A Brush with Wildlife: Create a Composition with Carl Rungius

To the Teacher

A Brush with Wildlife originated from a desire to have students interactively experience the artistic process on-line. This on-line lesson draws from the proficiency of acclaimed wildlife artist Carl Rungius to demonstrate the concepts and principles involved in creating a visual composition.

There are three main components of this program. The Art Principles Animated brings the artwork of Carl Rungius to life by representing the art principles in dramatic graphics and innovative sound effects. In The Composition Studio, students learn to effectively use each principle while developing a composition of their own as they follow a step-by-step tutorial. Finally, these compositions can be submitted to the museum’s online Critique Gallery. Students benefit from the opportunity to have their art published online and reviewed.

The Composition Studio is the main part of this site. Here students can create their own composition by selecting a landscape photograph, cropping it, and then dragging an assortment of animals onto the landscape to create a wildlife composition. As they create their composition, they go through seven principles of composition step-by-step, allowing them to consider these principles one at a time. Some students pay little attention to the art principles, but we encourage you to have students focus on the principles while they arrange their compositions—they will have a better learning experience as a result.

If you wish to have students create compositions without the step-by-step process, you can access a separate section of the site. We recommend that you access this section only after students have first gone through the step-by-step process, but the principles are also accessible here, via pop-up windows: http://www.wildlifeart.org/Rungius/select_background2.html

While this is specifically an art lesson, this multidisciplinary approach to the creative process provides a valuable experience for all students.

Specifically, students learn the conscious choices necessary to communicate effectively. This lesson can be used in conjunction with language arts as preparation for a writing exercise involving a main idea.

Additionally, this lesson integrates the mathematic concepts of geometry and proportion when designing a composition. Use this lesson when studying ratios, symmetry, or the golden mean.

Natural science students experience the wildlife art of Carl Rungius and then formulate their own interpretation of natural systems through visual expressions.

Social science students witness the environmental factors that contribute to an artist’s work as well as the social influence of art itself.

Suggested Follow – Up Activities

Art – Create your own painting using the principles of art and design.

Language Arts – Connect this composition lesson to the process of outlining a writing project.

Math – Explore other examples of proportions found in art and the natural world such as in classical architecture and the nautilus.Natural Science – Find a nearby habitat and observe it for one week recording the species that inhabit that specific area during that period of time.

Social Science – Find another work of art that intrigues you. Defend what you believe the piece it trying to communicate based on the social and historical context in which it is created. How effective is the composition?