12/22/17 Intro to Art

Today's Class- Today was our final meeting of the semester.  The snow held off, and parking wasn't a problem, with the Vaughn-Eames lot empty early in the morning and never more than half full all day.  And we had some of our best attendance of the semester, perhaps driven by the need to turn things in for grading.  The main class activity was looking at the 3D graded projects, plus getting the portfolios reviewed.

How to make this up- All work was due by the end of our class meetings, so if you didn't turn it in today and made no other arrangements, you're out of luck.  Most students turned in their 3D graded projects, with many finding very creative ways to make use of their randomly chosen topic.  Here are just a few examples:

A whole lot of papers came in today as well, both handed in as hard copies or e-mailed to me, far too many for me to evaluate during class time.  I'll start looking them over tomorrow and probably finish shortly after Christmas.  Any papers arriving today will be graded as 'late', but that's better than not at all.  

Most students brought in their large pads so that I could review the semester portfolios, and the exercises were all checked off in my records.  A few late arriving comic strips were also evaluated. 

Homework- As I said above, if you didn't turn it in by today's class, it won't be graded.  I will continue evaluating the papers and after that, start adding up the numbers to determine the final semester grades, which I believe are due sometime in January.  I will turn them over to the university as soon as I have them all figured out.  

If you enjoyed anything that we did, there's no reason you can't try those processes again on your own, and most of you probably have some left over materials to work with.  

Enjoy the break.

12/15/17 Intro to Art

Today's Class- Today was a general work day.  A few students turned in papers, and one even showed her 3D final project, while some worked on portfolio stuff or their 3D projects.  People who missed last week drew words for their 3D subjects. We saw the last slides of the semester, a very brief overview of three dimensional art through history.  People left early from both classes, which was probably a good idea in the afternoon, when the snow showed up shortly after the last student left.  That I'm writing this is a sign that I made it home, but that happened just barely.  Long range forecasts for next Friday are looking better, but we'll see.


How to make this up- Nothing new happened today, so if you have anything to make up it's whatever you needed to make up before class.


Homework- The graded 3D project (randomly chosen subject sculpture) is due at the beginning of class on December 22, 2017.  If you haven't yet picked your words from the hats, you should e-mail me and I'll send you two possibilities to choose from.

Any 2D projects (comic strips) and papers not yet turned in are also due that day, as are the completed portfolios- list of expected work can be found in last week's blog post.


For next class 12/22/17- Our final meeting of the semester. Each student will present their 3D project to the class, and then we'll do all the grading .  Things that have already been graded and returned to you don't need to come back, but you do need to bring in everything part of the class portfolio, the 3D projects, any late papers, etc.  It's also your last chance to turn in any excused absence notes you may have.  No work will be accepted after the official end of class.  At the end of class you'll know the grades for every assignment, but final semester grades will be calculated after the holidays.

12/8/17 Intro to Art

Today's Class- We did some little things today, such as filling out the class evaluation forms, but our main new art was beginning the 3D graded project, our last new thing of the semester.  We finished a little early, but not early enough to avoid the delays associated with the freight train derailment right by the campus.

How to make this up- Each student received a randomly selected phrase with both a subject and modifying phrase, which will form the subject for the last project, a three dimensional representation of that idea.  Each student will create a sculpture that depicts their chosen concept.  Below are some examples from previous semesters, including the phrase that inspired each:

 Appetite for Distraction

 Fallen Merchant

 Impasse Changed

 Planet Gone Wild

 Plowing Through the Nation

Troubled Uprising

Each student picked slips of paper from two hats, one filled with nouns, the other with modifying words or phrases, all the words taken from headlines of book reviews in the New York Times.  The randomly created new phrase will form the subject for your piece.   You may use any process and materials you want to create the sculpture, including making use of ready made objects, although the sculpture itself should be something you designed and made.  The piece may be freestanding, or can be designed to hang on a wall with an open front, as in some examples above.  It must be at least 8" in one dimension, but overall can be any size you want.

The first step is to get your phrase.  If you missed today's class, you can either wait until next week and draw a possibility yourself from the hats, or you can e-mail me sooner and I will pick two possibilities for you, one of which you must work with.  The advantage of having me do it sooner is that you have time to come up with your idea of what you want to do and acquire chosen materials to bring to class next week.

Homework- This final 3D graded project is due December 22, 2017, our final meeting of the semester.  On that day you'll present it to the class.

