Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Nathaniel Mather Inspirations

Amanda, 2nd grade

Inspiration piece, "Denial" by Nathaniel Mather


Talia, 2nd grade


Alexa, 1st grade


Abby, Kindergarten


Jenna, 3rd grade


Lilly, Kindergarten


Hannah, Kindergarten


Sierra, 1st grade


Matt, 2nd grade

I became familiar with Nathaniel Mather's work via Pinterest. He creates pieces that often have a mix of graphic designs and animals with unique compositions. The children looked at his painting, "Denial" to create our inspirations. (This project was meant to explore texture, line and shading, as well as a nod to the surreal art movement and not based on Melville's "Moby Dick." I was clear that these were Sperm Whales who eat fish and squid. ; )

The children created acrylic painted skies and ocean backgrounds using sponge painted tempera in blues and greens. A sheet of plastic wrap was applied and moved around and left to dry to add more texture. They followed a direct line drawing lesson on a separate paper to create their whales. Lines were gone over in charcoal and smudged to add shading and dimension. They could design their row boat any way they wished. I took profile pictures of each child so they could be placed in their boat. They had fun creating these multi-media pieces, step by step. I think they did a wonderful job with their dreamlike compositions.

11 comments:

  1. What a great mix of texture, surrealism, color and imagination. Mary, I sometimes wish I could be 8 years old again just so you could be my art teacher!

    :)Pat

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    1. Now that is about the nicest compliment! Thanks Pat!

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  2. I have this pinned too - love it! You did a great job on the interpretations! Looking forward to trying it myself.

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  3. I'll bet the parents LOVE this one. I'd frame then in a minute!!

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  4. Incredible! I would def love this from my child! :)

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  5. Love this idea! It reminds me of this artists work- check out the first image http://tapsilogjr.blogspot.com/2011/06/david-blackwood.html

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    1. I can definitely see a similarity. His works are so mysterious. Thanks for the link!

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  6. these are brilliant! i am positively swooning!

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  7. These are some fantastic compositions.
    Your students did an amazing job.

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  8. Thanks so much everyone! These are being sent home tomorrow. I hope to have a lot of proud children and happy parents....or vice versa. :)

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  9. These are simply stunning- all of them are so professional looking! Thanks for sharing the work of this artist- I had never heard of him before.

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