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Today's Class- Today we continued work on the comic strip projects that were begun during our last class meeting before Thanksgiving. While the class was working on that, I helped all the prepared students to print their collagraphs. We also took time to fill out the semester evaluation forms, and to look at a few more student photos from that assignment.
How to make this up- Printing your collagraph plates requires tools and materials that I have and you likely don't, so the simplest thing is for you to bring your completed plate to class next week. I'll collect them, print them in my home studio, and return them the following week. Examples of plates and the prints made from them can be seen above and below. You may keep or dispose of the plate used to make the print, but the print made from it must be saved for the final portfolio grading. Many students tape or glue the print to a blank page in their pad. It is not required, but you do have the option of adding color to the finished print. If the shapes in the composition aren't clear in the printed image, color can clarify the subject. This can be done with transparent washes of watercolor (as in the above example) or with thin layers of pastels that allow the ink textures to still show through.
As for the comic strip project, if you need a reminder of the specific requirements, or want to see student examples from a previous semester, you can find it on the blog post for our class on November 14th.
Homework- The graded autobiographical comic strip project is due at the beginning of class on December 5, 2012. We will look at them as a group and have a critique.
The museum assignment is due by the last day of class, December 19, 2012, though I encourage you to complete it and turn it in sooner. If I see it before the last day, I can let you know if you revise it to improve your grade.
For next class 12/5/12- We will critique the comic strip projects and start our final project of the semester, the 3D graded project. We will begin with developing and sketching the ideas, so you only need your 18" x 24" pad, pencil and eraser. We may also visit the faculty exhibition down the hall.
Today's Class- After a few weeks of dealing with color in a theoretical sense, today we explored a more traditional and practical use, a color still life. I showed a few slides of still life painting from the renaissance to the present, discussing the purposes and meanings of still life in different eras. Then I set up a still life of colorful objects and had the class paint it as a portfolio exercise. We also found time to fill out the semester course evaluation forms and to critique the color season temperature collages.
How to make this up- Set up a still life. In a well lit room, place a small box on a table and drape with a multicolored cloth. Arrange on and around the box 4 solidly colored objects, each a different color from each other and the cloth. Paint the still life, paying attention to the size and shapes of the objects, relative spacing, value, and now also matching the colors. You may sketch the set up with pencil first, or if you prefer, just paint it directly with your brushes. Spend 3 to 4 hours working on it. Above and below are examples from previous semesters.
This is a portfolio exercise, and must be made up by the end of the semester to receive full credit.
Homework- Nothing new, but the limited palettes project that we began last week is due on December 10, 2012.
If you haven't yet turned in such back assignments as the woodcut or the season temperature assignment, complete them as soon as possible to receive partial credit.
The written museum assignment is due by the last day of class, December 17, 2012, but it can be turned in sooner.
For next class 12/3/12- We will start the final project of the semester. It will involve creating a two dimensional artwork based on the work of a historical fine artist. The artist should be from the 20th century or earlier, must work in two dimensions (painting, drawing, prints) and the work must have narrative (no completely abstract work). The piece will involve painting on mat board (the heavy smooth cardboard used in framing) or similar material. A piece between 16" x 20" and 18" x 24" will be fine. Bring that, images of work by your artist of choice, pencil and eraser and all your painting related materials.
Today's Class- As you know, we had no class meeting today. The university scheduled 16 weeks of Wednesdays this semester for a 15 week class, and today was the one we skipped, which probably made everyone's life a lot easier today.
Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and break.
We'll be back in class on November 28, 2012. For a reminder of what we'll be doing and what you'll need to bring to class, check out the posting for this class from November 14th.
Today's Class- Today we began a new graded project that deals with the idea of color schemes, particularly limited palettes. Sometimes artists will base representational paintings on attempting to match local colors as closely as possible, but other times they will choose to invent colors. In the latter case, the simplest approach may be working with a limited palette in which the colors have an established relationship, which results in a painting with colors in harmony. For this new project, students started with a black and white photograph, using its composition and value structure as a basis for a series of color studies.
How to make this up- You need to select a black and white photograph of a real object or scene, with a wide range of value (light to dark). Take a sheet of your 18" x 24" paper, and use pencil to divide it into four equal sized boxes. Draw the basic composition of the photo in all four boxes, just enough detail so that you will know where the colors will go. Then use your acrylic paints to reproduce the image in each box based on the value in photo, but with color choices and values that fit within the parameters of some established palette strategies. Above is a student example from a previous semester. Additional examples and all the specific information about the color palettes can be found here.
Homework- This limited palettes graded project is due at the beginning of class on December 10, 2012.
The color temperature graded project that we started last week is due at the beginning of class on November 26, 2012.
