A SAMPLE: Art Project

Title: Waves a lá Winslow Homer

Purpose: We may be familiar with water waves but can we recognize their structure and behavior in realistic art works? Winslow Homer has created many beautiful and accurate paintings of water and waves.

Procedure: Some of these questions require a text answer, some ask for visual responses. Mark off a page into six drawing spaces and use another page for your text answers. Observe the selected art works, record their titles and dates and answer the questions. Note: each painting is filled with detail but our focus is on only certain sections of each art work. Read and look carefully.

By the way, the page numbers are from a book of Homer's work but these images are viewable at: http://www.the-athenaeum.org/ Select <Visual Arts>, then <View person records>, then <H> from the <Complete list> row of letters, then scroll down and select <Winslow Homer>, then <List artworks> from the top of the page. Finally, scroll down, select the art works mentioned below and away you go!

Questions

1. On the Beach, 1869. ( p 82) Sketch the locations of major wave troughs seen in the painting.

2. See the waves lined up parallel and approaching the beach straight on. Name this wave behaviour.

3. a) The Fog Warning, 1885. (p 228) Make a sketch of the dory's position in the wave.

b) Why is part of the dory's stern not visible?

4. Lost on the Grand Banks, 1885. (p 229) Sketch the locations of the major troughs.

5. a) The Signal of Distress, 1890/1892-1896. ( p 257) Describe the difficulties in launching the life boat.

b) See that the ship being rescued seems to be mostly just hull, the masts and rigging cut away. Look carefully and sketch the position of the hull among the waves.

6. a) Maine Coast, 1896. ( p 333) Sketch the area where the wave is having the most dramatic effect on the rocky shore.

b) What will be the long term effect of the waves crashing on this section of coastline?

7. a) Kissing the Moon, 1904. (p 386) Why are most of the fishermen's bodies obscured?

b) Sketch what is not showing of the men and dory. Estimate the amplitude of the trough and how deep the dory and men are sitting below the crest in the foreground.