SELF PORTRAIT AS . . .

Yesterday we critiqued the self portrait drawings and made thumbnails for the Division of Field drawings.

PORTFOLIOS DUE NEXT WEDNESDAY AT THE START OF CLASS. The list of drawings to include is above.

SHAPE SHIFTER

kayla

Luke

For this project students were to combine two objects morphing them into one.
Kayla has created a very endearing image of sisterhood. The circle of women very elegantly flows into the braid symbolizing the intimacy, power and strength of their bond. In addition, her use of color to highlight and accent the dark lines adds depth and individuality to the women and their hair.
Luke has created a very nightmarish image by transforming a slimy snail into an equally grotesque face. His attention to light, form and texture is skillfully realized. In addition, the design element of the wiggly border is very complementary to the slimy trail left behind by the snail.

COMBINED VIEWPOINTS

David

Lyric

William

For this project students combined multiple drawings on tracing paper to create a new form.
David's drawing is a very dynamic composition with rhythmic shapes and linear elements. Illustrated in a 1950's sci-fi style, the central form is a Dada-esque absurd mechanism. The movement of this form is complemented by fluid, looping scribbles which in turn are complemented by the contours of the flowery silhouette of the white shape.
Lyric has created an alien world where machines have developed fleshy exteriors turning into living organisms like the beings that created them. The space is dense and layered balanced similar yet reinvented forms throughout.
William has illustrated a narrative of clumsy, infantile mechanical beings plodding over uneven terrain. Although each face consists of the exact same features and placement, their expressions are unique to each one when combined with the gesture of their bodies.

SEQUENTIAL IMAGE

Andrea

Erin

Olivia

Last week the class worked on the "Sequential Image Project." Yesterday we critiqued this work.
Andrea's drawings are reminiscent of small Mexican comic books of pre-Columbian codices. An interesting aspect of the image is how both foreground and background evolve together. As the soldiers falls the flames are like a curtain closing across the stage of the battlefield.
Erin's drawing illustrates the development of an owl. The cartoonish fetal owl floats in darkness where the newborn is comfortably nestled inside its nest and the owl of the last image appears to look back at the viewer as curiously as we do it.
Olivia's simple drawings of hands seem to ritualistically gesture at the sun as the bees anticipate the gathering of pollen and the flower winds its way up the arm eventually blossoming.

Georgia

Kayla

Luke

Lyric

Yesterday the class completed work on the "List" drawings. Georgia has created a very well designed composition with strong attention to the design principles of similarity and repetition. By changing  scale she has crammed in the objects from the list and more. In addition, the colors are rich and perfectly suited to the festive, undersea imagery.
Kayla, too, has wisely chosen her colors. The slightly faded complementary colors of yellow and violet are reminiscent of an old map adding to the adventurous theme. The real strength of her composition is the meandering serpent-like body of the dragon.
Another strong composition with great attention to the distal ques throughout the space is Luke's drawing. The bold, graphic style is very complementary to the dark and fantastic narrative. The image is rich with mark-making addressing light, form and texture.
Lyric has created a puzzle-like composition where each object appears to lock into place leaving very little empty space. Again it is her attention to the principles of design as well as scale change, overlap and actual as well as implied diagonals that makes her composition so balanced and strong. In addition, the modest drawing style of line and soft tonalities is very complementary to the lotus-like gesture of the figure.

THE LIST

Last week students worked on the "List" project. I've extended the deadline to Wednesday, March 29. Students will have all of Monday, Mar. 27 and most of the 29th to complete their projects. We will have a critique at the end of class that Wednesday.

PORTFOLIO DUE and EYE LEVEL AND BASELINES

Portfolios are due Monday, March 13. The list is posted in the tabs above.
This week the class is working on the Eye Level and Baselines project. Pics to follow.

COLOR: watercolor and ink

Georgia

Andrea

Alyssa

Luke

Jake

Yesterday the class completed work on their watercolor and ink drawings. Georgia has very skillfully created a deep sense of space using a primary triad color scheme. She has effectively employed the distal cues as well as the design principle of similarity. As the objects move back in space they diminish in size and rise on the picture plane.  In addition, she has created rhythms by strategically locating and repeating the colors throughout the composition.
Andrea has employed a color scheme of earth tones. She has effectively used overlap and direction of the objects that move the "eye" through the space. In addition, she has complemented the large yellow area with soft, violet shadows and negative areas.
Alyssa has created a very well designed composition with the absence of cast shadows and employing repetition in colors. The dark bottle in the bottom right corner directs the "eye" towards the other dark objects moving back into the composition. She has also created secondary rhythms with the blue-gray objects and the yellow objects.
Luke too has very skillfully employed the distal cues. He has created a brilliant and rich composition of pure primary and secondary colors. The layered and controlled values suggest light and form while maintaining visual interesting brush strokes.
Jake has employed open value areas of color. By superimposing the line drawing over the loose colors he has simultaneously created a space with two-dimensions as well as three.

