Homework Assignment #6, due Monday, October 31st

(For information about our off-site class see post below.)

IMAGINARY CITYSCAPE:

Important note: This is a two-week assignment. It will be due on the Monday after our off-site class, but please consider it a more substantial assignment than the others (i.e., plan to spend 12 rather than 6 hours on it). Don't wait until the night before it's due to start working!

In this assignment, you’ll be setting up a small tabletop “cityscape” with cardboard boxes and making a drawing that transforms the boxes into buildings in an imaginary city. The purpose of this assignment is twofold: first, to practice using sighting to draw objects in linear perspective, and second, to exercise your imagination in the creation of an interesting and dynamic drawing.

Please follow the instructions below:

1. Creating your tabletop cityscape: Begin by collecting at least three cardboard boxes of varying sizes and dimensions. You may also want to include some cylindrical objects such as tubes or some other more eccentric shapes, but be sure to include at least three standard rectangular boxes. Arrange your boxes (face down for best results) in an interesting way. Establish a fixed view on the set-up that you can continue to work from for the duration of the assignment.

2. Transforming your boxes into buildings: Using online resources or the SVA library, collect a variety of images of buildings and architectural elements that you want to import into your cityscape. You may choose from absolutely any style or period, and although your drawing should hold together as a single image, your architectural elements need not “make sense” (in other words, feel free mix and match styles and periods). As long as the perspective and proportions are accurate, your city can be as unreal or otherworldly as you want it to be.

3. Making your drawing: Begin by drawing the boxes using sighting only (no rulers). Since you will be adding doors and windows and other such things, keep the initial drawing light and general (i.e., map out the general shapes first). When you feel satisfied that the angles and proportions of the boxes are right, begin to import elements from you reference material. Each building should have several elements such as the following (although other items may certainly be included): windows, doors, balconies, awnings, columns, etc. Exactly what you choose to include is up to you; the idea is to create a visually compelling drawing that makes the viewer want to “step into” your imaginary city.

As always, give great consideration to your composition.

Materials: You may use either charcoal, charcoal pencil, conte crayon (if you’ve had experience with it), Ebony pencil, or whatever combination thereof for this assignment.