3/20/20 Introduction to Art

Today's Class- The topic for today is narrative, the idea of telling a story.  Narrative is one of the important uses of art throughout its history.  In times when literacy (reading and writing) was far from universal, people often learned things from seeing images of them.  In class we saw examples of mosaics and plaster frescoes covering whole walls of churches and public buildings, depicting religious and military subjects.  The development of gothic architecture resulted in the tallest buildings yet made, but also allowed the invention of large stained glass windows, again, spreading narrative to populations that couldn't read words.  In our current era most people learn to read, but images can still tell us stories that can be understood in any language.  

The narrative can be literal, symbolic, or sometimes have aspects of both.  A viewer's inherent knowledge of religion, history, literature, or mythology can be incorporated into the piece by an artist's use of recognizable imagery.  Our slide show will include some example of this.


Slideshow- As with slides I show in class, these are historical works that demonstrate how other artists have made use of the same idea. None of this will be tested, but I do suggest you look at them, as they may teach you a bit about how artists can use images to tell a story. A few weeks ago I showed a series of painting by American artist Edward Hopper and invited the class to guess the time of day depicted by clues within the painting.  Some of these will give you a chance to try those same detective skills.

Bayeux Tapestry (possibly the world's first comic strip)
stained glass  (scroll down to part 7, stained glass windows)
Pieter Bruegel (contains visualizations of over 100 sayings from that land and time, such as "to tile a roof with tarts" as a way of saying someone has a surplus of money)
William Hogarth paintings (#2 is especially useful, lots of symbols and stories)
Frida Kahlo (references events from her well known life)
Edvard Munch (consider what this piece is about and how he depicts it)


How to make this up-

examples of this project
This link will take you to a page that shows examples of this project done by past students.  The first four are photos from actual artworks in my possession, things you would have seen in person had they let us get together.  The other examples below those are digital photos I have.  All these examples have things they can teach you.  Requirements and rules are also found there.

Materials advice and information- This may be your first time trying pastels.  In the classroom we might have a brief demonstration, but this will have to do.  

I suggest you start with a simple pencil line drawing, work out your shapes and ideas that way.  Pastels do not easily erase.  Of things we have worked with, the texture is closest to charcoal, in that they are sticks and hardness varies widely.  The pigment is the same stuff used in your watercolors, but the mediums, whether you get super expensive professional ones or inexpensive student grade ones, are usually chalk or oil.  Each has advantages and disadvantages, so it is a matter of person preference.  Both are very messy, so I recommend putting down some old newspapers or something you can easily clean up.  

Pastels are not easy to use in detailed artwork, so I suggest simple, large scale images.  They also smear easily, so I recommend putting some in a small portion of the drawing and then using your fingers or the blending tool of your choice to work it into the rest of the drawing.  A little bit of soft pastel can fill a large area of paper. New colors can be created by combining things together and blending, as we did with watercolors, so let that color wheel be a guide to that.  And if you like, practice on scrap paper first.

Homework- This is always a two week project, so we will be doing it again next week.  Get as far today as you feel comfortable.  Some students like to do all the pencil drawing first, then start the coloring, while some prefer to do both at the same time.  

This is a graded project, the first artwork we do that gets an individual grade.  That's partly why we get more time to work on it.  For now I'll give a due date of April 3, 2020, but that could change depending on what Kean decides to do about classes.  I'll keep you informed. When I do grade it, I'll be looking for the minimum number of panels, use of symbolic characters, full color, a story we can follow. Student will be asked to present it to the class (assuming they let us back on campus), so you would hold it up, tell us the story, who the characters are and why- not really part of the project grade, but I do have to assess everybody for the school on verbal presentations.

The new due date for the museum or research rough draft is now March 27, 2020.  We won't be meeting that day, but you can send it in via email.

For next class Mar 27, 2020-  More of the same.  If you haven't yet acquired pastels, try to have them for this week.  (you'll be able to use them again in other projects, or for the rest of your life)