12/19/13 2D Design 12/20/13 Basic Drawing

Thursday's Class-  Tonight was our final meeting of the semester.  We looked at a few late arriving collages, and then everyone presented their Board Game Final Projects.  Everyone left so I could grade those and the semester portfolios.  A few came back tonight to pick things up, and the rest of the work was placed on our shelf, top horizontal shelf in the set closest to the hallway door, with my name on it.  Inside your pad or clipped to loose projects is a slip with your name, absence record for the semester, and grades for the Final and Portfolio.  Final semester grades will be calculated over the next week or so and submitted to the school, which will post them online whenever it is they do that.

Friday's Class- Today was our final meeting of the semester. We held a group critique of last week's final drawing, and everyone was dismissed temporarily while I graded those, the 2nd half portfolios, and the sketchbooks.  Everyone returned to pick up their stuff and learn the grades for those items.  Final semester grades will be posted by the school online.

Enjoy the break.

Course Evaluation Forms

I have been asked to remind everybody that OCC has switched to an online system for doing course evaluations, rather than have you take part of class and fill in circles with a #2 pencil.  I'm told that it is accessible from your OceanCruiser page.  I haven't been given any more information, but I would think the deadline for doing this would be the end of classes.  So if you haven't done this yet, and little numbers on my Cruiser page say only one student in each class has done so, please take a few minutes to log in and give your opinions about the class, and save your pencils for important things like drawing.

12/13/13 Basic Drawing

Today's Class- In honor of today being Friday the 13th, the college decided to send us on a cross campus expedition.  When our adventure came to an end, we had a new classroom for the day in the Gateway building.  Objects for the still life travelled with us and before long we rearranged the room, set up our subject, and everyone was drawing.  I collected the drawings which will be returned graded next week.

How to make this up- Set up a still life.  Place a box on a table and drape with a cloth that has a printed pattern.  Arrange on and around the box the following items- a glass bottle, a hand tool, a piece of sports equipment, and a shoe.  Shine a direct light on it to create patterns of light and shadow.  Draw the still life on a full page in your 18" x 24" pad using either charcoal, ink wash, or conte crayon.  Pay attention to shapes, proportions, relative scale, negative spaces, perspective, and value.  Spend up to 3 hours on it.

Homework- Nothing new tonight, but considering how few homework sketches I've seen in recent weeks, I'd bet most of you have at least a few to make up.  Unless you're sure that you kept up with all of them, I'd suggest going back through this blog and make sure you have everything done.

2nd Half Portfolio-
Next week I will be grading the 2nd half portfolio, all the work from the second half of the semester except the individually graded drawings.  Here' what I'm expecting and the days we did it if you need to figure out how to make it up:

11/1/13 Ink Wash  two drawings, white object and drape
11/15/13  Monotype prints, your two best prints
11/22/13  Conte crayon two still life drawings, one black, one red
12/6/13 Conte crayon two mannequin drawings, red and black combined

For next class 12/20/13- Our final meeting of the semester, which I hope will be back in our usual classroom.  We will open with a group critique of today's drawings, then I'll dismiss everyone temporarily while I grade the 2nd half semester portfolio and the sketchbooks.  I'll designate a time when you can return to pick up all your work and learn your grades for all those things.

12/12/13 2D Design

Today's Class-  Today was a general work day for the class.  We looked at a few late arriving season and mixed media collages, and projects turned in last week were returned graded, but mostly it was people working on the game board final project.

How to make this up-  Instructions for the Final Project and student examples from previous semesters can be found on last week's blog post for the 2D class.  That same post also includes the list of in class exercises that are part of the semester portfolio to be graded next week.

Homework-  The only new thing due next week, December 19, 2013, is the board game final project, but I'm still missing season collages, mixed media collages, and limited palettes color studies from several students.  All can be turned in next week for partial credit.  Nothing will be accepted after the end of class next week.

For next class 12/19/13-  Our final meeting.  We will open with a critique of the final projects, and look at other late arriving graded projects.  Then I will temporarily dismiss everyone while I grade those items and the semester portfolios.  Students who return later at the designated time will learn the grades for all those items.  Bring all the semester portfolio exercises, the Final Project, and any back projects that you owe.  Be on time- the sooner we start class, the sooner we will finish.