COLOR: Ink and watercolor

Yesterday the class made drawings from a large still life arrangement. The image was first drawn in ink and then colored with watercolor. Students will have class time tomorrow to complete these drawings.

COLOR: watercolor

Kayla

Luke

Olivia

On Wednesday the class began using watercolors. The three examples above are a sample of the various techniques explored. The forms in Kayla's drawing are very light and transparent. The colors are bright and luminous yet soft.
The layered and expressive brushstrokes in Luke's drawing have combined texture, light and value. The forms and space appear heavy and tangible.
Olivia has very carefully rendered the value transitions observed in each form. The objects are rich in color and value illustrating the light and volume. She has balanced the composition and unified the forms by using a little of each color in all of the objects. For example, blue in the shadow of the pear and yellow on the light areas of the die.

COLOR: Personal Still Life

Ivan

Luke

Sydnee

Yesterday the class finished working on their Color projects. Ivan has created a surreal world where roving eyes patrol the landscape. His use of angles and extreme perspective add to the menacing characters and apocalyptic narrative.
Luke has created a very well balanced still life arrangement with an "x" rhythm established through the placement of the yellow objects and the repetition of the waxy, green blobs in the lava lamp and upper left corner. The location of the red objects creates a triangular movement. The colors are bold and rich and the light is luminous.
Sydnee has created a cosmic, boat ride down a twisting and meandering, blue stream. Her use of repeating elements throughout the composition keeps the "eye" moving throughout the image.

COLOR: Individual Still Life

Yesterday the class started working on compositions of their own choosing. Tomorrow's class will be dedicated to completed these drawings. Pix to follow.

COLOR: Still Life

Luke

Lyric

Yesterday the class made drawings using colored pencils on black paper addressing the local values and colors of the still life. Luke's drawing is well composed exhibiting an exaggerated sense of volume and light. The edges of the forms appear to glow with a very dense application of the medium.
Lyric has very skillfully balanced the full still life on the page. She has employed a more open and airy technique for applying the medium. The colors and values are soft yet the forms exhibit light and volume rendered with a combination of colors and cross-hatching.

VALUE REVERSAL

Ivan

Rainey

Yesterday the class made drawings on black paper with white colored pencil. The objective was to create a Value Reversal. Rather than merely draw with white pencil creating the appearance of a negative, students drew the white areas using the black tone of the paper for the shadows while applying light layers of pencil for gray values. The two drawings above reflect the varied methods used. Ivan's drawing exhibits a variety of mark-making with busy directional changes sprinkled with accents addressing the "categories of light." Rainey's drawing addresses the light patterns as well yet she has focused of the light and dark rhythms of the variously toned shapes within the objects.

IMPROVISATION

Georgia

Yesterday's project focused on composition as well as improvising form.  Each student chose an object that combined form and function. In other words, the object needed to have a pleasing design aside from just being functional.  First the object was zoomed in, cropped and drawn to touch 3 to 4 sides of the frame. In the remaining three frames the object's form was improvised by twisting, bending and stretching it in an effort to create interesting shapes within the negative areas as well as the positive.

IDEAL SOLIDS

Luke

Lyric

Yesterday, the class completed work on the Ideal Solids drawings. Luke's drawing above is a surreal and apocalyptic landscape occupied with natural forms as well as the cold, geometric forms of the Ideal Solids. The dead tree and absence of anything living appears to illustrate the demise of an advanced or futuristic civilization. In addition, the values are rich and he has effectively employed atmospheric perspective.

Lyric has used the Ideal Solids to form figurative as well as architectural elements throughout her composition. The narrative presents a figure taking the stand and being judged by spherical heads that seem to have evolved beyond the need for bodies. The space is cramped adding to the looming and disapproving nature of the authority figures.

IDEAL SOLIDS

Yesterday we reviewed the Ideal Solids; standard geometric forms found to be the base form of many manufactured items. The solids are: sphere, cone, cylinder, open cylinder and cube. The pyramid form may be added as well. The project is to make a drawing using the forms throughout. The class will complete these drawings next Monday in class.

LINE: Drawing Challenge

Brandon

Kayla

Lyric

Yesterday, we reviewed Line quality and the various techniques explored in Art 7A (contour, cross-contour, gesture, etc.) The "Drawing Challenge" was to draw a single object 50 times in 1 hour. Students then had another half hour to develop the space accentuating positive and negative areas as well as establishing a depth of at least three layers.
Notice in Brandon's drawing the way in which the bold out line separates the shapes reinforcing the relationship between the positive form of the composite hammers and the negative space. Kayla has created a very unified composition by maintaining the consistency of drawing style and direction of the object. Lyric has created a shrub-like form with a combining of the forks. The composite form is effectively uses the shape of the forks and their "spikey" tines.

INTRODUCTIONS: Syllabus, Materials and "The List"

Tomorrow afternoon we will discuss the syllabus and materials. In addition, we will create "The List." An explanation will follow.