Research Paper for Lesson Plan

ARTE 342

Christopher M Wiedmaier

When it comes to animals, not only do they

exist in many different forms throughout the globe,
they also exist in many different forms in art! When
it comes to the species of birds, it is obvious that
there are countless types that exist today. These
winged creatures have been a fascination amongst
artists for centuries.
Centuries ago, people documented animals
in portraits and paintings. Other ways people
documented animals are when they would discover
http://www.wired.com/2013/03/audubons-birds-fly-again/

them. This was to provide proof of their existence

and even though the approach is
scientific, the representation is an art
form.
When it comes to birds, they
come in all sorts of shapes, sizes,
colors, and exist in very different
places all over the world. I have seen
birds represented in drawings,
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/miros-cat-encircled-by-the-flight-of-a-bird-eve-riser-roberts.html

paintings, photography, sculptures,

jewelry, animations, and video; these forms have been from the hyper-realistic to the
completely abstract. Here is an example of a watercolor painting done by John James
Audubon called Carolina Parakeet (top right). The next is a version of birds, which is

Research Paper for Lesson Plan

ARTE 342

Christopher M Wiedmaier

completely abstracted. The artist is Eve Riser Roberts and the piece is titled Miros Cat
Encircled by the Flight of a Bird (previous page: bottom left). As you can see, the
representation of the bird in this artwork is much more difficult to discern from the
abstract nature of this piece. But, what
happens when an artist tries to
incorporate elements from both the
real and abstract? That is right,
surrealist artist Oleg Shuplyak did just
that in one of his surrealist pieces
(right).
The few examples presented so
http://surrealistisch.blogspot.com/2011/08/oleg-shuplyak.html

far are great examples of 2D artwork,

but what about some bird artwork in the 3D format? Here are examples of such artwork.
The first is a sculpture of an eagle. The sculpture was created by contemporary artist
Gabor Miklos Szoke. As you can, the sculpture is quite large. It also appears to look like
an eagle but the material even is very different seeing that it is steel (image bottom and
top of next page).

http://laughingsquid.com/an-enormous-stainless-steel-sculpture-of-an-eagle-created-for-a-hungarian-football-team/

Research Paper for Lesson Plan

ARTE 342

Christopher M Wiedmaier

http://laughingsquid.com/an-enormous-stainless-steel-sculpture-of-an-eagle-created-for-ahungarian-football-team/

Another examples of 3D Bird artwork is that made with paper, and as you would
have guessed, these pieces are much smaller in scale compared to the massive stainless
steel eagle. The artist is Diana Beltran Herrera and these little figures are actually
surprisingly realistic. The paper is manipulated in such a way that brings these tiny birds
to life (image one: left image two: right).
As you may have noticed, there are several different ways to represent something.
There are countless other ways to represent something when there is such a large
variation in types like there is with birds. There are plenty of different way these masters
of the sky can find their way into art education lessons, and they would be relevant to any
student since there is a species of birds that exist, even if they are different, all over the
world.

http://anewhype.com/2012/11/07/paper-bird-sculptures-by-diana-beltran-herrera/#jp-carousel-5763
http://anewhype.com/2012/11/07/paper-bird-sculptures-by-diana-beltran-herrera/#jp-carousel-5763

Research Paper for Lesson Plan

ARTE 342

Christopher M Wiedmaier

Research Paper for Lesson Plan

ARTE 342

Christopher M Wiedmaier

References for Images

Image 1
http://www.wired.com/2013/03/audubons-birds-fly-again/
Image 2
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/miros-cat-encircled-by-the-flight-of-a-birdeve-riser-roberts.html
Image 3
http://surrealistisch.blogspot.com/2011/08/oleg-shuplyak.html
Image 4 and 5
http://laughingsquid.com/an-enormous-stainless-steel-sculpture-of-an-eaglecreated-for-a-hungarian-football-team/
Image 6 and 7
http://anewhype.com/2012/11/07/paper-bird-sculptures-by-diana-beltranherrera/#jp-carousel-5763