1st Grade Paul Cézanne Still Life

We're already getting back into the swing of things here in the art room. This week the first grade classes have started a new project inspired by the art of Cézanne and his style of breaking everything down into basic shapes. This is a strategy that students will use again and again in drawing. When they find the basic shapes, they can fit them together to make more complicated drawings. 

After reading a book about Cézanne and looking at some of his paintings the students look at and identify shapes in a still life that has been set up for them. I use the document camera to project the display so that all students can see it. Next they begin to draw thinking about the shapes and sizes.  

Students will do several planning sketches and then will either turn them into a final drawing or a cut paper collage.