Gallery 07 - Exploring Art

Story Telling

Before the age of television and photography, paintings that told a story were very popular.

John Phillip’s picture A Scotch Fair looks at everyday life in Scotland with a variety of interesting characters suggesting different stories.

These ‘narrative’ paintings became less popular in the 1900s. However some artists are revisiting this type of painting today.

The title of Joyce Cairn’s work In the Gulf they Dream of Sea and Ice helps us understand her painting She was thinking of young men going off to war for the first time and the intense heat they would experience in the desert.

Developing Ideas

Many artists carry a sketchbook wherever they go so that they can jot down things that inspire them.

These sketches can form the germ of an idea and develop into more detailed drawings.

For artists making three dimensional objects, the initial idea has to be translated from the flat surface of the drawing to a solid form. When creating items out of precious materials, such as silver, makers might decide to experiment with a less expensive substance first.

Still Life

Still life allows artists to represent how objects fill the space and relate to each other.

This type of painting was developed in the 1600s by Dutch artists who were masters at creating realistic paintings of things that did not move or were dead, such as flowers, fruit, fish and animals.

The arrangement of the individual objects in relation to each other in a still life is very important. It allows the artist to explore elements such as composition, shape, form, light and texture.