Today's class- The first half of class was spent doing the final charcoal still life value drawing, a graded assignment. I set up a still life in the center of the room with a variety of objects, some white, some darker in color. There was drapery, white in the center, a darker color around the edges. The room was darkened, and the overhead spotlights created strong light and shadow over the whole set-up. The assignment in class was to select a view that included a minimum of 4 of the objects, as well as any drapery in between and background value tones. We spent about 3 hours on it, and critiqued them after lunch.
To make this up on your own, set up a still life by laying out two pieces of cloth (sheets, towels)- one light, one dark. On these arrange 4 objects from among these- a vase, a beverage pitcher, a hat, a shoe, a small kitchen appliance (blender, electric mixer, etc), a cooking pot, a roll of paper towels/toilet paper. At least one should be white, at least one should be very dark or black, and at least one should be a middle value. Set up a lamp to provided a direct light, creating strong light and shadow across the whole still life. Draw at a scale that has the view you select fill the page. (like what we used in the contour line still life drawings) You may use either the vine charcoal or the compressed charcoal. Don't forget to consider a background value. Pay attention to the differences between the values of a light object in shadow and a dark object in bright light. Match all values as close as you can. Bring it to class as soon as possible- the longer it takes to get to me, the lower your grade will be.
The second half of class was a review of the history of printmaking with an emphasis on woodcut and relief printing. We looked at slides from the 1400's through the 21st century. I handed out pieces of wood to all the students and demonstrated how to use an x-acto knife to carve the image into the block. The wood is 8"x6". The project is to create an illustration for a book of your choosing. It can be fiction, nonfiction, poetry, essay, etc. Your design should not be a copy of someone else's illustration, or be based on any filmed adaptation of the book. The focus is on design, how you arrange the elements of black and white, not on how well you draw a person, thing, or scene. It has to be representational, but not necessarily realistic. The grade will be mostly determined by your interesting arrangement of black and white. I have included a few examples of actual student woodcuts from last semester, to give you an idea of what can be done.
Homework- The finished carved woodblock is due at the beginning of class on Fri, March 30, at which time I'll help everyone print at least one copy. For those who missed class on 3/9 and don't have wood yet, work on an 8"x6" black and white sketch for your illustration, and show it to me at the next class. I will give you a piece of wood and brief cutting demonstration at the next class.
For next class (3/23/07) We will start working with color. Bring all your painting related materials- acrylic paints, brushes, palette, palette knife, water container, as well as your pad of paper and a pencil.
