The Better Stick Figure, Gesture Drawing and Collage

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The Better Stick Figure, Gesture Drawing and
Collage a la Matisse
Self portrait In a Striped T-shirt 1906 Henri
Matisse
Produced by San Bernardino County Superintendent
of Schools Visual and Performing Arts
Coordinator Bonnie Tillotson Additional material
from Robert Bullwinkel
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The Better Stick Figure
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ANDREAS VESALIUS 1514 1564

• Anatomist
• Physician
• Author/artist
• De Humani Corporis Fabrica
• (On the Fabric of the Human Body)

I am not accustomed to saying anything with
certainty after only one or two observations. A.
Vesalius
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The Better Stick Figure
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The Better Stick Figure
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Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with
the advantage of permanence. --Henri Matisse
Gesture Drawing
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Wild Beasts Matisse
Henri Matisse is considered the most important
French artist of the 20th century and, along with
Pablo Picasso, one of the most influential
modernist painters of the last century. Matisse
began studying drawing and painting in the 1890s.
A student of the masters of Post-Impressionism,
Matisse later made a reputation for himself as
the leader of a group of painters known as Les
Fauves. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Fauve is a French word that means wild beast, a
term applied to Matisse and several other
painters in the early 20th century who used color
in bold new ways.
Self Portrait, 1918 Henri Matisse
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When I put a green, it is not grass. When I put
a blue, it is not the sky. --Henri Matisse
Game of Bowls 1908 Oil on Canvas Henri Matisse
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Seek the strongest color effect possible
the content is of no importance. --Henri
Matisse
the color wheel
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Triads
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To maximize the intensity of his colorsand
achieve the light he was looking forMatisse
organized his picture with pairs of complements.
Orange masts rise from blue hulls. Potted plants
on the balcony sprout red blossoms amid green
foliage. Reflections oppose pink and turquoise,
and in the walls these colors are reversed and
deepened. Isolated by bare areas of canvas, these
combinations generate a sort of visual
vibration. National Gallery of
Art http//www.nga.gov
Open Window, Colioure 1905 Henri Matisse
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Put a colour upon a canvas it not only
colours the part of the canvas to which the
colour has been applied, but it also colours
the surrounding space with the complementary.
--Henri Matisse
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Complementary Colors
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Do you see any complementary colors?
Collage
The Negress Gouache 1952, Henri Matisse
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How about here?
The Sorrows of the King Gouache on Paper on
Canvas 1952, Henri Matisse
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• Your Artwork
• Create a collage with paper cutouts using your
  gesture drawn figure(s).
• You may use repeated symbols or blocks of color
  as Matisse did.
• Use examples of two paired complements to create
  visual vibration.
• Think about how you want to fit the pieces
  together.
• Fit the parts together, one into the other, and
  build your figure like a carpenter builds a
  house. Everything must be constructed, composed
  of parts that make a whole. --Henri Matisse
• Mount your cutouts on white paper.

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• Criteria for success
• What skills did you learn in these activities?
• What content knowledge did you use?

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How successful were you in doing and showing that
knowledge? Not quite? 1 Limited? 2 Proficient?
3 Advanced?4 What would you do differently if
you could do it again?
Criteria Advanced 4 Proficient 3 Limited 2 Not Quite 1 Missing 0
           
           
           
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This work was created by Bonnie Tillotson,
VAPA Coordinator for the San Bernardino
Superintendent of Schools with additional
material by Robert Bullwinkel, VAPA Coordinator
for the Fresno County Office of Education. This
work was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation through a grant to the California
County Superintendents Educational Services
Associations Arts Initiative. All images
used in this presentation are non-restricted.
This work may be used free of charge for all
non-commercial applications. Please give
appropriate credit as listed above.
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The Better Stick Figure, Gesture Drawing and
Collage a la Matisse
Produced by San Bernardino County Superintendent
of Schools Visual and Performing Arts
Coordinator Bonnie Tillotson Additional material
from Robert Bullwinkel