10/31/11 2D Design

Today's Class- Today we officially started working on the woodcut black and white book illustration project. I distributed pieces of wood to everyone present. We took a tour of the printmaking studio down the hall, and I gave a demonstration of safe and effective ways to cut the block with the x-acto knives that everyone has. Most of the day was spent working on the compositional designs, first on paper, then on the wood. Most students started cutting the blocks by the end of the day.

How to make this up- You can't start drawing on the block until you get one, but until then you can start working on your idea. The blocks are about 8" x 6". Work up design ideas (can be vertical or horizontal) on paper for a black and white composition. I suggest that you complete your best design in black marker, to get a good sense of how it will look when printed in black ink. Above are some recent student examples of the project. For additional examples and specifics regarding the assignment can be found here.

Homework- The completed wood block graded project is due at the beginning of class on November 14, 2011. On that day I will help everyone print their woodcuts during class while people are working on another project.

For next class 11/7/11- We will begin our study of color. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, pencil and eraser, acrylic paints (red/yellow/blue/black/white), brushes, palette, palette knife, and water container.

10/26/11 Drawing I

Today's Class- Today we did two things- the final charcoal drawing of the semester, and the first half of the semester portfolios were graded and returned. The charcoal drawing were collected and will be returned graded next week.

How to make this up- Set up a still life. Put a medium size box on a table, with a smaller box on the table in front of it. Drape both boxes with a white or light colored cloth. Arrange 4 objects of similar size on and around the the two boxes- two white or very light colored, two darker colored. Shine a direct light source on it to create strong patterns of light and shadow. Draw the still life on a sheet of your 18" x 24" paper using the charcoal of your choice (vine or compressed), paying attention to our usual concerns of the shapes of objects, proportions of objects, spacing, perspective, and matching the values of objects and drapery as closely as possible. Spend up to 5 hours working on it if you need to. This is a graded project and must be completed as soon as possible.

If you haven't had your 1st half portfolio graded yet, bring it in as soon as possible.

Homework- Find a pumpkin, either whole or carved as a jack-o'lantern. Draw three different views of the pumpkin, one per page in your sketchbook, using your softest pencil, paying attention to the specific values of the parts of the pumpkin, any attached or cast shadows, and if it's carved, either the dark or light within.

For next class 11/2/11- We will begin our study of value drawing using ink wash. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, black drawing ink, watercolor brushes, water containers (cups, cans, etc), and pencil and eraser.

10/24/11 2D Design

Today's Class- Today we spent most of the class working on our third graded project of the semester, our last charcoal value drawing. The last hour of the class was spent looking at slides of the history of printmaking (including some contemporary work) and student examples of the woodcut project that we will start next week.

How to make this up- For the charcoal drawing, you will have to set up a still life grouping similar to those from last week, except this time there will be some darker colored objects in the mix, as in the above examples. You may use your choice of vine or compressed charcoal. After showing the printmaking slides, I discussed the nature of next week's project and how to prepare for it. Information about the print project and full details for the charcoal drawing can be found here.

The charcoal drawing is a graded project and must be completed and turned in as soon as possible to avoid losing too many points.

Homework- No new drawing is required, however I suggest that you come up with a literary source for your illustration project next week, and bring it with you if possible. If you find yourself inspired, feel free to start thinking about image ideas for the print. Anyone who still owes any back work would be advised to work on it this week, as there will likely be homework every week beginning with next class.

For next class 10/31/11- Bring some paper for sketching (can be your 18" x 24" pad or a smaller sketchbook), pencil and eraser, black markers, and x-acto knife. I will distribute wood and demonstrate how to cut a block, and everyone will work on their illustration projects.

10/19/11 Drawing I

Today's Class- Today we continued our study of value drawing with charcoal, using both vine and compressed. What was different today was that we added into the still life some objects and drapery that were not white, so that we had to deal with the local color values in addition to the effect of light and shadow.

