For this week’s “Getting Crafty” project, we are going to take a look at artist Georgia O’Keeffe.

O’Keeffe loved art, and knew she wanted to be an artist when she was growing up! She was born in Wisconsin in 1887—a time when women were expected to marry and keep house, not be artists. But O’Keeffe’s dream of being an artist did come true! She is now known as one of the most influential and famous American artists!

Georgia O’Keeffe painted, drew and sculpted works that showed her emotions and how she saw the world. Some of her most famous artworks are paintings of flowers, made large and close up. We are going to make an artwork like Georgia O’Keeffe by taking a picture from nature and painting or drawing it, so it fills the page and looks very close to us!

Materials

-Paper to paint or drawing paper to draw

-Paint of choice (Watercolor or Tempera), or Color drawing media

-Graphite pencil

-(If painting) brushes, water and paper towels

-Image/photo to work from

Steps

First, let’s learn about Georgia O’Keefe by watching the Youtube video, Georgia O’Keeffe: A Brief History (School Friendly), at www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3iKpM0H6Ek.

Then select something from nature you want to paint or draw close up, and take a picture of it or find an image to work from on the internet. I selected a daisy—they are my favorite flowers!

Diagram 1

Make a line pencil drawing of your flower or natural item of choice. Draw it really big, filling up almost all the page space. Follow the lines of your image slowly with your eyes and make your hand create the same lines on your paper, but bigger (you are creating a Contour Line, Sight Drawing).

Diagram 2

After creating your Contour Line Drawing, add color using paint or colored drawing materials. Try to fill in the background or Negative space with a contrasting color. For contrast, if your flower/natural item has a light color use a dark color around it. Or, if the flower or natural item is dark, use a lighter color around it.

I chose to use Crayola colored pencils for my daisy and used navy blue and black in the Negative Space.

Here is an optional plan for adding color! Georgia O’Keeffe often let her feelings (emotions) guide her when making art. So, if you want to create or express a different mood or feeling with this project, maybe change the colors of your flower or natural item to show that.

Do your best and have fun! Your artwork should look like your artwork, not mine.