(For this week's homework assignment see post below.)
Dear class,
Please bring to class on Monday the 5th a photograph (portrait) of someone you admire, or someone who has meant a lot to you in your life. The person can be a famous figure or someone you know personally, but whoever it is, be sure that the image is large enough for you to see well. I recommend making a high-resolution black and white print-out that is the size of an average piece of paper (i.e., 8.5" x 11").
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Homework Assignment #11, due Monday, Dec. 5
EXPLORING THE DIPTYCH:
As a continuation of the in-class studies we did with the irregular format, this week’s assignment is to make a diptych (a two-paneled piece) that challenges the notion of the conventional picture rectangle. Begin by cutting one of your sheets of sketch vellum into two pieces. Use a straight edge and blade, and cut the sheet one time only so that you end up with either two long, skinny rectangles, two conventional picture rectangles, or two dissimilar rectangles (i.e., cut down the center lengthwise, down the center widthwise, or off-center in either direction). You will use both sheets in this drawing, which means that you’ll be working on a diptych, but it’s up to you how you want to arrange the sheets in relation to each other.
Select some aspect of your room (with or without people) to draw. In selecting what to draw, think a lot about what might be intriguing when “broken up” into two rectangles. In your drawing, concentrate on two things: (1) How you crop your objects, and (2) How the two parts of your diptych relate to each other. Remember that when it comes to cropping, what you leave out of the picture (what happens “off the page”) can be just as important as what you include in your drawing. With the diptych format, you can really exploit the suggestion of off-page activity by how you choose to arrange the panels in relation to each other (for example, leaving a space on the wall in between two side-by-side panels automatically piques the viewer’s curiosity about what’s going on in the space not depicted in the drawing).
Note: However you choose to approach this assignment, you should think of your diptych as one drawing (not two separate drawings that are going to be hung together).
IMPORTANT: You must cut your paper BEFORE you begin your drawing. If you cut it afterward, it will simply be considered a drawing cut into two pieces rather than a true diptych.
Materials: You may use any of the drawing materials we have used so far this semester.
As a continuation of the in-class studies we did with the irregular format, this week’s assignment is to make a diptych (a two-paneled piece) that challenges the notion of the conventional picture rectangle. Begin by cutting one of your sheets of sketch vellum into two pieces. Use a straight edge and blade, and cut the sheet one time only so that you end up with either two long, skinny rectangles, two conventional picture rectangles, or two dissimilar rectangles (i.e., cut down the center lengthwise, down the center widthwise, or off-center in either direction). You will use both sheets in this drawing, which means that you’ll be working on a diptych, but it’s up to you how you want to arrange the sheets in relation to each other.
Select some aspect of your room (with or without people) to draw. In selecting what to draw, think a lot about what might be intriguing when “broken up” into two rectangles. In your drawing, concentrate on two things: (1) How you crop your objects, and (2) How the two parts of your diptych relate to each other. Remember that when it comes to cropping, what you leave out of the picture (what happens “off the page”) can be just as important as what you include in your drawing. With the diptych format, you can really exploit the suggestion of off-page activity by how you choose to arrange the panels in relation to each other (for example, leaving a space on the wall in between two side-by-side panels automatically piques the viewer’s curiosity about what’s going on in the space not depicted in the drawing).
Note: However you choose to approach this assignment, you should think of your diptych as one drawing (not two separate drawings that are going to be hung together).
IMPORTANT: You must cut your paper BEFORE you begin your drawing. If you cut it afterward, it will simply be considered a drawing cut into two pieces rather than a true diptych.
Materials: You may use any of the drawing materials we have used so far this semester.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Homework Assignment #10, due Monday, Nov. 28
This week your homework assignment is to come up with an idea for your final project, which will be due on Monday, December 19th (our last day of class this semester) and to write (type) a brief idea proposal accompanied by a series of sketches in your notebook. I will look at both the proposal and the sketches during class next week, and will be available for discussion for anyone who would like help developing his or her idea. Please go over the guidelines below, and feel free to e-mail me with whatever questions you may have.
Note: You will have a full two weeks to complete your final drawing, not including this initial idea phase.
FINAL PROJECT GUIDELINES:
The general theme of the end-of-semester project is the self-portrait, but you are encouraged to come up with an approach to the theme that is creative and original. Below are some suggestions. Whether you choose something from this list or come up with another idea, you must run your project by me for approval before getting started.
General requirements: All final projects should be on large paper measuring approximately 30” x 40.” Other than this general size requirement, the kind of paper you use is entirely up to you. In choosing a paper, you should give great consideration to qualities such as color, texture, and edges, as these will contribute to the overall quality of your drawing. You may use any of the drawing materials we have used so far for this project. Plan to spend between 25 and 30 hours on this drawing (DO NOT, therefore, wait until the day before class to begin!). The grade you receive for this drawing will greatly contribute to your grade for the semester.