That is also the last day to turn in anything else you may still owe me, such as the last paper if you hadn't done it yet.  That same day I will also evaluate the semester portfolios- all the in class exercises you've done all semester.  If you've missed no classes, you've at least started all of them, and may have finished all of them.  However, if you'd like to verify what I'll be expecting, here's the complete list and where you'll find them on this blog:

9/15/17-  Contour Lines (shoes)
9/22/17-  Negative Space (chair, bottles)
9/29/17-  Value (charcoal)
10/6/17-  Collage/Mosaic
10/13/17-  Color Theory (Wheel) and mixing
10/20/17-  Photography
10/27/17-  Rhythm 
11/3/17-  Collograph print (texture)
12/1/17-  Two point Perspective


For next class 12/15/17- Next week will be a general work day, which you can use to work on anything from the class.  We will see the last slides of the semester, an overview of sculpture (which could be helpful to your process for the last project) but otherwise you'll be working on whatever you need to do for the class.  Many of you will work on the 3D graded project, but some of you may want to take advantage of the time and space to work on one of the above portfolio exercise, or you can even bring a computer and work on your last paper for the class.  Therefore bring with you whatever you need to work on whatever you have decided to work on.  

Research Assignment

We had a request to have the specifics of the research assignment for the 1000 class posted to this blog, so here it is.  It will appear in the list of what we've done, and I hope to set up a link directly to it from the list at the top of the right column.

Research Assignment

Each student is responsible for researching a particular movement in western art, the topics to be chosen by a method listed in the assignment sheet.  A written report will be produced containing the following information:

*The names of three prominent artists from this group (painters, sculptors, architects, printmakers, photographers, or whatever is significant to that group)

*For one work by each artist you will follow the Feldman criticism method we are using for the museum assignment.  (description, analysis, meaning, and judgement)  Although you may expand beyond it, your analysis should include the answers to these questions for the whole artistic movement:

   1) What were/are the goals of this art?
   2) How is the art of this period different from that which 
       proceeded it in its society?
   3) How does this art reflect its society?

The written report must be typewritten or computer printed, and should be a minimum of two pages.  You must cite bibliographic sources.  Books are generally more reliable than the internet for research, but under the current circumstances, use whatever you must.  

These are websites that may have some relevant information, including lists of artists and artworks that are parts of various movements, but you are not limited to these:

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner

https://artsandculture.google.com/explore

12/1/17 Intro to Art

Today's Class- Today the class completed the last portfolio exercise of the semester.  After viewing a few dozen slides of the history of architecture, we did something related- perspective drawing.  Perspective is the use of formulas and procedures to draw a three dimension space in a way that provides a regular system of distortion, but one that makes sense in art.  Developed during the renaissance, it's main use was to portray the inside and outside of buildings, so it relates to the idea of architecture.  We also looked at all comic strip that came in today in a critique format.  Here are some examples from today:

How to make this up- The process of perspective drawing is fairly complex, too much so to easily explain here.  Below is an example of the assignment from a previous Kean student, drawn in a room very similar to ours.

If you know how to draw in two point perspective, you can make this up by choosing an interior corner of any room, using a page in your 18" x 24" pad, and pencil of your choice.  Your drawing should include the corner, floor and ceiling lines, two items that are part of a wall (such as a door, window, poster, etc) and one small piece of furniture.  If you are unfamiliar with the process, I suggest you wait until you return to class and ask me about it.

Homework-   The second written assignment is due next week, December 8, 2017.  For most people that will be the museum assignment, but if you did that for last month's paper, then you owe the research assignment.  

If you did not turn in your comic strip today, try to get it done for next week.  It's a graded assignment, so the longer it takes to finish, the lower the eventual grade will be.

If you were not present when we printed the collograph plates, you should bring it in as soon as possible.  I won't be bringing all the printing stuff each week, but I will collect what comes in and print the in my studio over the weekend.  I took home three such plates today.  Here's what came when I printed them-

I can't help you out on the last day of class, so you should get it done for the weeks before out last meeting.

For next class 12/8/17- I'll return the comic strips and more papers, and we'll begin the final graded project of the semester, our 3D final.  You'll be getting subjects that are randomly created and assigned and will be able to make use of any materials you want.  For next week I suggest having a place to make notes and sketch your ideas.  A small sketchbook or notebook will suffice, but you may use your large pad if that's all the paper you have, plus pencil and eraser.