Anyone who did not have their woodblock printed today should finish it as soon as possible to receive partial credit. Below are the prints that were done in class today.
For next class 11/26/12- We will continue our study of color with a more traditional approach to color, a portfolio exercise in color still life painting. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, pencil and eraser, and all your painting related materials, as well as your completed color temperature projects.
Today's Class- Today we took care of a bunch of things. We started the first graded project of the semester, a 2D project involving narrative. We looked at a few dozen slides of art that was created to tell stories, from the ancient world through contemporary. We also looked at slide examples of work that each student wrote about for their research papers, and discussed some of the things that were learned about in their research. The graded papers were returned. The last half hour of class we looked at some of the photos that students took as part of the photography assignment, seeing some of the interesting ways everyone met the challenges of each part. I also went over some of the schedule changes for the semester to make up for class lost to Hurricane Sandy.
How to make this up- The new project is a personal narrative in the format of a comic strip that uses symbolic characters to enhance the story. You will tell a true story from your past. It can be something of major or minor importance, happy or sad, something that took place over multiple years or in just a few minutes. The story will be told in 12 panels, spread over two pages of your 18" x 24" paper. The panels can be all the same size, or vary to suit the needs of the story. The pages can be vertical or horizontal, but it should be the same for both pages. The characters chosen to represent you and other people in the story should have a relationship to the theme of the story, or be personal symbols important to you and the people in the story. The symbols can be personified (faces, arms and legs) to whatever extent you like.
You can sketch out the story in pencil first, but it must be colored in using pastels. You may use a pen or marker for things like dialog or captions, but pastels for the color. (I'll demonstrate use of them early next class) The pages should have full color everywhere, though you may use white where it makes sense to represent objects (white clouds, etc) and you don't need to color in dialog balloons. Consider how to use a variety of color, and mixing in a variety of viewpoints, like close up, medium, and distant (as in the photos of buildings and people from different distances).
With everything else we had to take care of today, we didn't get much past discussion of the problem today, but we'll have almost all of the next class meeting to work on it, and you'll have another week after that before it will be due. I recommend that before our next meeting that you select a story, work out how you'll tell the story in 12 panels, and sketch some potential characters. That way, you can use more of the class time to work on the project. Above and below are examples of this project from previous semesters. More examples (including some pages from the Maus graphic novel that inspired this) and additional details about the project, including the use of symbolism in the characters, can be found here.
Homework- The completed comic book project will be due at the beginning of class on December 5, 2012. On that day we will look at them as group and have a brief critique.
The collograph project begun last week will be continued next class, so if you have not yet made a collagraph plate, you must make yours before our next class meeting on November 28, 2012.
The museum assignment is due by the last day of class, December 19, 2012. Don't wait too long to make your museum visit.
*****Thanksgiving Break November 22-25th*****
****No class meeting for us on Wed Nov 21st****
For next class 11/28/12- I will help students individually print their collagraph plates while everyone is continuing work on the comic strip project. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, pencil and eraser, pastels, and completed collagraph plate.
Today's Class- We finally returned from our long hurricane related break, and got to start our study of color. First I discussed some of the scheduled changes that have resulted from the lost days. Then I showed a selection of slides, from prehistoric through comic books, discussing the evolution of color technology and materials, as well as the ways color was used artistically. The rest of the morning was spent doing two exercises related to basic color theory and mixing. In the afternoon we looked at a few more slides to introduce a new graded project on the topic of color temperature.
How to make this up- The two color mixing exercises are the creation of a color wheel and set of color mixes between complement pairs, examples of which are shown above. The color wheel requires students to mix all colors from the three primary colors, including the three secondaries and the six tertiaries. The complement mix involves choosing a pair of complementary colors (red/green or blue/orange) and mixing from one the other to create neutrals. More examples and the full instructions can be found here. (you may skip the third exercise on Tints and Shades, which we dropped as part of our post-Sandy schedule adjustment) These are portfolio exercises that must be made up by the end of the semester to receive full credit.
The new graded project is about color temperature, the idea that colors are perceived to have warm or cool qualities. Artists will use these qualities to various effects in 2D art. What we did was begin the process of making two collages of color, each meant to represent a different season of the year based on the temperature of the colors within. Below are two examples from a previous semester. The project requires the creation of 100 unique colors for each season, mixed from all your colors of acrylic paint. The colors will be cut out in pieces no larger than 1 square inch and glued into two 10" square boxes. Additional examples of the project and the full instructions can be found here.
Homework- The color temperature graded project will be due at the beginning of class on November 26, 2012. At that time we will look at them as a group and decide if the seasons are accurately represented.