How to make this up- Set up a still life grouping. Place a box on a table, and drape with one white or light colored cloth, and one dark colored cloth, arranged so that parts of both are visible. Find four objects of similar size, two of which are white or very light colored, two of which are a solid color (medium or dark). Use a direct light source to light the set up. Then do the following drawings on your 18" x 24" paper, paying attention to shapes, proportions, spacing, and value of the objects:

1) Vine Charcoal- Arrange the two white objects and one dark object on and around the draped box, and draw the set up using vine charcoal. Unlike last week, do not fill the page with charcoal first, but instead draw with the charcoal on white paper. In class students spent about 90 minutes on it. Make sure to spray it with fixative when you are done.

2) Compressed Charcoal- Replace one of the white objects with the other dark object, rearrange the three objects, and draw again, this time using your compressed charcoal. Students in class spent about two hours working on it.

These are portfolio exercises that must be made up by October 26th (next week) to receive credit.

Homework- Put a box on a table, drape with a patterned cloth (stripes, checks, etc), and shine on it a direct light source to create strong light and shadow patterns. Arrange on and around the box two white or light colored objects, and two solidly dark colored objects. Draw the set up in your sketchbook using a soft pencil (6B or 4B), matching the light and shadow. Rearrange the objects and draw it again. Do a total of 2 sketches of the still life, one per page.

********Midterm Portfolio Collection**********

The midterm portfolio (all drawings done in class except the graded pencil line still life) for this class will be graded during class time on Wednesday, October 26th. If you have not missed any classes and did all the drawings we did in class each day, you're all set. If you missed any classes, the following list covers what I expect to see, and the dates that each can be found on this blog. All September exercises are in pencil, the October drawings are charcoal.

9/14/11- Contour line exercises (shoes and hands)

9/21/11- Reductive line drawing (bamboo)

-Contour line drawing (bamboo)

-Negative space drawing of chair

-Still life group of bottles

9/28/11- Two point perspective (room corner)

-Still life of boxes and cans

10/12/11- Value studies of all white objects (vine and compressed)

10/19/11- Value studies of mixed value objects (vine and compressed)

For next class 10/26/11- We will do our final charcoal drawing of the semester. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, your charcoal of choice, appropriate erasers for the charcoal, and spray fixative. Also bring the midterm portfolio art.

10/17/11 2D Design

Today's Class- Today we started our study of charcoal value drawing. We started by looking at some slides of art from the classical period to the present, observing how artists have used value (light and dark) to suggest volume, space, location, and time of day in two dimensional artworks. After that the class worked from a still life, doing two charcoal drawings.

How to make this up- You will need to set up a still life of white or light colored objects, light it with a direct light source to create light and shadow patterns, and draw it with each type of charcoal. Full details of the assignment and additional student examples can be found here. These are portfolio exercises that must be made up by the end of the semester for credit, however I recommend doing them before next week for practice, especially if you've never worked with charcoal before.

Homework- Nothing new, but if anyone still owes their stipple drawing or pencil line still life, they should try to get them in as soon as possible to avoid losing too many points.

For next class 10/24/11- We will continue charcoal drawing, doing our next graded project, and then discuss the next medium we'll try after that- the woodcut print. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, charcoal of choice (vine or compressed), erasers, and spray fixative.

10/12/11 Drawing 1

Today's Class- Today we began our study of value in drawing. We looked at about 40 slides of historical art (classical through the present), seeing how artists have used value (light and dark) to build form, and imply volume and space in a 2D artwork. Then I set up a still life with simple white painted objects and a direct light source to create patterns of light and shadow. The class did two drawings of it, using different types of charcoal and approaches. With all value drawing, the goal should be to eliminate contour lines from the final drawing, in favor of edges (hard or soft) of shapes. Dark and light are relative terms, with any given shape being lighter or darker than the shapes that surround it.

How to make this up- Set up a still life like the one we used today. Put a box on a table and loosely drape it with a white or light colored cloth. Find three white or very light colored objects and arrange on and around the box. Shine a direct light source (such as a desk lamp) on the still life to create strong light and shadow patterns. Then do the following drawings in your 18" x 24" pad. As we've done in the past, pay attention to the shapes and proportions of individual objects, the proportion of one object to another, the spacing and perspective of objects, but now also add the specific values (shading) of the objects. Rearrange the objects between drawings.