New York Central Art Supply has an excellent selection of drawing papers. The store is located at 62 3rd Avenue (between E.10th and E.11th Sts.). Phone number: (212) 473-7705.
Suggested approaches to your self-portrait:
1. Place yourself inside your favorite image: Select a famous painting, drawing, or photograph that means a lot to you and draw the image with you in it. Begin by taking several photographs of yourself and experimenting with how you want to insert yourself into the image (I recommend making plenty of photocopies of both your photographs and your selected image and using collage techniques to experiment with composition, scaling, etc.). Remember that you needn’t copy the original painting/drawing/photograph exactly; feel free to select, omit, distort, etc. The idea is to use the original piece as a point of departure for a new piece that is uniquely your own. If you change the image significantly, be sure to leave just enough key characteristics intact so that the viewer will be able to recognize the original in your piece).
2. Altered identity: Draw yourself as a historical figure or fictional character. Choose a figure or character whose image is well-documented (in other words, don’t work from what you imagine the character to look like but rather from actual source material). Collect images of your chosen person from books, magazines, newspapers, etc. and base your drawing on these images. Work also from photographs of yourself.
3. Self as object: Transform yourself into an inanimate object. Choose an object that has some special significance to you so that your becoming this object will make a meaningful statement about you as a person. Work from various photographs of your object and you. You may want to draw the transformation as a sequence of phases, in which case you can use four or five separate sheets of paper whose total dimensions will be approximately 30”x 50.”
4. Give yourself the tattoo you’ve always wanted: Draw yourself with the tattoo of your choice. The tattoo can be a famous painting, your favorite poem, a sequence of numbers, a pattern – anything! Work with a variety of source images in addition to several photographs of yourself. Be creative in selecting a site for your tattoo; since it’s not a real tattoo, you can place it somewhere unusual to create a surprising and dynamic image.
Note: You will have a full two weeks to complete your final drawing, not including this initial idea phase.
FINAL PROJECT GUIDELINES:
The general theme of the end-of-semester project is the self-portrait, but you are encouraged to come up with an approach to the theme that is creative and original. Below are some suggestions. Whether you choose something from this list or come up with another idea, you must run your project by me for approval before getting started.
General requirements: All final projects should be on large paper measuring approximately 30” x 40.” Other than this general size requirement, the kind of paper you use is entirely up to you. In choosing a paper, you should give great consideration to qualities such as color, texture, and edges, as these will contribute to the overall quality of your drawing. You may use any of the drawing materials we have used so far for this project. Plan to spend between 25 and 30 hours on this drawing (DO NOT, therefore, wait until the day before class to begin!). The grade you receive for this drawing will greatly contribute to your grade for the semester.
New York Central Art Supply has an excellent selection of drawing papers. The store is located at 62 3rd Avenue (between E.10th and E.11th Sts.). Phone number: (212) 473-7705.
Suggested approaches to your self-portrait:
1. Place yourself inside your favorite image: Select a famous painting, drawing, or photograph that means a lot to you and draw the image with you in it. Begin by taking several photographs of yourself and experimenting with how you want to insert yourself into the image (I recommend making plenty of photocopies of both your photographs and your selected image and using collage techniques to experiment with composition, scaling, etc.). Remember that you needn’t copy the original painting/drawing/photograph exactly; feel free to select, omit, distort, etc. The idea is to use the original piece as a point of departure for a new piece that is uniquely your own. If you change the image significantly, be sure to leave just enough key characteristics intact so that the viewer will be able to recognize the original in your piece).
2. Altered identity: Draw yourself as a historical figure or fictional character. Choose a figure or character whose image is well-documented (in other words, don’t work from what you imagine the character to look like but rather from actual source material). Collect images of your chosen person from books, magazines, newspapers, etc. and base your drawing on these images. Work also from photographs of yourself.
3. Self as object: Transform yourself into an inanimate object. Choose an object that has some special significance to you so that your becoming this object will make a meaningful statement about you as a person. Work from various photographs of your object and you. You may want to draw the transformation as a sequence of phases, in which case you can use four or five separate sheets of paper whose total dimensions will be approximately 30”x 50.”
