by Dan Frenette BS (Art Education), MA
In this series of articles I have covered overlapping and diminishing size as spatial ques or ways we discern what is near and what is far away. Today I want to cover placement (or how to make an item look farther away be where it is placed on the picture plane). The general rule is that if an item is closer to the bottom of the page it is closer to the viewer; if it is closer to the top of the page it is further from the viewer.
This concept is usually used in conjunction with the diminishing size idea (if you have not read that article take a peek at it). The most common subject matter that uses this idea is a landscape (obviously it does not hold true in an environment with no gravity like outer space). I would suggest a simple landscape painting (maybe using crayon and watercolor) as a project to explore this idea. With younger students (say 4 years old to 10 years old) I would show a variety of images of landscape paintings (Google images works well if you are looking for these examples). As your student looks at the image question them about what item is closer and how they decided which one is closer. Keep questioning them until they discover the placement idea.
Once your student sees that where they place an item controls how far that item is from them have them experiment with the idea. Help them make a simple landscape with trees and perhaps animals placing the further ones higher up and making them smaller. Younger students will require a lot more scaffolding with this but those in the 9 or 10 year old range should be able to complete the drawing on their own.
Next time I would like to address how to use color to make things look close and far so when you are done with the drawing set it aside and you can paint it next with that color information.
Dan Frenette has over 20 years of experience teaching art to students aged 5 through 16. His main creating situations where children can experiment with and “play” with the ideas found in the elements of are and principles of design. See his lessons here: http://www.youtube.com/dandanart
In this series of articles I have covered overlapping and diminishing size as spatial ques or ways we discern what is near and what is far away. Today I want to cover placement (or how to make an item look farther away be where it is placed on the picture plane). The general rule is that if an item is closer to the bottom of the page it is closer to the viewer; if it is closer to the top of the page it is further from the viewer.
This concept is usually used in conjunction with the diminishing size idea (if you have not read that article take a peek at it). The most common subject matter that uses this idea is a landscape (obviously it does not hold true in an environment with no gravity like outer space). I would suggest a simple landscape painting (maybe using crayon and watercolor) as a project to explore this idea. With younger students (say 4 years old to 10 years old) I would show a variety of images of landscape paintings (Google images works well if you are looking for these examples). As your student looks at the image question them about what item is closer and how they decided which one is closer. Keep questioning them until they discover the placement idea.
Once your student sees that where they place an item controls how far that item is from them have them experiment with the idea. Help them make a simple landscape with trees and perhaps animals placing the further ones higher up and making them smaller. Younger students will require a lot more scaffolding with this but those in the 9 or 10 year old range should be able to complete the drawing on their own.
Next time I would like to address how to use color to make things look close and far so when you are done with the drawing set it aside and you can paint it next with that color information.
Dan Frenette has over 20 years of experience teaching art to students aged 5 through 16. His main creating situations where children can experiment with and “play” with the ideas found in the elements of are and principles of design. See his lessons here: http://www.youtube.com/dandanart
