Rembrandt (1606- 1669)- One of the great Dutch masters of the 17th century,  utilized the skull in a number of his paintings, specifically his Vanitas.

A Vanitas is a type of still life painting that has a high level of contrast or, chiaroscuro, to give the painting depth and a high level of drama. They depict live items such as flowers alongside dead and dying items such as rotten fruit and bones to drive home the concept that we should live life to the fullest and not concern ourselves with vanity, since none of us will escape death. Cheery, I know. Sometimes you will also see an hourglass or other time keeping object in the painting as well, further driving home the life vs. death symbolism. 
Georgia O' Keefe- Cow Skulls, 1931
Assignment # 1
  1. You are to render a skull of your choice, human or animal, and digitally paint it. You are to use accurate colors and values to make it appear 3D and realistic. 
  2. It must have a background digitally painted to give the final painting a sense of WEIGHT and SPACE.
  3. You will utilize the brush tool in Adobe Photoshop to paint your skull.
  • Make sure to use the hard brush for areas of the skull closest to the viewer and the soft brush for the areas of the skull farthest away from the viewer to create a sense DEPTH and FORM.
  • Also, make sure you are adjusting the opacity of your brush while you work. 
  • 100% for blocking
  • 50% for the first round of blending
  • 30% for the final round of blending
Tutorial Below:
skullpainting.pdf
File Size: 6936 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Skulls: A Timeless Subject 

One of the most traditional artistic exercises is rendering the human skull. Skulls have made their way into countless paintings in almost every artistic style imaginable. It is a classic skill building subject that develops an artist's sense of value and rendering and showcases their observation skills- vital for artists in ALL mediums, including digital. 
Vincent Van Gogh, 1885- "Skull with Burning Cigarette"
Paul Cezanne- 1885- "Pyramid of Skulls"
Paul Cezanne- 1895- "Still Life with Skull"
"Skull Study" - Mrs. Dopico, 2017
Reflection Questions
When you are done with your project, and it is in your google portfolio for grading, answer the following questions in the comment section underneath your slide: COMPLETE SENTENCES!!!!
  1. What do you think you did well in this project?
  2. What do you think you could improve on in this project?
  3. What did you learn how to do, or get better at doing in this project?​
Assignment #2
You are to digitally paint a full vanitas. It must include the following:
  1. At LEAST 5 Objects: vanitas themes! - bones and live flowers/fruit etc. THINK SYMBOLISM (death vs life)
  2. The objects must rest on a surface. (Table, cloth etc)
  3. There must be chiascurro! Heavy areas of darkness vs lightness. VALUE! SHADING!
  4. Appropriate cast shadows under objects. 
  5. Accurate blocking and blending. 
Tutorial:
  • Create a collage of your objects. Consider composition, balance etc. THEN use that collage to do the find edges step etc. 
  • Reference the skull tutorial above for how to digitally paint. (Setting up your file)
  • Reference the info-graphic at the link below for varying death and afterlife symbols to use for your vanitas.
​www.finder.com/death-icons-in-different-cultures-infographic
still_life.pdf
File Size: 2635 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
​Reflection Questions
When you are done with your project, and it is in your google portfolio for grading, answer the following questions in the comment section underneath your slide: COMPLETE SENTENCES!!!!
  1. What do you think you did well in this project?
  2. What do you think you could improve on in this project?
  3. What did you learn how to do, or get better at doing in this project?
  4. Explain your vanitas. Why did you choose the objects that you did to represent life and to represent death?
Example Vanitas Collage
Finished Vanitas
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