Sketchbook Assignment #1: Gesture Drawing

I want you to (ideally) 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 like we practiced in class.  If you can't find enough human subjects then attempt drawing some inanimate objects while retaining a gestural quality.

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

Some examples:

Art 21 Video

The full Art 21 video shown in class (Yinka Shonibare, Cindy Sherman, Paul McCarthy).

Art 21 Episode: Transformation

Drawing assessment video

Just in case you dreamt about it for days, here's the first video I showed you in class.

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: