Still Life Painting Inspired by Frances Hodgkins

I worked with Gina and Maria’s class of six year olds today and had a fabulous day. We painted a still life composition in the style of New Zealand painter Frances Mary Hodgkins (1869-1947);

“Hodgkins (1869-1947) is arguably New Zealand’s leading expatriate artists. Her works capture the spirit of an era greatly influenced by Impressionism and the beginnings of en plein air painting, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism and two World Wars. With a professional life that spanned fifty-six years, Hodgkins was one of the foremost artists of her generation. During her time in Britain she became one of the leaders of the English avant-garde movement. She travelled extensively and evolved her style from impressionistic watercolours to striking twentieth-century modernist paintings.”

The students prepared a background for their still life works based on the colourful, tonal backgrounds of Frances Hoodgkins paintings Red Jug, 1931, Evening, 1931-1932 and Cut Melons, circa 1931. They learnt how to mix secondary colours both on their palette and directly on their work. They also learnt how to add white to create tints of their original colours.

I modelled how to sketch out the still life arrangement with a focus on drawing what we can actually see, not what we imagine. I showed the students the difference between drawing a circle for an apple and actually looking carefully at the outline of the apple to get a realistic shape. Usually I would get the students to do this part directly onto the prepaid background. We were pressed for time today and the backgrounds weren’t dry so we drew onto a separate piece of paper.

The next part of the day was the most exciting. After I had showed the students a few painting techniques I let them go for it. I love watching younger students work with acrylic paint. They love the sophistication of the acrylic paints and really step up to the challenge. Gina and Maria’s class did a fantastic job of listening to my teaching points about blending and layering paint on the paper, placing brushstrokes with purpose and adding white highlights to show where the light hit the arrangement.

Finally the students cut out their still life arrangements and glued them to their backgrounds they made at the beginning of the day. I absolutely love the paintings that the students made today. The colours they chose and their brushstrokes embody the Impressionism and Fauvism movements that influenced Frances Hodgkins. The artworks are still in the art room, I am looking for the prefect place to display these absolutely beautiful artworks around our school.