LESSON RESOURCE: From tabletop to terrain: Still Life TO Landscape

Any landscape is composed not only of what lies before our eyes but what lies within our heads. DONALD W. MEINIG

ABOUT

This project explores the possibilities of both Landscape and Still Life genres. A key aim is to encourage students to be aware of, question, and play with genre conventions and expectations. All of our Threshold Concepts are relevant, but  Threshold Concept #3 is particularly helpful as students are introduced to art histories in more depth. The activities are aimed at KS4 but are easily adaptable for other age groups. 

THEMES

Part 1 asks What is a Landscape? A range of works and ideas will be introduced from art histories. Students will play with words and marks in response to various concepts and approaches. 

Part 2 introduces students to 'Still Life'. They will consider how objects can be used to connect with, and respond to, themes of Landscape. Students will imaginatively explore the boundaries between genres.
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Part 3 invites students to develop a personal response (and/or ongoing personal responses) to the various ideas encountered.

PART 1 WHAT IS A LANDSCAPE?

Here are some initial prompts for reflection and discussion:
  • What defines a 'Landscape'? 
    Using A6 card (or an A4 page divided into 4 sections), draw/create 4 different landscapes in 20 minutes  - your immediate responses to the term. You might use a range of media e.g. pencil, collage, brush and ink. Once complete, consider the following:
    Why do you think these first responses came to mind and/or action? How do your various responses compare - what keywords help to explain your thinking? How did the choice of materials influence your responses? Write down all the key words and connections that come to mind with the theme of 'landscape'.
  • Compare your responses in small groups. What images or words reoccur? How might your different responses be ordered, categorised, connected, curated? For example, can you organise these into various values or sequences, such as from 'realistic' to 'abstract'? Can you combine and present your 4 landscapes as a concertina book (landscape format, obviously!)?

  • With a partner, devise 5 statements or rules that define a landscape. For example, a landscape is/must be ...
  • Now, devise 5 statements or rules that define what a landscape isn't. Be profound, poetic, or playful with words. For example, a landscape isn't a photograph; a landscape isn't ever still; a landscape isn't a sausage. Once complete, exchange statements with others. Imaginatively explain (or playfully argue or illustrate, even) why their responses might be flawed.

  • Look carefully through the following images and consider the subsequent information and prompts. Click to enlarge.
From top left to bottom right, follow the links below to discover more:
A few questions ... 
  • Which images, to you, are most definitively landscapes? Why do you think this? Which ones are you doubtful of? Print out examples and use notes, labels, questions and/or sketches to record your thoughts.

  • Can you order these artworks from the oldest to the most recent? What might inform your decisions? Once, correct, what might this tell you about art histories?

  • Can you group the images in interesting or imaginative ways, for example, in groups of 2, 3, 4 or 6? Which words/group headings might be useful for this? Consider styles, subject matter, scales, depth (or illusion of). How about the headings TRADITIONAL, MODERN or CONTEMPORARY? Or how about the PICTURESQUE (Idealised landscapes), the PASTORAL (The taming of nature/evidence of human life), and the SUBLIME (the power of the natural world).​

ACTIVITIES

  • Choose 2 of the images above for further research and experimenting. Follow the links provided as starting points. Print out examples and collect a range of interesting facts and insights to aid your understanding.
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  • Respond to the artworks and related research with your own practical experiments. But remember to avoid superficial or simplified copying - DO NOT draw or paint a small scale response to simply fill a gap in your sketchbook! Think carefully, critically, playfully - like an artist!

    Below are some further images and suggestions to assist:
Picture
Peter-Lanyon, Bojewyan Farms, 1951
  • ​Experiment with aerial views and/or large-scale gestural painting inspired by the work of Peter Lanyon. You might use Google Streetview for inspiration, or work from an upstairs window (responding to your garden, for example), or work from memory or imagination.
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    KEY WORDS Aerial views, Expressionism, Abstract Expressionism, St Ives School, gestural, action painting, multiple perspectives (relating to Cubism), embodied presence.
Further examples of paintings and textiles work by Etel Adnan
  • Experiment with strong shapes and colours inspired by your favourite places and the work of Etel Adnan. Consider how scales of working and relationships between colours and shapes influence the work.

