Board Game Project

The Project- For this project you will base a board game on the work of a specific artist. The artist should be one who has achieved significant art world recognition, such as appearing in art history survey textbooks, or be included in the collections of major museums. (check with me if you're not sure) The work must be representational. The above sample game is based on the art of 14th century painter Hieronymus Bosch. Bosch's work usually had religious and moralistic themes, and this game adapts a common theme of his- the sinful nature of mankind and the possibility of eternal punishment in the afterlife.

The board design should not just be a copy of a single painting with a game path on it, but rather an original design that makes use of images from the artist's painting(s). The above game borrows images from two Bosch paintings- "The Garden of Earthly Delights" and "The Last Judgment". All the visual elements (except possibly the game path) on the game board should come from your artist, but the compositional design should be yours. The game should have a theme/goal related in some way to the chosen artwork.

All games should have a path of some kind. It can be a one-way start to finish path (such as in Candyland), a continuous loop that is repeated until conditions result in a winner (such as Monopoly), or something where players can move in multiple directions (such as chess). Rules for moving should be worked out, such as the use of dice, a spinner, or drawn cards. The game board must include the name of your game somewhere in the design. You must provide tokens to represent the game players. You can make some special for the game, or repurpose tokens from another game.

The game board should be made of mat board or illustration board, and must be able to fold in half like traditional game boards. Recommended sizes are between 16" x 16" and 18" x 24", but you can make it a little bigger if you prefer.  Below are additional student examples, including the name of the inspiring artist.

 Roots

Kerry James Marshall

The Greek Grape Faze

Ancient Greek Pottery

Dance Star

Edgar Degas

4/21/11 2D Design

Today's Class- We opened class today with a critique of the limited color palette projects. After that we looked at a few slides of still life painting and discussed some of the roles it has played in history. Then I set up a still life and had students paint it as an exercise in specific color matching.

How to make this up- Set up the still life. Place a small box on a table and drape with a multicolored cloth (sheet, tablecloth, etc). Put 3 solidly colored objects (each a different color from the others and the drape) on and around the box. Paint the set up on a sheet of your 18" x 24" paper. You may sketch it out in pencil first, or just paint directly from observation if you prefer. Like previous still life assignments in this class, pay attention to the shapes, relative size and positions of the objects, but now also deal with matching colors from the set up- hue, intensity, value, etc. In class we spent about 2.5 hours working on it. Above are two examples from previous semesters.

This is a portfolio exercise that must be made up by the end of the semester to receive credit.

Homework- The mixed media collage projects started last week are due at the beginning of class next week, April 28, 2011. Anyone who still hasn't received their random phrase subject from me should e-mail me as soon as possible. Students who still owe season temperature collages and/or limited palette studies should get them in as soon as possible to receive partial credit.

For next class 4/28/11- We will begin the Final Project of the semester. Bring all your painting related materials, pencil and eraser. The project will be based on works from art history, so bring with you a book with color reproductions of a favorite artist, art movement/historical period, subject, or if you have no preferences, a general book about painting or art history. The art in question must be representational. We will use mat board for the project, of which there is a supply in the classroom, but I recommend also bringing paper of your own for sketching out the project. We will also critique the mixed media collages.

4/14/11 2D Design

Today's Class- Today we looked at the completed season/temperature collages, deciding if the declared seasons matched the colors presented. Then we started a new graded project partly inspired by the Dada art movement of the early 20th century. Students drew random words from bags to form a phrase, and then used that phrase as the subject of mixed media collage. Examples from previous semesters include "City of Zoo" (above) and "Everything Turns to Thinking" (below)

How to make this up- In order to start, you'll need a randomly drawn phrase from the bags. You may either e-mail me and have me draw it for you, or wait until class next week and pick from the bags yourself. For the rest of the details and to see further student examples, click here.

Homework- The limited color palettes project that we started last week is due at the beginning of class next week April 21, 2011.

The Dada inspired collage project is due at the beginning of class on April 28, 2011.

Those who still owe wood blocks and the season/temperature collage should get them in as soon as possible to receive partial credit.

For next class 4/21/11- Bring the completed homework, your 18" x 24" pad, all the painting related materials, pencil and eraser. We will do a portfolio exercise involving still life painting.

4/7/11 2D Design

Today's Class- Tonight we started a new graded project involving specific color combinations, sometimes referred to as an artist's palette. Sometimes artists will choose colors that are not based on the local colors of objects/scenery or just random combinations, but rather colors that have specific relationships. We looked at examples of fine art, discussing the effect of different color strategies in each. After that, students started on the project, a few examples of which are shown above.

How to make this up- Start by using pencil to divide a sheet of your 18" x 24" paper into 4 equal quadrants. Choose a black and white photograph that has a wide range of value tones and a subject that you feel comfortable drawing. Sketch the composition of the photo in all four parts of the paper, then color each with your acrylic paints using 4 different palette options. To see additional student examples and read the full detailed directions, click here.

Homework- This Limited Color Palettes graded project is due at the beginning of class on April 21, 2011. The Color Temperature (Seasons) project started last week is due at the beginning of class on April 14, 2011.

For next class 4/14/11- We will start a new graded project involving mixed media collage. Bring your 18" x 24" pad, pencil and eraser, all painting related materials, markers, scissors, and glue. Also bring the completed Color Temperature collage.