The cut woodblocks for the book illustrations are due at the beginning of class on November 19, 2012. I'll bring the materials and tools to help everyone print their blocks during class while everyone is working on a new graded project.
For next class 11/19/12- We will start a new graded project related to the concept of limited color palettes, creating paintings with just a small number of chosen colors that fit certain patterns. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, pencil and eraser, all your acrylic paints, brushes, palette, palette knife, and water container. You will also need a black and white photo to be a source for your project. Just as with the dot drawing, the photo should be of a real object, scene, figure, etc and have a wide range of values from light to dark. I'll have a bag of magazines to pick through for those who don't bring a photo of their own.
School is back in session this week, so our 2D Design class will finally return after a two week absence. The plan will be what I referenced last week, but here it is again in more detail.
Homework- The woodcut book illustration project will now be due at the beginning of class on November 19, 2012. On that day, while the class is working on a color related project, I'll help each student print their blocks. If you were not in on the day when I distributed wood and demonstrated cutting, I will be doing that again this week.
For next class 11/12/12- We will finally start our study of color, with an exercise in basic color theory, and we will start a graded color project as well. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, pencil and eraser, all your acrylic paints, brushes, palette, palette knife, and water container. The graded project will also require scissors and glue.
Today's Class- Today we looked at the medium of printmaking, an art form in which images (usually identical copies) are created from a fixed matrix. We looked at slide examples of woodcut, linocut, etching, lithography, monotype, and silkscreen, both historical and contemporary work. After that the class completed the first part in an exercise involving an additional type of printmaking, the collagraph.
How to make this up- All students will need to construct a collagraph plate, which is a printing plate made by attaching various things to a flat surface. (comes from the word "collage") The completed plate will be inked by rolling with black printing ink and printed onto paper. Above are a few examples from a previous semester. For this exercise, we used cardboard as the plate base (about 8" x 10"- the large panel of a cereal box is a good size) and attached cut bits of different kinds of fabrics, but you can use any kind of material you want, natural or manufactured, as long as it is relatively thin (no more than 1/8" thick). The print can be any design you want, as long as it is a recognizable image (person, object, scene, etc) and it must use items with at least 8 different textures. Below is an example of a collagraph plate (top) and the print made from it (bottom). Note that the color of the objects has nothing to do with the printed color, and that the image will print as a reverse (mirror) of the plate design, so if it matters what is on each side, or if you are going to include letters/numbers, they will have to be backwards on the plate. More information and additional examples can be found here.
Homework- The completed collagraph plate is due at the beginning of class on November 28, 2012. I will bring in the materials that day to print the plates.
The photography assignment is now due on November 14, 2012. We'll take time out of the class to look at examples of everyone's photographs.
Those who have not yet turned in the research assignment should complete it as soon as possible to receive partial credit.
For next class 11/14/12- We will begin our first major graded art project of the semester, our 2D (flat) project. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, pencil and eraser, and pastels.
No word as I write this as to whether or not Kean will be open this coming Wednesday, November 7, 2012, which would be our next scheduled class meeting. If the university is open, I expect to be there to hold the class. Here's the current plan.
Homework- The photography assignment will now be due on November 14, 2012.
For next class 11/7/12- We will do the assignment that had been planned for last week, involving the printmaking process collagraph. I will provide cardboard for the plate base, and bring in a variety of scrap materials with different textures that you can cut up and use to create your design. Time is required for them to dry before printing, so we will actually print them on a future week. You are welcome to bring in anything with interesting textures, natural or manufactured, to use in your piece. (nothing too thick, and no cotton balls- rolling the ink will tear them apart) Also bring in scissors to cut up the materials, and white or wood glue, along with pencil and eraser. You do not need your 18" x 24" pad this week.
Things are still pretty rough down in the shore area. (normally we keep boats docked in the water, not on top of the dock itself, as this one was found the next day) I still have neither electricity or internet access at my home, but I'm on today to check on a few things. It has already been announced that Kean classes are cancelled for tomorrow, November 5th, and I don't think they are announcing yet when they expect to resume again.
I'll try to put up a more detailed post when I know more, but for now, on November 12, 2012 my Monday 9:30 am 2D class will again plan to start color with some exercises in basic color theory and mixing. However, because we have now lost two weeks of meetings, we also have to start the next graded project the same day. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, pencil and eraser, all your acrylic paints (red, yellow, blue, black, white), palette, palette knife, brushes, and water container. Also bring scissors and glue (white or rubber cement).
As for the Wednesday 11:00 Intro to Art class, if school is open this week, we will do the planned print project, so bring the same materials you would have this past week. If school is still closed, I'll look at the schedule and let you know what the alternate plan will be.