    ​KEY WORDS Geometric abstraction, Pure abstraction, Memory Landscapes, colour as language, interconnectedness and unity, spirit of place.
Examples above by Jean-François Millet and Thomas Gainsborough
  • Inspired by the examples above (but not necessarily the styles) of Millet and Gainsborough, create a landscape scene that incorporates a portrait of someone (or a group of people). Consider the wider possibilities and potential tensions of this. Think carefully about who you choose, what they are doing, and where and why. How might the presence of others inform or enhance a contested landscape*? What wider issues might arise around themes of social equality, wealth and land ownership?
    *A contested landscape is a geographical area where different groups hold conflicting views, values, or claims regarding how the land should be used or perceived.

    ​    KEY WORDS Social Realism, Rococo-Naturalism ; Idyllic, commissioned, patronage; contested, universal, individual, painting (and land) as property, representation of wealth. 
An illustrated letter and a study of trees, by Van Gogh
  • Experiment with mark making using ink with a dip pen, stick, or brush inspired by Van Gogh. Choose a location that is important to you and aim to capture its appeal. You might consider writing accompanying reflective text, as Van Gogh did in his letters to his family.

    ​KEY WORDS Mark making, Post-Impressionism, Expressionism, expressive; staccato dots, dashes, swirls, hatching; vitality, rhythmic energy; Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e). 
The gestures comes from VAN GOGH'S hands, his wrists, arm, shoulder, perhaps even the muscles in his neck, yet the strokes he makes on the paper are following the currents of energy which are not physically his and which only become visible when he draws them. Currents of energy? The energy of a tree’s growth, …The pattern is like a finger print. JOHN BERGER
Examples of landscapes within Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto
Explore the possibilities of landscape within virtual or imagined worlds, and develop your own work inspired by the environments you encounter or design. Consider how digital spaces can develop and/or diminish your creative potential. You might wish to create artwork digitally, or alternatively might draw, paint, collage or work in 3 dimensions.

KEY WORDS Immersion, Digital landscape, Virtual environment, Open world, Perspective (first-person / third-person), Scale, Atmosphere, Rendering, World-building, Realism vs stylisation, Topography, Narrative space
Top 2 images by Edvard Munch, bottom 2 images by Fauvist artists, Maurice de Vlaminck and Henri Matisse.
Produce a landscape painting or artwork that explores and exaggerates colours and marks as a means of increasing atmosphere and/or vibrancy.  For inspiration, Edvard Munch's landscape paintings were full of expressionism and symbolism. Munch's work influenced Fauvist artists (meaning 'Wild Beasts') such Maurice de Vlaminck and Henri Matisse who simplified and saturated their colours on an even more extreme scale.

KEY WORDS Expressionism, Symbolism, Fauvism, Contrast, Complementary, Emotional expression, Subjectivity, Inner experience, Psychological intensity
A landscape painting is essentially emotional in origin. It exists as a record of an effect in nature whose splendor has moved a human heart. Walter J. Phillips
Research the art movement known broadly as 'Land Art'. Create your own site-specific responses to, and within, the landscape. Think carefully about how you might document your actions. Importantly, produce work with respect and empathy to the space you choose.

For example, Lita Albuquerque transforms the Earth into a living canvas, using elements like ultramarine pigment to align the landscape with the stars and the cosmos. Her temporary installations emphasise the fleeting nature of humanity. Maya Lin also works directly with the landscape. Eleven Minute Line is a 1,600-foot earthen sculpture in Sweden that turns a "squiggle" into a physical path. It takes exactly eleven minutes to walk from end to end.

KEY WORDS Land Art, Installation, Site-Specific, Organic, Ephemeral, temporary, In dialogue with, Intervention, Anthropocene, Photo-documentation
  • Create a landscape that rejects linear perspective in favour of the flattened, symbolic style of the Middle Ages. Using artists like Giotto or Gherardo Starnina, above, as a guide, treat your page as a shallow stage rather than a window into reality. Experiment with hierarchical scaling (size based on importance) and reverse perspective to prioritise symbolic meaning over photographic depth.

