How to make this up- For the charcoal drawing, set up a still life. Put a box on a table, drape with both a white or light colored cloth and a dark colored cloth, then arrange 4 objects (2 white, 2 colored) on and around the box. Shine a direct light on the set up to create patterns of light and shadow. Draw on a sheet of 18"x 24" paper, paying attention to shapes, sizes, and spacing of the objects, as well as the value of individual objects and drapery. Above are a student examples. Spend up to 4 hours on it, using your choice of compressed or vine charcoal. This is a graded project, so the more weeks it is late, the more points will be deducted.
Woodcut Project
The next graded project will be a book illustration in the form of a woodcut print. Today students were shown examples of prints from history, and examples of this project from previous students (see above and below). Each student needs to choose a book for which they will create an illustration. It can be fiction (novel, short story), non-fiction (history, biography), poetry, but no fairy tales, children's stories, young adult books, comic books, or other fully illustrated writing. The illustration can be of a specific scene from your book, or something that sums up the entire book. Your resulting image must be representational, but doesn't have to be realistic, as the examples demonstrate. The project will be graded based on how well it portrays the narrative from the book and for creating an interesting composition in black and white. Wood will be distributed to the class next week, and after a discussion of two dimensional composition, the rest of the class meeting will be devoted to working on your block.