4. Give yourself the tattoo you’ve always wanted: Draw yourself with the tattoo of your choice. The tattoo can be a famous painting, your favorite poem, a sequence of numbers, a pattern – anything! Work with a variety of source images in addition to several photographs of yourself. Be creative in selecting a site for your tattoo; since it’s not a real tattoo, you can place it somewhere unusual to create a surprising and dynamic image.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Homework Assignment #9, due Monday, Nov. 21
EXPRESSIVE HANDS:
In keeping with the anatomical studies we began in class, this week’s assignment is to make a drawing of hands (at least four) arranged on a page in an interesting and meaningful way. Begin from observation, using your own hand (the one you’re not using for drawing) to enact a sequence of gestures. These gestures can be anything from formal poses to recognizable signals (including those used in sign language). The idea is to arrange the drawn hands on your paper in such a way that the drawing communicates something, however subtle it may be. (It may be as subtle and abstract as a sense of disappointment, for example, or the suggestion of a mountain range in China.) As you did in class, concentrate on seeing the skin as "drapery" that wraps around the underlying skeletal, muscular, and vascular systems, revealing something of their structure
Please note: All your drawings beyond this point should transcend the level of academic study. Use your skills not merely to prove that you have them but to say something! Make the viewer want to keep coming back to your drawing. Among numerous other attributes that tend to keep the viewer coming back are: beauty, ambiguity, intrigue, an element of surprise, the grotesque, the fanciful…
Materials: Conte crayon (black and white) and sketch vellum.
In keeping with the anatomical studies we began in class, this week’s assignment is to make a drawing of hands (at least four) arranged on a page in an interesting and meaningful way. Begin from observation, using your own hand (the one you’re not using for drawing) to enact a sequence of gestures. These gestures can be anything from formal poses to recognizable signals (including those used in sign language). The idea is to arrange the drawn hands on your paper in such a way that the drawing communicates something, however subtle it may be. (It may be as subtle and abstract as a sense of disappointment, for example, or the suggestion of a mountain range in China.) As you did in class, concentrate on seeing the skin as "drapery" that wraps around the underlying skeletal, muscular, and vascular systems, revealing something of their structure
Please note: All your drawings beyond this point should transcend the level of academic study. Use your skills not merely to prove that you have them but to say something! Make the viewer want to keep coming back to your drawing. Among numerous other attributes that tend to keep the viewer coming back are: beauty, ambiguity, intrigue, an element of surprise, the grotesque, the fanciful…
Materials: Conte crayon (black and white) and sketch vellum.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Alberto Giacometti
(For this week's homework assignment see post below.)
Dear class,
Since a number of you were absent today, I wanted to post some of the images we looked at in class for the benefit of those who weren't with us.
We looked at two artists: Alberto Giacometti (Swiss) and R.B. Kitaj (American). I was unable to find images of Kitaj's scribble drawings online, but I encourage you to look for them elsewhere. Here are some of Giacometti's signature scribble drawings:
Dear class,
Since a number of you were absent today, I wanted to post some of the images we looked at in class for the benefit of those who weren't with us.
We looked at two artists: Alberto Giacometti (Swiss) and R.B. Kitaj (American). I was unable to find images of Kitaj's scribble drawings online, but I encourage you to look for them elsewhere. Here are some of Giacometti's signature scribble drawings:
Homework Assignment #8, due Monday, Nov. 14
EXPLORING THE SCRIBBLE:
The purpose of this assignment is to gain further experience in modeling the human form using line only while exploring the emotional possibilities inherent in the loose and linear approach to drawing. In the loose, “scribble” style of Giacometti and Kitaj, make a self-portrait of your head and shoulders. Work from a mirror (no photographs!), and concentrate on using your scribbled marks to suggest both the solidity of your form and something of the emotional range you experience while drawing.
Materials: Use a new (i.e., fully loaded with ink) ballpoint pen, and continue drawing until all the ink is gone. Draw on your usual paper (the sketch vellum), but remember that you don’t have to fill up the entire page. Use your marks to activate the space of the rectangle in an interesting way.
References: For further information on the artists we saw in class, you can do some research online:
Alberto Giacometti (Swiss, 1901-1966)
R.B. Kitaj (American, 1936-2007)
The purpose of this assignment is to gain further experience in modeling the human form using line only while exploring the emotional possibilities inherent in the loose and linear approach to drawing. In the loose, “scribble” style of Giacometti and Kitaj, make a self-portrait of your head and shoulders. Work from a mirror (no photographs!), and concentrate on using your scribbled marks to suggest both the solidity of your form and something of the emotional range you experience while drawing.
Materials: Use a new (i.e., fully loaded with ink) ballpoint pen, and continue drawing until all the ink is gone. Draw on your usual paper (the sketch vellum), but remember that you don’t have to fill up the entire page. Use your marks to activate the space of the rectangle in an interesting way.
References: For further information on the artists we saw in class, you can do some research online:
Alberto Giacometti (Swiss, 1901-1966)
R.B. Kitaj (American, 1936-2007)
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