Wayne Thiebaud, Food Paintings, and Generating Ideas

We just completed our cupcake drawings and then were introduced to the artwork of Wayne Thiebaud, who is an American Artist famous for his dessert paintings.  We watched a great video about his retrospective from CBS News from the early 2000's. Click here to check it out.

Next, we are starting our Painting Unit, which involves learning new rituals and routines in the art room, as well as developing our painting technique and style.  We analyzed Thiebauds' painting style that used a lot of white, cool colors, prominent shadows and repetition of subject to name a few characteristics of his dessert paintings. Food is the theme for our first painting project and students will apply their newly learned drawing skills to create a 3-D form on a 2-D surface.

Students responded to the following questions to generate a list of ideas to be the subject of their paintings and then we shared our answers in a group discussion. Students loved talking about food and it was fun to discover what students liked and gave insight into their personality and identity.

Brainstorm Activity:

In your sketchbook brainstorm in response to the following questions …

1.What are your favorite foods/dishes? (List 5)

2.What are your least favorite foods/dishes? (List 5)

3. What is your favorite snack/candy?

4. What is the food/dish most cooked in your home?

5. What food do you love the smell of?