12/6/13 Basic Drawing

Today's Class-  Today we continued using conte crayons, but instead of monochromatic drawings, we used the red and black crayons together.  This is based on the idea of chiaroscuro drawing and prints, an artistic process that dates back to the Renaissance.  In traditional chiaroscuro drawing, the artist starts with paper made with a medium value tone (color or neutral) and draws with both white (such as conte, chalk) to create highlights, and black (such as conte, ink, charcoal) to build shadows.  Rather than have you spend money on colored paper, we can simulate some the same effect with your white paper and the combination of red and black crayons.  I showed historical examples of the process, slides of student drawings in this style, and even a few actual drawings on paper left behind by students from previous semesters.

How to make this up-  This week we broke away from our usual still life objects and broke out the mannequins, a little more complex but forms that relate in some ways to the bottles and shoes that we are more familiar with.  I set up several of them around the room, as well as making some of the plaster body parts available.  Students did two value drawings, each for about half the class period.  They could do both in a traditional carefully blended style (as in the student drawing above), or had the option to do one in more hard edged three tone graphic style as demonstrated in slides.  Additional examples of both styles, and the specific instructions for the assignment, can be found here.

These are portfolio exercises that must be made up by the last week of the semester to receive credit.

Homework- Find a shoe and shine a direct light on it to create patterns of light and shadow.  Do a full value drawing of the shoe on a page in your sketchbook using the red and black crayons together as we did in class.  Then find a second, different shoe, light the same way, and do a second full value drawing using both red and black crayon together.  Total of two drawings.

For next class 12/13/13- We will be doing the final still life drawing of the semester.  I'll have something set up by 2:00 and you'll have the full class to make your drawing.  You have the option of using charcoal (vine or compressed), ink wash, or conte crayon (red, black, or both).  Bring your 18" x 24" pad, your medium of choice, and any materials or tools related to your chosen process (such as brushes, blending tools, spray fixative, etc).  

12/5/13- 2D Design

Painted Dreams 

Vincent Van Gogh

Today's Class-  Tonight we began the final project of the semester.  I showed a few slides of ancient artworks and of 20th century board games, noting the evolution of the design and its relationship to fine art.   I also brought in an example I created myself to help explain the idea.  Then students began the process of designing a board game based on the art of a specific 2D fine artist.  We also looked at some late arriving limited palette projects and the mixed media collages that were due tonight.

How to make this up-  Start by selecting a well known fine artist (included in major museum collections and art history textbooks) from the 20th century or earlier, who works in two dimensions (paintings, drawings, prints), representationally (no full abstraction), and uses full color.  You'll need to select elements (figures, objects, landscapes, interiors, shapes, etc) from two or more pieces from that artist and build an original composition from them.  As you reproduce these bits of the artist's vocabulary, try to match shapes, colors, and textures as closely as possible.

Because the format is a board game, you must include some kind of game path for players to follow.  It can be repeated circuit (like Monopoly), a single start to finish path (like Candyland), or something where players can move in multiple directions across a grid.  The game should have a theme, some kind of goal for the players to achieve in order to win the game and the images should have at least some relation to the theme.  The game must have a name, included somewhere on the board.  As you are creating the composition, take into account balance, color, value, text design, and everything else we have dealt with this semester.  The final piece should be considered as a painting, not just a collection of images.  Like classic board games, the board should fold in half.    Above and below are student examples from previous semesters.  An example I created based on the work of Hieronymus Bosch, and further details about the assignment, can be seen here.

Love Story

Roy Lichtenstein

Rene Magritte, the Game

Rene Magritte

Homework-  This board game final project is due at the beginning of class on December 19, 2013, which is our last meeting of the semester.  No work for the class will be accepted after this date.

Those who still owe previous graded projects (such as the mixed media collages, or the limited palettes projects) should turn them in as soon as possible for partial credit.

Semester Portfolio-

At our final class meeting in two weeks, I'll be grading the semester portfolio, which is everything done in class this semester that wasn't individually graded.  If you've never missed a class, you probably have it all done, or at least started.  You can use the following list to verify that you have everything or to see what you need to make up.  Included dates are where they can be found on this blog.

9/12/13  Wallpaper dots

9/19/13  Contour Line shoes

10/3/13  Charcoal value drawing

10/17/13  Color Wheel and color mixing

10/24/13  Text (Russian) and Logo

11/21/13  Color Still Life painting

For next class 12/12/13- The class meeting will be a general work day for the class.  Most will use it to work on the final game board project, but you can use it for any back graded project or portfolio exercise from the class.  We will also look at any late arriving graded projects.  Bring with you whatever you need to work on whatever projects you will be working on.