A Charles Demuth Art Project

Bring an piece of cake Charles Demuth art project to your classroom past having students imitate his famous "Figure 5 in Gilded" painting.

Charles Demuth grew up in the late 1800'southward in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When he was four years old, he injured his hip and was crippled for several weeks. His mother gave him crayons and watercolors to keep him decorated, thus showtime his life long dear of the arts. Fortunately, his parents saw his talents and totally supported his pursuit of an art career.

Charles concluded up playing a key role in America's irresolute fine art earth in the 20th century. He was a main fellow member of Precisionism, which celebrated the new American landscape of skyscrapers, bridges, and factories.

Charles is probably best known for his painting titled "Figure 5 in Gold", using imagery from William Carlos William's poemThe Neat Figure, which evokes the sights and sounds of a burn engine speeding down a busy city street. The intersecting lines, repeating numbers, lights, street lamp, and sirens of the red fire engine together create a painting with a vibrant, urban energy. He derived the title from William's poem, which reads:

Amongst the rain

and lights

I saw the figure 5

in gold

on a red

firetruck

moving

tense

unheeded

to gong clangs

siren howls

and wheels rumbling

through the dark urban center
— WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS

Instructor NOTES

The idea of having students dissect a big number with lots of lines and fill in the closed shapes has been around for awhile, just I created some new tools to give anybody some more options. Commencement, it's fun to describe the original "fancy" looking number 5, so there's a tutorial for that. But if anyone prefers to make another number (hey, perchance someone just turned 8 or something?) then there'southward a crook canvass for that too. After all, simple block numbers would work … but why not brand them fancy like Charles Demuth's original? A few extra touches do the trick.

Equally for coloring instructions, this is perfect for learning about warm and cool colors OR a lesson in cover-up. High contrast will make the number stand out, and low contrast volition make information technology hide.

Preview of the Demuth Step by Step Tutorial

Preview of the Draw Fancy Numbers Tutorial

Demuth Coloring Folio

MATERIALS

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Drawing Paper. Don't substitute it with re-create paper or construction paper. The surface will get fuzzy, erasing might cause holes, and the colors will generally not look every bit bright.

Pencil. The Ticonderoga brand are the most reliable, make dainty night lines when you need them, and are the easiest to erase.

Eraser. Large ones you can hold in your mitt do a much better chore than just the pencil tips. Stabilo Markers. They accept the best colors, the best tips, and concluding the longest.

Black Sharpie Mark. These fine point permanent markers make nice black lines, have a adept tip for coloring, and never bleed when they get wet. Use them in areas with skilful ventilation and add extra newspaper underneath for tabular array protection.

Stabilo Markers. The big pack provides lots of fun colour choices, several shades of each colour, including a few choices for pare. The tips are perfect for coloring, and there'south fifty-fifty a promise that they will work after being uncapped for 8 weeks!