4/3/14 2D Design

Today's Class-  Tonight we returned to our study of color, with a focus on color temperature.  We had briefly touched on the concept of colors having perceived temperatures when we did the color wheels, but now we explore that with more detail.  I showed a few dozen slides of art from the renaissance to the present, asking students to decide whether the overall color temperature feel of the painting was cool, warm, or balanced/neutral.  Then the class started their next graded project on this topic.  We reserved time at the end of class to critique the woodblock prints that were produced at our last meeting.

How to make this up-  This project requires students to mix up to 200 unique hues, and arrange them by color temperature by seasons.  On one piece of your 18" x 24" paper, mark two boxes, each 10" square, and set aside.  On other paper, start making squares of color, each 1" square.  Some like to draw out a grid of boxes and fill them, some just paint them freehanded and cut them to size later.  Each of the boxes will represent one of the four seasons by general temperature characteristics- summer is all warm, winter is all cool, autumn and spring are an equal mix of warm and cool.  There can be no duplication of any colors within a single season, but a single color can appear in both seasons if appropriate (for example, a single warm hue could be in both a summer and a spring combination).  You may mix colors with a plan toward specific seasons, or just make a bunch and decide what two seasons they feel like later.  The individual squares will need to be cut out, arranged in the season boxes in whatever way you like, and glued into place.  Mark on the back of the page what seasons you believe each box represents.  Additional instructions and student examples can be found here.

Homework- This graded color temperature project is due at the beginning of class on April 17, 2014, however I strongly recommend that you try to finish it well before then.  Next week's project will be much more complicated and you'll likely want the extra time to work on it.

Those who have not yet turned in their completed wood block, should bring it to class as soon as possible to receive partial credit.

For next class 4/10/14-  We'll start a new graded project involving specific color combinations, often referred to as the artist's palette.  Often artists will base color choices not on just trying to imitate what they see, but on effects they have with each other.  Once again you'll need to start with a black and white photograph of a real thing or scene, something with a wide range of value and that you feel comfortable drawing.  You will be sketching the composition four times and using the value structure to organize color choices in different types of combinations.  Bring your 18" x 24" pad, pencil and eraser, paints, brushes, etc.  I'll have the bag of magazines I had when we did the dot drawings, but you will save a lot of time that night if you show up with a photo of your own.