Today's Class- Today's topic was the formal issue of value, use of relative tones of dark and light in art. This can serve many purposes- description of areas, implying three dimensional form, creating space, focusing attention, establishing time of day, etc. I showed about 2 dozen slides of historical art, pointing out the ways light and shadow were used by the artists, then we got on with the portfolio exercise of the day- a value drawing using charcoal.
How to make this up- I set up a simple still life in the center of the darkened classroom, with an overhead spotlight shining on it. The still life consisted on a stool with a white bed sheet draped over it, and on and around that several simple objects, all painted white, so that local color values would not be a factor. Today it was just about light and shadow. Below are a few examples of typical student charcoal drawings from previous semesters.
To do this on your own, put a box on a low table, drape it with a white or light colored cloth, and place three white or light colored objects on or around the box so all can be seen. Use a single light source to created patterns of light and shadow. Draw the still life on a sheet of your 18" x 24" paper, including all three objects, and any of the white fabric seen in your view. Try to match the shapes of your objects and the light and dark shapes as closely as possible, not forgetting what we learned about negative space. Spend up to 90 minutes on it.
Homework- Nothing new, but keep in mind that the museum assignment is due March 23, 2018. Plan accordingly.
For next class 2/16/18- The topic will be monumental art, which I am defining as large scale art that is permanently part of the location. A common medium that goes back to antiquity is a mosaic, a two dimensional image made up of small bits of stone, glass, ceramic and other bits, arranged to form some kind of image. We will be doing the same thing, but using paper to make the images. You will choose a color photograph from a magazine, sketch the basic shapes with a pencil, then use small cut up pieces of paper from other magazines to reproduce shapes and colors from the original image. Everything will be glued to a page in you big pad. Below is a student example, with the original image on top, and the collage version below.