    KEY WORDS flattening, non-linear perspective, hierarchical scaling, reverse perspective, symbolic, illusion, distortion, cubism, depth, surface.


​PART 2 STILL LIFES AS TABLETOP TERRAINS

​A still life is a type (genre) of artwork that features inanimate, everyday objects as the main subject. These objects can be natural (like fruit, flowers, or shells) or man-made (like bottles, books, or bowls). Still Life and Landscape genres are often considered as two distinct types of art or subject matter. However, via the following words and images we will challenge the boundaries between the two. This will include:
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  • Exploring how still life objects might suggest or represent landscape forms, textures and surfaces.
  • Experimenting with compositions, scales, and viewpoints, including considering depth, perspective, and space.
  • Developing ideas around representation vs expression, abstraction and imagination.
  • Making connections to symbolism and surrealism, inspired by a range of artists.
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Consider the images below and respond to the subsequent prompts. Click to enlarge. 
A few questions ... 
  • Which images, to you, are most definitively Still Lifes? Why do you think this? Which ones are you doubtful of? Print out examples and use notes, labels, questions and/or sketches to record your thoughts.

  • Can you order these artworks from the oldest to the most recent? What might inform your decisions? Once, complete (or correct, even) what might this tell you about art histories?

  • Can you group the images in interesting or imaginative ways, for example, in groups of 2, 3, 4 or 6? Which words/group headings might be useful for this? Consider styles, subject matter, scales, depth (or illusion of). How about the headings of Realist/observational, Expressionist (distorted, emotive use of colour and form), Cubist (fragmented viewpoints, e.g. Pablo Picasso), Contemporary/conceptual?

ACTIVITIES

  • Using an A3 board and sourced/found materials and objects, construct your own Still Life. However, try to do this in a way that is also suggestive of a landscape. In art historical terms, this might also be described as an assemblage. See below for further help. 
The photographs above show found materials, arranged and glued to A3-sized boards. The intention here is that we recognise the everyday nature of the materials, but that also they invite us to imagine them as landscapes, such as mountains, urban structures or rocky lands. These examples have also been painted white to draw attention to the forms and how the light falls upon these. 

An interesting question to raise is: How might your Still Life/Landscape assemblage become a work of art in its own right? Which is to say...
  • How might you think about composition (arrangement) of shapes, forms, textures, tones and so on (the visual elements) to make something pleasing to the eye? Aim to create interesting viewpoints from all sides and also from directly above.
  • How might you think about the materials you choose and their relationship with the landscape and/or you, to add contextual or conceptual value?
  • How might you shape, model, join, combine objects with imagination and skill to make something that demonstrates technical craft and care?

RELATED ART TERMS Assemblage, Combine, Readymade, Mixed-Media, Materiality, Arte Povera

Once you have completed your Still Life/Landscape assemblage, consider painting your arrangement white, or at least muting the colour palette. This will help you pay subtle attention to the ever-changing light on the forms for the drawing tasks that follow.
  • Develop a series of drawings/studies in response to your structure, inspired by the artists, artworks and suggestions below.
Giorgio Morandi (1890–1964) is celebrated for his quiet, contemplative approach to still life, often referred to as "Natura Morta" in Italian. His work has a wonderful poetic attentiveness He continually returned to the same subject matter paying sensitive attention to subtle changes to light and forms and the relationships and spaces between these.