1) Reductive Drawing with Vine Charcoal

Use a piece of the vine charcoal to completely coat a sheet of your paper. Blend it to achieve a consistent tone, as dark as you can. Then use your kneaded eraser to do the drawing, erasing out the light shapes in the composition. If you erase too much or need to change the location of an object, just use the charcoal to darken the area again and continue the drawing. Students spent about 1 hour working on it. When finished use spray fixative (preferably outdoors) to keep the charcoal from coming off the finished drawing.

2) Compressed Charcoal Value Drawing
On a new sheet of your 18" x 24" paper, draw the set up using a piece of compressed charcoal on the blank white paper. (do not fill the page with charcoal like the previous one, as compressed charcoal does not easily erase) You may use a piece of vine charcoal to sketch out the basic shapes, but use the compressed stick to complete the drawing and for all the shading. Compressed charcoal sticks to the paper better than vine, which means you can spend more time adjusting the values of specific parts of the drawing, but it is much more difficult to erase. An eraser will lighten it, but you'll never get that area white again. Spend up to two hours working on the drawing. Using spray fixative on a compressed charcoal drawing is not as vital, but it is recommended.

These drawings are portfolio exercises that must be made up by the midterm portfolio grading on October 26th to receive credit, but I recommend doing it before next week for practice, especially if you have little or no experience with charcoal.

Homework- Set up a small still life like the one we used today. Put a box on a table, drape with a white or light colored cloth, and arrange 3 similar sized white or light color objects on and around the box. Light with a direct light source to create strong light and shadow patterns. Draw the set up in your sketchbook using your softest pencil (6B works well, but 4B will do), paying attention to all the previous concerns, but now also matching the values in the still life. Rearrange the objects two times, drawing the results each time, for a total of 3 drawings of the still life grouping.

For next class 10/19/11- Bring your 18" x 24" pad, both vine and compressed charcoal, kneaded eraser, and spray fixative. We will continue our study of value drawing with charcoal.

10/5/11 Drawing I

Today's Class- Today the class did the first graded project of the semester, a still life drawing of a variety of objects, similar to the student drawing above.

How to make this up- You will need to set up a still life grouping of your own. Specific instructions can be found here. The class was given the whole period to work on it, so you may spend up to 5 hours on it if you want. This is a graded project, so complete it as soon as possible- the more weeks that it's late, the fewer points you will receive.

Homework- Place a small box on a table, and loosely drape with a cloth (towel, sheet, etc) in a way similar to the still life groupings done today. Choose 3 different types of objects of similar size, put one on top of the box and the others around or in front of it. Draw the set up using pencil- line only, no shading. Use the whole page in your sketchbook. Rearrange the objects (swap the one on top for one of the others) and draw again. Rearrange with the 3rd object on top and draw one more time. Total of 3 drawings, each with the three objects.

For next class 10/12/11- We will start our study of value in drawing, working with charcoal. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, both vine and compressed charcoal, kneaded eraser, and spray fixative. Charcoal is very messy, so I suggest not wearing any light colored clothing.

10/3/11 2D Design

Today's Class- We began the class with a critique of the stipple drawings that were due today. Those drawings were also graded and returned. Most of the class period was spent working on our second graded project of the semester, a pencil line still life of assorted objects.

How to make this up- The full instructions for this assignment can be found here. This is a graded assignment and must be made up as quickly as possible.

Homework- Nothing new, but anyone who needs to make up today's assignment or still owes the stipple drawing should bring them as soon as possible. The longer the delay in turning them in, the lower the resulting grade will be.

********No Class on October 10, 2011*********

************Columbus Day Holiday*************

For next class 10/17/11- We will start our study of value. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, both vine and compressed charcoal, kneaded eraser, and spray fixative. I advise wearing dark colors, as charcoal is messy.