Dear class,
Here are the guidelines for your final drawing project, which will be due on Monday, April 30th (our last day of class). Following the guidelines are some samples of previous students' work.
SCROLL DRAWING:
For this project you will be creating a “scroll” (or a drawing with dimensions that suggest a scroll) that is a visual interpretation of either a piece of music or a literary work of fiction. Beginning with a piece of music or a book that holds some personal significance to you — and preferably one that you’ve listened to or read again and again so that you’re intimately familiar with its nuances — the challenge will be to translate the invisible into visual form without relying on representational imagery. In other words, the idea is not to illustrate a narrative but rather to convey through the language of abstract form the essence of a non-visual work of art.
On the scroll format:
The scroll format is important for several reasons. First, because it is long and narrow, it requires that the viewer “read” it from one end to another as he/she would a piece of writing. This is a nice way to incorporate the element of time into a drawing (and time is the “medium” through which music and fiction move). As the viewer scans your piece, the development of the music or narrative and its temporal changes will be evident. Second, when oriented horizontally, the elongated format strongly suggests a bar of musical notation (as in a score). By the format alone you will already be suggesting time (or temporal succession).
The aspect ratio of the format will be 1:8. I will be providing each of you with a piece of 10” x 80” sketch vellum the week before the project deadline. If you’d like to use a paper or surface other than the one provided but with the same dimensions, you may do so.
You may choose either the horizontal or the vertical orientation for your scroll. Be sure to give this some thought, since the different orientations read very differently.
Selecting your piece of music or literature:
Because the idea is not to rely on representational imagery to illustrate a story, it is suggested that if you are working with music you select a piece without lyrics. However, if you decide to use a song with lyrics you’ll have to make an effort to stay focused on the formal and emotional content of the music rather than on its narrative content. Working from a piece of literature will make this challenge slightly greater and will require that you stay focused on the “shape” of the narrative and on representing your characters with abstract forms.
Analyzing your selected piece:
After selecting your piece of music or literature, the next step will be to analyze it (literally: to break it apart) by separating its different components conceptually. Drawing/sketching is an excellent way of figuring things out conceptually.
a. Instruments or characters: If working with music, your first step will be to figure out what kinds of instruments are being used to make the different sounds and to make a series of sketches exploring different kinds of marks to convey each sound. If working with fiction, your first step will be to come up with a “cast” of abstract forms to represent your major characters.
b. Overall structure: Next, you’ll want to make a sketch or diagram that breaks the piece down into its various “movements.” For example, it might start off slow and calm, then progress into something loud and dramatic, then return to slow and calm (three movements). In fiction, this overall structure is generally referred to as the “arc of the narrative.”
c. Emotional range: Finally, you’ll want to think about what kinds of emotions your piece evokes and come up with a palette that accurately reflects them.
Choosing your materials:
You may use any drawing materials (including ink washes and other watery media) for this project. However, restraint is advised! More than anything else, you will want your drawing to be a coherent piece of visual art that can stand alone (i.e. without the music or story that inspired it).
Presentation:
For our final class of the semester we will be doing an all-day critique of your scrolls. At the beginning of your presentation you will have the option of either playing a few minutes of your piece of music or briefly summarizing your book.
Some samples of student work from past years (in the following order: Alan Tung, Jessie Tsai, Darragh Rosenberg, Kanae Hatanyama, Yasmin Malki, Inkyung Park, and Alexi Burns) (Click on images to enlarge):
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