Today's Class- Today's topic was rhythm. Most of us are familiar with how it relates to sound, but it also relates to the visual, and how it is used can have a big effect on an artwork or on how we interpret it. We looked at a few dozen examples from the history of art, such as the ordered serenity of Raphael, Bosch's varied views of the afterlife, the aggressive marks of Van Gogh, the repetitive shapes of Hokusai, and the interesting surface textures of Klimt.
After that, the class did a portfolio exercise related to rhythm in art, and I discussed deadlines on the papers and next week's project.
How to make this up- To make the concept of visual rhythm more accessible, the assignment was to paint abstract compositions based on musics being played in class. Five sequences were played, each about 15 minutes, five very different styles of music with five very different rhythms. The idea was to react to the music and paint what the music made you feel. Below are some student examples from previous semesters.
This is a portfolio exercise and can be made up any time before the end of the semester for full credit. More examples, and a list of the actual music we listened to, and alternatives you can try if you can't find those, can be found here.
Homework- I reminded the students that the first papers are due on November 10, 2017, just two weeks away. The originally assigned deadlines were November 10 for the museum assignment and December for the art history assignment, but some students asked if we could switch them. I told them they could have that option as long as I got one of the by the 10th, as the school is pushing for evaluations of specified students in a few weeks, and otherwise all I have to work with is attendance, since the graded art projects are later in the semester.
For next class 11/3/17- Next week we start a two part multi-week project related to printmaking. This will be using a variety of the specific print style of collagraph, which is collaging materials in order to make a printing plate. Below are some examples from previous semesters:
Each photo shows both the plate and print it produced, which will be made by rolling black relief printing ink onto the plate and printing it onto paper from your pad. The plates were made from cardboard and scraps of fabric or other found materials. The colors of the textured source material do not affect colors in the print- we'll be using black ink, although students have the option of adding color to the prints after the ink dries, using watercolor or pastels. Note that the process creates a mirror image, so any text will need to be made backwards if you want to print forwards.
I will provide cardboard (broad sides of cereal or cracker boxes), and scraps of fabric with various textures, and when we print in a few weeks, ink and printing tools. Students have the option of bringing in materials of their own, or adding them to the plates later, as we won't print these for a few weeks. Glued items should be relatively flat- things you don't mind cutting up. Interesting textures are enjoyable. Things that are fragile should be protected with some kind of varnish before printing. (cotton balls, which seem like they would be interesting, should be avoided- they tend to stick to the sticky ink on the roller) I recommend white glue for this process over glue sticks or rubber cement. You don't need the large pads next week, as we won't be printing yet. Do bring scissors or something else to cut with, and glue.
