Assignment #8 - Plant based lifeforms

Oh Dear Lord it's what it sounds like!  For our final assignment I want you to utilize contour drawing (no shading, just very detailed exploration of the form) and explore the forms of a plant.  This means ignoring any shading and focusing on the undulation of form and lots of little details.  This also means no single leaves or a lonely twig in a field of snow, but a detailed drawing of a semi complex plant.  Also, no hand turkeys.

Seriously, talk to your kids...

Interview with Walton Ford

I haven't mentioned him in class yet, but if you're interested in representational and figurative art you should take a look at Walton Ford!

Interview with Walton Ford

"Walton Ford appropriates the crisp, descriptive style of 19th-century naturalists and artists—John James Audubon, Karl Bodmer, George Catlin—but he puts their conventions to work in an investigation of natural history itself.

Repurposing a field-guide aesthetic, Ford composes dense allegories that make sometimes pointed, sometimes sidelong allusions to everything from conservationism and consumption to war, politics and imperialism.

While staying uncannily faithful to the natural history mode, Ford paints on a much larger scale, producing outsize watercolors with epic compositions. He renders his scenes with operatic drama, capturing moments when the natural order changes, such as the last member of a species struggling just before extinction."

Assignment #7

We're almost to 10!  Tying in with our woodblock project, I want you to render an object in your household using strictly ink (preferably sharpie as it creates a large line conducive to woodcutting).  The idea is to imply three dimensional form via shading, but since you're limited to only black and white you have to get a little creative.  Keep in mind that you want to create negative space (white areas) that would cut easily, so cross hatching isn't the best approach as opposed to straight lines (though in the end any method will work; it's all about how you cut the wood).  Check out these examples that utilize different types of linework:

Dev Harlan

http://www.devharlan.com/doku.php

Augmented reality sculpture like you've (probably) never seen before!

Sachin Teng

http://sachinteng.com/

"Bomb" work from a contemporary graphic designer.

OoOoOo it's assignment #6

For this round of sketchbookery I want you to draw something you love... something you desperately and hopelessly love until the end of days, but with some STIPULATIONS!  You need to draw a 7" by 7" square in your sketchbook and this will become the outer border for your drawing.  If your sketchbook is silly-small then you'll have to just fill the page.  Herein lies the stipulation: the object of your undying affection needs to go past three of the borders (you can even draw the object outside of the borders if it helps you to visualize what is happening).  You can have it extending past all four borders, but at a minimum I want it to expand across three.  For example, let's say you have a weird necro-crush on Pope John Paul the 2nd.  Note how he extends past three of the borders, but the fourth is left open.  There's no need to shade your drawing, but you get the idea!

Mombo/Assignment #5

There was a myriad of audible groans when I dished out this assignment so that's how I know it's perfect!  Your assignment was to draw a 3/4 view (not straight on and not from the side; at an angle) of a HUMAN HEAD from life.  That means you'll have to convince someone you love or merely like to pose for you for about 20 minutes.  No need for shading; just stick to contour lines and you'll be golden.  Bask in some examples:

 

Assignment Numero 4

Soooo as discussed in class, your next sketchbook assignment (due Tuesday, October 4th) is to draw a pile of your dirtiest laundry.  It doesn't have to be laundry necessarily; you can use a bunched up comforter or sheets, towels, or anything made up of fabric.  The idea is to fill your page with a drawing of a mound of fabric (no tiny drawings off in the corner) and to use varying line quality.  You don't have to shade anything; I just want you to explore all of the interior lines and fill your page like we did with the palm drawing.

The Future of Art

Prepare to have your minds expanded if not a little bit blown.  This documentary is short/sweet and hints at possible directions in the future of art.  Watch this and get an edge on the art majors!

The Future of Art from KS12 on Vimeo.

Assignment #3 - Draw dat room!

For Tuesday, September 20th I want you to have sketchbook assignment #3 completed.  The idea is to draw the interior of your room (no shading unless you want and just contour lines to define the forms).  Make sure to have at least one corner of your room visible, but don't put it in the center of your page.  You are free to draw any other part of your house/apartment if you wish or even a room in another building entirely.  The only requirements are that you again, pick a corner to display in your drawing and that there be a fair amount of visual interest (no empty rooms free from signs of human life).  Have some examples!

I haven't the words...

Don't you dare not click this

Due on Tuesday

Bring your sketchbook assignment #2 with you as well as your collage and your painting surface if you took them home over the weekend.  If you want to pull my preferred method of the 11th hour sketchbook scramble, then here are the directions:

I want you to go to a public place and do 10 gesture drawings.  The idea is to draw 10 figures that are moving very loosely and gesturally for 30 seconds so the assignment shouldn't take very long to complete.  Don't worry about capturing proportion or likeness, just fluidity of movement and the angles of the limbs.

There's a more in-depth explanation at Wikipedia.

Some examples:

This... Is... GHANA!!!

70s Bootleg Movie Posters

"These movie posters were all created by artists in Ghana to promote traveling movie shows and sell tickets to bootleg screenings of various western and local movies. These posters range from quirky recreations of the original movies to WTF inducing paintings with imagery completely unrelated to the original content. Get ready to experience a rollercoaster of different movie posters butchered, masterfully recreated, and mashed up as you've never seen it. 69 more bizzare bootleg movies posters after the jump!"

Things to bring on Tuesday

For September 6th make sure to bring the following items:

• Your completed sketchbook assignment (Find a black and white family photo or a photo you like with at least one figure in it. You can even use something stylized or illustrated; as long as it's as complex as Picasso's drawing of Igor Stravinsky. Turn it upside down, and without mentally labeling the image, try to reproduce the image as accurately as possible.  If you're having trouble on the shading feel free to just focus on the lines. Only when the image is complete, turn it over to look at the result.)
• Magazine, newspaper, ephemera, and just random printed clippings that you want to incorporate into your first project (You are going to assemble your clippings into a collage and then scale it up into a large scale acrylic painting.  This project will be completed entirely in class, but you are free to work on it at home as well.)

One of my favorite art blogs

http://butdoesitfloat.com/

Pages and pages of eye candy.

Very smooth

Click the picture for eye explosion.

Day 1: The Reckoning