Monday, October 7th 2013.

8 tips to take pictures with a phone

1-     Take a lot of pictures because you can choose the best…

2-     Shoot at eye level because it makes neutral pictures. If you shoot a picture from below, it’s a low-angle shot (= contre-plongée), it magnifies the subject. If you shoot from above, it’s a high-angle shot (= plongée), it diminishes the value of the subject.

3-     Move close to the subject if there is no zoom or if there is a bad quality zoom.

4-     Take pictures in bright light or use a flash to make clear pictures.

5-      Put / choose a plain background to make the subject more visible.

6-     Try different angles to see which view is the best…

7-     Stay still to avoid blurred pictures (= pour éviter des photos floues)…

8-     Be courteous and legal: you should ask before taking a picture of someone…

Thursday, October 3rd 2013.

Let’s compare paintings !

These two paintings, by Gainsborough and Hockney show a lot of similarities:

There are both / they both represent portraits.

In both paintings, we can see a man and a woman or maybe a couple (they are maybe husband and wife). We can assume they are married…

In both paintings, the two people are either sitting or standing.

Each couple has a pet: one has a hunting dog (in Gainsborough’s painting) and one has a cat (in Hockney’s painting).

In both paintings, there are trees / there is nature in the background.

The titles of the works are similar, they look like each other and are on the same model: Mr and Mrs…

But these two paintings show many differences:

Gainsborough’s painting is older than Hockney’s painting: it was created in 1750 (in the 18^th century) whereas Hockney painted it in 1970 (in the 20^th century)

They don’t wear the same kind of clothes: The Andrews wear hunting and elegant clothes whereas the Clark & Percy wear modern and casual clothes.

In Gainsborough’s painting, the lady is sitting whereas the man is standing. In Hockney’s painting, it’s the lady who is standing and the man who is sitting.

In Gainsborough’s painting, the colours are darker than in Hockney’s painting where there are lighter.

The setting is different: the Andrews are in the countryside whereas the Clark & Percy are inside a flat.

                     The rule of thirds

-     It’s a general rule in art (photography, painting, drawing)

-     The rule defines three parts in the work of art.

-     To see the different parts, you draw a grid made of two vertical lines and two horizontal lines.

-     The subject shouldn’t be in the center but on one side.

Did Gainsborough and Hockney respect this rule in their paintings?

Gainsborough respected this rule of thirds but Hockney didn’t respect it because the subjects shouldn’t be in the center.

Monday, September 30th 2013.

Mr & Mrs Clark and Percy

– by David Hockney (1970)

This document is a painting by D. Hockney. It was painted in 1970. It represents two persons / people, a man and a woman. Maybe they are married. One is sitting (the man) on the right, one is standing (the woman) on the left.

The setting: the scene takes place in an apartment / flat, probably in the living-room.

In the foreground, there is a vase with flowers and a table. Next to the vase, there is a yellow book. Next to the man, on the floor, we can see a telephone and a lamp.

The main colours used in the painting are yellow and blue (and thus green).

The shutters by the woman are closed whereas the shutters by the man are open. We can imagine that this is a symbol of their opposition: he is sitting and relaxing. She on the other hand doesn’t look relaxed, she doesn’t look comfortable, she looks shy and ill-at-ease… maybe she is hiding from something…

Monday, September 23rd 2013.

                      Celebrities who became fashion designers

Madonna was a pop singer and she worked with H&M to create a fashion line in 2007.

Kate Moss was a supermodel and she worked with Topshop to create a line of clothes in 2007.

Heidi Klum was a model and she worked with Jordache to create a line of clothes.

Katie Holmes was an actress and she created a women’s and kidswear collection in 2009.

Britney Spears was a singer and she created a theme line for teenage girl. (back to school)

Selena Gomez was an actress and she created a line of sportswear.

Worked /t/ - created /id/

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