Georgia O’Keeffe

Georgia O’Keeffe was born in 1887 in Wisconsin. As a young girl,

Georgia loved the outdoors and spent many hours on the family dairy farm

doing chores. Georgia was not like most girls her age that dressed with

ruffled skirts and spoke with soft voices, but she had lots of friends because

she was loyal and charming. It was not common for women to practice art

as a career during this time. In fact, American women were not allowed to

vote yet. But Georgia grew up thinking differently. In 1901, her family sent

her to a private school where she received her first official art lesson and by

8th grade she decided that she was going to become an artist! Once, in her

high school art class, a teacher brought in a flower to study. As she pulled it

apart, Georgia was so inspired by the deep colors that it influenced her

artwork for many years to come. In 1905, she was the only girl to graduate

from high school with an art major and declared that she was going to give

up everything for art.

When she went college, she discovered that she didn’t like the

tradition of copying from the masters. She wanted to paint her own ideas.

She was encouraged by her teachers to take the best from every style of art

and make it her own. The process of was more important than the picture

itself. She said, “I found that I could say things with color and shapes that I

couldn’t say in any other way—things I had no words for.”

When she was 29 years old, she gave some of her drawings to her

friend in New York. Without permission, Georgia’s friend gave them to a

famous gallery owner and photographer named Alfred Stieglitz. When he

saw her artwork, he exclaimed, “At last, a woman’s feelings on paper!” And

he exhibited them at his gallery. When Georgia found out, she was mad! But

eventually, they became friends and even got married.

While she lived in New York, she began painting abstract, colorful

flowers on large canvases. No one had ever painted like this before.

Wooded country scenes were popular and acceptable during this time. She

also painted the new, bold skyscrapers of New York City. Her paintings

became popular and were quickly sold after each exhibit. She became a part

of a group of artists, known as the Modern Artists, who deliberately

invented a new style of American painting that was completely opposite

from the European traditions.

In 1929, she moved to New Mexico to paint without distractions

from the city. She was enamored by the beauty of the dry, open, desert

landscape and the big, bright, blue skies. She lived on a Ghost Ranch, where

she felt the most at home. She found many animal bones which she painted

into unusual abstract shapes.

Georgia died at 98 years old in 1986. She is the only female artist

who has an entire museum built in her honor, filled with over 2000

paintings, drawings and sculptures that she created during her lifetime. She

is best remembered for being a woman who was true to herself, knew what

she wanted to be and lived a life of artistry.

© Brook Mesenbrink 2017

Georgia O’Keeffe

Materials:

Cardstock paper with petals drawn or photocopied, Liquid acrylic craft paint

in Bright Red and Bright Yellow. Synthetic brushes: 3/8-1/2” (#10-12) with

soft bristles, water bowls, Styrofoam plates, Newspaper, paper towels, dark

brown pencils, crayons or markers (or paint).

Elements of Art:

1. Color: Red, yellow and blue are the primary colors. When the

primary colors are mixed, they make secondary colors orange,

purple and green. When primary and secondary colors are mixed,

they make tertiary colors such as red-orange and blue-green. Warm

colors are red, yellow and orange because they remind us of things

that are warm, like the sunshine. Cool colors are purple, blue and

green because they remind us of things that are cool, like the

ocean. Complimentary colors are opposite each other on the color

wheel, like red and green. When used together, they create a

strong contrast and appear to vibrate. Colors next to each other on

the color wheel are called analogous, such as red, red-orange and

orange, and they have the most appealing combination.

Look at: “Red Poppy”, 1927. Cameras were new tools artists used to capture images at this time.

The subjects of Georgia’s paintings are either very far away or very close up,

like looking through a camera lens and adjusting the distance. The flower is

painted on a large, three foot tall canvas. The viewpoint of this painting is

very close up and magnified, as if the viewer were a tiny insect about to fly

in to gather pollen. Notice that the shapes of the petals are simplified,

natural shapes. The bold, intense colors and values give the appearance of a

velvety soft texture. The crisp edge lines and color contrasts define its

Shape. Georgia explained, “I decided that if I could paint that flower in a

huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty.”

Before she began painting, she primed the canvas extra smooth and

painted with oil by making thousands of tiny, invisible brush strokes.

Art Analysis

Find Color: Describe the color of the petals and notice where the colors

blend together. (red-orange, orange-yellow, warm, tertiary, analogous)

Practice:

Paint and blend colors together smoothly.

1. Draw a quick outline of the petals of “Red Poppy” or photocopy

from the Poppy Template onto cardstock.

2. Observe the colored petals from “Red Poppy”.

3. Choose a petal to start with. Fill in completely with yellow, then add

red and blend them together to make orange. Leave some of the

petal more red-orange and other parts more yellow-orange, just like

O’Keeffe’s painting. Blend the paint to achieve a smooth surface

without brushstrokes.

4. Rinse and dry brush onto a paper towel.

5. Repeat with another petal.

6. Color the center brown after it drys.

7. Option: draw the flower petals extra large on a larger paper or

canvas.

8. Option for younger children: use the simplified Poppy Template

with only 3 petals.

© Brook Mesenbrink 2017

Georgia O’Keeffe

Red Poppy, Georgia O’Keeffe

Georgia O’Keeffe Art Practice Instructions

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