Donuts and coffee with Wayne Thiebaud

It is a question I am sure all art teachers have been asked "Who's your favorite artist?" "At the moment" is the preface I include with my answer, impressing upon these young minds the transient nature of favorite artist and of taste in general.

Teenagers are certain of what they like and feel confident their taste will not change; why else would they flock to have trendy tattoos etched on their flawless young skin? My current answer to this difficult question is Wayne Thiebaud, an artist with whom I was unfamiliar when I began teaching more than 20 years--and countless favorite artists--ago.

Thiebaud's work appeals to me on many levels, not least of all is how well it translates to the classroom. His subject matter is approachable, familiar and fun. Fundamental issues of drawing and painting can be beautifully illustrated using his work as examples. Thiebaud's colors emphasize light and shadow, while his use of media does not deny the essential nature of the media. His skills as a draftsman always shine through.

Recently, a marvelous retrospective of his work toured the country. An accompanying book Wayne Thiebaud A Painting Retrospective, by Steven Nash and Adam Gopnik (Thames and Hudson, 2000) is worthy of a place on the art-room bookshelf. Although his subject matter has changed from his Pop-art roots to include the figure and landscapes, he has remained committed to color, light and painting in a traditional sense. This wonderful book includes two essays in which Thiebaud's life and work are brilliantly discussed.

Examining his path to fame is inspiring and helps to explain how he became the artist he is. Success for Thiebaud has grown from a variety of life experiences. As a young man, his interest in cartooning landed him a brief stint at Disney Studios before his time in the army, where his talents were put to use doing cartoons for the armed forces. After World War II, he furthered his education with the help of the GI Bill.

Commercial art and theatrical design were areas in which he exercised his talents before finding his niche in teaching. Now in his 80s, he has been a successful artist for the past 40 years while continuing his career as a college professor in the State University system of California. I cannot help but think that teaching has influenced his art; I know his art has influenced my teaching. Following are two assignments with their roots in Wayne Thiebaud's work.

The first involves my painting students in exploring watercolor using a still life of coffee and donuts. These tasty arrangements clearly emulate the simple beauty Wayne Thiebaud found in baked goods. Taking further advantage of these sweet still fifes, which by the way age gracefully, my Advanced Placement Drawing students render colored-pencil versions.

In both the watercolor and colored-pencil renditions, light and shadow are clearly described with the aid of a single light source. Compositions are kept simple with sparse backgrounds reminiscent of Thiebaud's early work. Cool cast shadows add ambiance.

The second assignment, painting of toys done with oil sticks or tempera paint on large gessoed illustration boards, also has its roots in the work of Thiebaud. For this project, each student brought in a toy that they found visually interesting. They were encouraged to find a toy with simple forms that would translate easily to painting. We discuss the issues of light and shadow on these forms as key ingredients for a successful painting. Simple compositions that involve enlarged versions of the toy make for the most successful paintings. The use of an opaque projector makes it easy to enlarge sketches of the toys to Pop-art scale.

"At the moment" it seems that Wayne Thiebaud is all of our favorite artist!

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* develop observational skills through working from life.

* use color to describe light and form.

* render ordinary objects in a manner reminiscent of the pop artists.

* use cool colors as shadows and hot colors as highlights.

* develop techniques appropriate for the materials.

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES

* http://artcyclopedia.com/artists/ thiebaud_wayne.html

* Nash, S. and Gopnik, A., Wayne Thiebaud A Painting Retrospective. Thames and Hudson, 2000.

MATERIALS

Donuts and Coffee

* Eye-appealing donuts

* White Styrofoam[R] cups

* White napkins

* Illustration board

* Watercolor

* Brushes

* Watercolor paper (12" x 16")

* Prismacolor pencils

MATERIALS

Toys

* Carefully chosen small toys

* Oil-paint sticks and tempera

* An opaque projector

* Large sheets (24" x 36" or larger) of illustration board primed with gesso

Mary Novak-Connair teaches art at St. Mark's High School in Wilmington, Delaware.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group