Fruit Still Life 6

What You’ll Need

6

Topics Covered Line, Color & Shape

Time Needed 3 Sessions at 50 Minutes

Fruit still lifeI N S P I R E D BY A M E L I A P E L A E Z

Fruit is the focus in this energetic still life

inspired by Cuban artist Amelia Peláez.

Students will be drawing fruit of their

choice and then painting their artwork with

a warm and cool color scheme. Flowing

black lines are added to give the

background interest and

create unique

shapes, which are

then filled with

patterns for a bold,

finishing touch.

What You’ll Need: 12” x 18” white sulphite paper

Pencil

Liquid tempera paint

Medium and small round

paintbrushes

Paint markers, oil pastels or

construction paper crayons.Peláez, Amelia. Bandeja con Frutas (Sandía) (Tray with Fruits

[Watermelon]). 1941, oil on canvas, Pérez Art Museum Miami.

© DEEP SPACE SPARKLE & THE SPARKLERS CLUB 2

ABOUT THE ARTIST AMELIA PELAEZ (1896-1968) was a painter from CUBA. She studied art as a young woman in

Havana, Cuba and then later in New York and France. After having success as an artist in France,

she moved back to Cuba and focused on creating art that reflected her Cuban heritage. Her art

began to feature flowers and fruits native to Cuba along with interesting patterns and shapes.

Though her art is well-known and her paintings are worth a lot of money now, during her lifetime,

Peláez had a hard time selling her artwork and instead made her living teaching art to others.

Fruit still life

Drawing the fruit• The central focus of this Amelia Peláez

inspired STILL LIFE is a few pieces of fruit.

• Peláez liked to feature fruit

that was native to her

home of Cuba in her still

lifes. For your still life,

choose fruit that you

enjoy eating or that

grows where you live.

• With a pencil, sketch

both a cut piece of fruit and a whole piece

of fruit in the center of your 12” x 18” white

paper. You can choose to have your paper

VERTICAL or HORIZONTAL depending on

what works best for your composition.

• Your fruit pieces should OVERLAP and

together be about as big as your hand.

• Draw an oval shape around your fruit to

represent the plate. Because of our

PERSPECTIVE, the circle plate looks like a

flattened oval.

• Next, think about a COLOR SCHEME for

your artwork. There are two main parts in

the composition: the fruit/plate and the

BACKGROUND. One will be

painted with WARM COLORS and the other

with COOL COLORS.

It’s up to you which

one is which.

Handout on page 7


Painting the still life• Prepare paint

palettes with warm

colors (red, yellow,

orange) plus white

and cool colors

(blue, green, violet)

plus white.

• TIP: Adding white to the paint palettes

will give the paint colors an extra punch of

brightness and versatility.

• I decided to paint my fruit and plate with

cool colors. The colors you choose do not

have to be true to the actual fruit colors.

• Use the DOUBLE-LOADING TECHNIQUE to paint your artwork by

dipping the paintbrush into two paint colors. Paint without over-mixing for a

painterly effect.

• When the fruit and plate are painted,

move on to the background. Use the same

double-loading technique on the

background to create a lot of interest and

give dimension to the space.

WARM

COOL


Double-Loading Technique:

Dip the paintbrush into two paint colors. Paint without over-mixing

for a painterly effect.

Drawing background lines• Using a small round paintbrush and black

liquid tempera paint that has been

thinned with water, outline the fruit

and plate.

• In the style of Peláez, add

CONTRAST and break up the

background with a VARIETY of LINES and

SHAPES with these steps:

1. Draw rounded shapes that start near

one corner and end near the other

corner on the same side of the paper.

The shapes should not touch the fruit or plate.

2. Inside each shape, draw curved, wavy

or loopy lines that fill the space.

3. Draw wavy lines from the fruit and plate that stop when they reach another

black line.

4. Fill any space that seems too large with

a bumpy or curved line.


1

2

3

Adding accent patterns• When your artwork is dry, use paint

markers, oil pastels or construction paper crayons to add PATTERNS to each shape.

• Stick with your same color scheme and

only use warm colors over warm colors,

with white being the exception to use in

both areas.

• Repeat the CONTOUR, or outline, of

the shape with echoing lines.

• Add circles, triangles or squares that fill

the area inside a shape.

• Draw different types of lines, such as

zigzag or wavy lines that fill the space.

• Repeat the same process except this

time, drawing with cool colors in your

cool-colored areas.


FRUIT still life H A N D O U T



National Core Arts Standards - 6th GradeF R U I T S T I L L L I F E

C R E AT I N G

R E S P O N D I N G

Common Core StandardsCCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.7 Integrate information presented in different media or

formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to

develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

You can assess students’ understanding of the

information presented on the life and work of Amelia

Peláez formally through verbal questions and answers.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.

As students complete an artist statement (located in Teacher Aids), they are supporting claims

about what their artwork means. This requires them to build their answer based on how they

created the work as evidence pointing toward the composition’s meaning.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.5 Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in

presentations to clarify information.

After students have completed their painting, they may use their work to present to the class

how learning about Amelia Peláez’s style influenced and inspired the decisions made in creating

their compositions.

VA:Cr1.1.6a - Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work - Combine concepts collaboratively to generate innovative ideas for creating art.

VA:Cr2.1.6a - Organize and develop artistic ideas and work - Demonstrate openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making works of art and design.

VA:Re.7.1.6a - Perceive and analyze artistic work - Identify and interpret works of art or design that reveal how people live around the world and what they value.

I Ca

n Statem

ents F

RU

IT S

TIL

L L

IFE

© D

EE

P S

PA

CE

SP

AR

KLE

& T

HE

SP

AR

KLE

RS

CLU

B 9

Today I will learn about artist A

MELIA

PELAEZ

so that I CAN

create a STILL LIFE

inspired by her style.

Today I will learn about CO

LOR

, so that I CAN

identify WA

RM and

COO

L COLO

RS and add CON

TRAST w

ith my color choices.

Today I will learn about LIN

E and SHA

PE so that I CA

N draw

a

VARIETY

of both to break up the SPACE

in my BA

CKG

ROU

ND

.

Time to evaluate your work! Review your project and check the box with your answer.

Criteria

Craftsmanship

Effort

Composition

Did you follow all steps?

Were you satisfied with the end result?

Did you use the supplies correctly?

Did you do your best?

Excellent Needs WorkSuccessful Progressing

© DEEP SPACE SPARKLE & THE SPARKLERS CLUB

© DEEP SPACE SPARKLE & THE SPARKLERS CLUB

Student Name:__________________ Class:__________ Project: Fruit Still Life

Student Name:__________________ Class:__________ Project: Fruit Still Life

TEACHER ASSESSMENT

STUDENT ASSESSMENT

5-75-7

5-7 5-7

Can the student tell me two facts about Amelia Peláez and her artwork?

Did the student paint their fruit and background with warm and cool colors?

Did the student break up the space in their background by using a variety of lines and shapes?

Amelia Pelaez

Color scheme

Contour

F R U I T S T I L L L I F E V O C A B U L A R Y


CUBA

DOUBLE-LOADING

TECHNIQUE

PERSPECTIVE



STILL LIFE



Documents

Fruit Still Life 6