Sweet Still Life

American painter Wayne Thiebaud (pronounced Tee-Bo) is best known for his paintings of cakes, pies and other commonplace, everyday objects arranged as they might be seen in a bakery or cafeteria. Thiebaud used thick brushstrokes to suggest the swirling textures of cake frosting and created heavy outlines around objects. He often outlined his objects with lines of contrasting color; a technique which intensifies the color, creating a vibrating “halo” effect. Wayne Thiebaud considered composition and point of view to be very important in creating his paintings. He liked the simple geometric shapes of pies and cakes and he set them in precise arrangements against a blank, open space. Thiebaud painted the pastries from the point of view of a consumer viewing merchandise (similar to the way Pop artists of the time created their artworks).

 In this project, eighth graders were challenged to take familiar pastry items and put them together in a visually pleasing composition. Inspired by the work of Wayne Thiebaud, students emphasized the arrangement of objects, texture of the paint, neutral or contrasting negative space in the background, contrasting areas of light and shadow and the use of cast shadow to create mood and depth in their work. The results are simply sweet!