crayons or markers
Templates* (if you wish, you can draw the shapes for yourself, the templates are most useful for younger artists)
Ruler or straight edge (you might use a notebook or folder)
Scissors and glue if you wish to add any collage or framing elements
Watch Ms. Jennifer create her Juan Gris inspired cubist drawing here
Instructions:
On a piece of newsprint, use a black crayon or marker to trace the templates, or draw your own still life object shapes such as a glass, pitcher, apples, and vase. Draw the shapes overlapping.
Any objects that have a square or circle shape when viewed from above, draw a circle or square on the top of the side view.
Use a ruler or straight edge of a notebook or folder to make several diagonal and vertical intersecting lines. Take the lines through some or all of the shapes from step 1.
Begin to add color. Will you use the neutral color palette as in early analytic cubist artworks, or the brighter palette of Juan Gris’ later paintings?
You may choose to color every shape, or leave the brown or newsprint shades showing in select sections.
Music by BenSound.com
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