Masterpiece: In the Well of the Great Wave of KanagawaSouth Wind and Clear Weather Over Mt. Fuji, circa 1830 by Katsushika Hokusai

Keywords:Perspective, Foreshortening, Vantage Point

Grade:6th Grade

Month:March/April

Activity:Variation on a Perspective

TIME:1 hour 15 minutes

Perspective:A technique used to represent 3-dimensional scenes or objects on a flat, 2-dimensional surface. This is achieved by creating an illusion of depth and distance.

Foreshortening: Occurs when an object appears compressed as seen from a particular vantage point.It is used to give the impression of a three-dimensional object and is most successful when rendered on the picture plane to create the illusion of a figure in space.

Vantage Point: The place the artist seems to have been standing as he/she created the work of art.

Meet the Artist:

  • Hokusai was born in Edo, Japan in 1760, before the United States had achieved independence.
  • He began his career as an apprentice working for a master. Shortly into this position, he was thrown out because he was too talented.
  • He then went to work creating his own drawings and selling them on the streets.
  • Shortly, thereafter, he took a job illustratingfor comic books, making banners, designing greeting.
  • Hokusai hated cleaning, so, when his home became too dirty to work in, he just moved. As a result of this compulsion, he moved himself and his family a total of 93 times!
  • He was so talented he could draw birds in flight on a single grain of rice. Like Pablo Picasso, he was a showman and enjoyed painting while performing outlandish feats such as hanging upside down or with his feet in front of an audience.
  • Money and wealth was never important to him, and he often chose to live in bad neighborhoods in very modest homes. Eventually, he went bankrupt because he was unable to manage his money.
  • He preferred to paint in series, for example, he painted 36 views of Mt Fuji. For him this was an exercise in perfecting perspective. He painted the same mountain over and over again. The Great Wave and Clear Weather over Mt Fuji are 2 examples in this series.
  • Eventually, he painted over 30,000 pieces of art.
  • He lived to the age of 89, dying in 1849.

Possible Questions:

  • What is the vantage point from the Wave?
  • What is the vantage point from Clear Weather?
  • Which do you think is more interesting and why?
  • Why do you think he choseMt.Fuji to paint 36 times? (It is a sacred mountain to the Japanese people)
  • What title would you give these paintings?
  • Is there movement in either of these paintings?
  • Is there good balance in these paintings?

Activity: Variation on a Perspective (aka. “Falling for Foreshortening”)

Materials Needed: 12”x18”white construction paper, colored markers, black marker, students own pencils

Process:

  1. Give each student the following materials: sheet of white paper, colored markers and black markers. They need their own pencils.
  2. Students may want to sketch this position one of two ways:
  3. Have the students imagine they are standing on a mirror with both their feet (they may be barefoot or have their shoes on) and bending over to touch the mirror’s surface with their whole hands, OR
  4. Have the students stand on the sheet of paper and lightly trace their hands and feet as shown in example below.
  5. Have the student create their own unique tread on the bottom of their shoes.
  6. Also remind them that they are drawing the palms of their hands so have them draw in their own hand prints and not their fingernails.
  7. Next have the students draw a head and body between their feet and hands. Have them put an expression on their face as if they are falling. Also, Explain that these parts of their body should not be as big as their hands and feet as they are behind them and should be smaller.
  8. Have students personalize their face and clothing.
  9. Once they have sketched in their foreshortening, have them color it using the markers.
  10. Label the back of the paper with the student name/teacher tag provided.

Self Portrait of Katsushika Hokusai and Other Work

Examples of Foreshortening in Other Paintings

Escaping Criticism, Pere Borrell del Caso, Monumental Glory, Dana Roach, 2003

1874

Foreshortening Example