ACTIVITY Produce a series of drawings and/or painted studies inspired by Morandi's attentiveness to shapes, tones, forms and (negative) spaces.
It takes me weeks to decide which group of bottles will go well with a particular tablecloth... and yet it is still said that I only paint bottles! GioRGIO MORANDI
Lee Krasner (1908–1984) used Still Life (alongside landscapes, figures, experiences - everything!) as a means of exploring Modernist ideas of abstraction. The Abstract Expressionists were a group of artists who came to be known in the 1950s for their ambitious explorations of gestural (or action) painting, where the movement, physicality, emotions and sensations of the artist became a key influence of the work.
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ACTIVITY Use your Still Life assemblage as a starting point for experimenting with abstraction. Like Krasner, you might try painting, collage, or mixed-media. Consider how shapes and forms might become enhanced, exaggerated, energised, simplified, vibrant through ideas, marks, chance and design.
Paul Nash (1889–1946), viewed objects through the lens of Surrealism, often placing them in landscapes to create a sense of "uncanny" mystery. Nash was obsessed with natural objects like flint, gnarled wood, or stones. He called these "object-personages," believing they possessed a spirit of the place. He also placed manmade objects (like ladders or tennis balls) into outdoor landscapes. This Surrealist technique disrupts the viewer's expectations and makes the familiar feel strange. Nash believed that objects and landscapes were spiritually connected. He used still life to humanise the landscape and landscape to mythologise the object. 

ACTIVITY Inspired by the uncanny landscapes of Paul Nash, explore combining objects with your Still Life. This might include adding unexpected items and recording these through drawings and photographs. You might also try installing your Still Life or related objects within a landscape (which might be in real life or imagined).
The object is not the thing itself, but what it suggests. PAUL NASH
Frances Hodgkins (1869–1947) did not consider still life and landscape as separate genres. She developed a "landscape-still life" approach that abandoned traditional perspective in favour of poetic, imaginative arrangements and flattenings of space. To Hodgkins, the curve of a vase might echo the curve of a distant hill, or the pattern on a tablecloth might mimic the textures of a field. Objects in the foreground invite the viewer to experience the landscape as a more domestic scene.

ACTIVITY Inspired by the paintings of Frances Hodgkins, experiment with flattening and softening the relationships between shapes, forms, objects and landscapes.
Ben Nicholson (1894–1982) didn't see a landscape as a "view" and a still life as a "thing." Instead, he saw these as interlocking, with the same underlying geometries. Nicholson’s most famous technique involved drawing the "linear ghosts" of objects so they overlap. This creates a sense of transparency and shallow depth without using traditional shading. He often scraped back paint with a razor blade or added sand to create a weathered, stony surface. This made the painting feel like a physical object itself, echoing the granite landscapes of Cornwall where he lived.

ACTIVITY Develop your own response inspired by Ben Nicholson's flattening and combining of objects and spaces. Think carefully about the design of your composition, the limited selections of tones and colours,  and the interlocking relationships between foreground, middleground and background. Aim to create work that appears to shift between Still Life and Landscape as you look.
The kind of painting which I find exciting is not just a picture of a place of a group of objects, but an experience of them... a painting of a landscape or a still life can be as 'abstract' as any purely geometric work. BEN NICHOLSON

PART 3 PERSONAL RESPONSES

Many of the ideas, inspirations and suggestions above can be considered as 'invitations' to think about the kinds of artworks you enjoy - and also wish to make. This resource leans towards drawing and painting and also includes assemblage, but the possibilities are limitless. You might wish to develop personal work using collage, mixed-media, photography, film, animation, sculpture, installation, text, sound, and so on.

Aside from more developed 'final outcomes' (but I don't like that term tbh), it's healthy and fun to also think about your personal response 'side hustles'. By this, I mean the playful ways you might carry and respond to these themes day to day. This can be a great way of building a collection of work on your own terms that enriches your days (and your project work). Examples might include:
  • Keeping a small landscape and/or Still Life sketchbook - a visual diary of daily or weekly encounters with these themes; quick sketches that over time build into a collection.
  • An ongoing photography project - Daily landscapes (e.g. my view from my window; my dog walk each day) or everyday Still Lifes (e.g. my bedside table each morning; my dinner table each evening). These can also build up to form a collection, a visual diary, an animation, a self-portrait of sorts.
  • An ongoing collection of objects - for example, objects found on walks in the landscape. These can then be curated (organised, presented) in interesting and imaginative ways, e.g. as a timeline, by colour, by scale. Found objects might be used for Still Life reference, relocated and photographed in alternative locations, assembled as abstractions, labelled and classified as if for a museum.

In short, we are surrounded by objects and landscapes. Enjoy exploring and combining these themes in ways that are interesting and meaningful to you as an artist!
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