Today's Class- Today was our final meeting of the semester. We opened with a critique of the drawings done in class last week, after which I temporarily dismissed everyone while I finished grading those, the 2nd half portfolios, and the sketchbooks. Those who returned at the designated time were able to pick up their big pad, sketchbook, and Final Drawings, all graded. Those who did not return today can find their stuff on the top right shelf in the stack just to the left of our classroom door. The grades for today's items and attendance information are on a small slip of paper inside your sketchbook, which is inside of your 18" x 24" pad.
Final semester grades are due in early January, but I'm hoping to have them done and submitted before Christmas to have them out of the way. The college will post them to the internet whenever it is they do that.
Enjoy the break.
Today's Class- Today was our Final Drawing day for the semester. I set up a complex still life, a mix of objects you've seen before and things that were new to you, and the students had the whole class period to draw it. The drawings were collected and will be returned next week graded.
How to make this up- You will need to set up a still life of your own. Place a box on a table, and drape it with a piece of cloth that has a printed pattern on it. Gather examples of the following objects- a glass bottle, a hand tool, a shoe, a piece of sports equipment. Place the objects on and around the draped box and light to create patterns of light and shadow. Draw the set up on a sheet of your 18" x 24' paper, filling the whole page. You may use your choice of charcoal (vine or compressed), ink wash, or conte crayon (red, black, or both combined). Pay attention to value, shape, proportions, space, perspective. Spend up to 3 hours on the drawing. Above and below are examples from previous semesters.
Homework- No new homework tonight, but I'll be grading the homework sketchbooks next week, so if you are missing any of them, you have a week to make them up and still receive full credit.
2nd Half Portfolio- At our next meeting I will also be grading the 2nd Half Portfolio, which is all the classwork done after we finished the charcoal, and not previously graded. I'll be looking for the following:
10/31/14 Ink Wash (white object and drape) x 2 pages
11/14/14 Monoprints (two favorites from the day)
11/21/14 Conte Crayons (one black, one red)
12/5/14 Conte Crayons (black and red combined) x 2 pages
For next class 12/19/14- I will open with a critique of the drawings that I collected today. After that, I'll dismiss everyone temporarily while I grade the portfolios and the sketchbooks. At the designated time you may return and pick up all the work, and you'll learn the grades for the Final Drawing, Portfolio, and Sketchbook. Semester grades will be calculated later and posted by the college.
Today's Class- Today we continued working with the conte crayons, this time combining the red and black crayons into one drawing. This is a variation on an art style developed during the Renaissance called chiaroscuro drawing, and a similar medium, the chiaroscuro woodcut. For the drawings, artists would start with a sheet of paper already colored a medium value (neutral or color), and then use black (charcoal, ink, etc) to draw the darks, white (chalk, etc) to draw the lights, and letting the paper provide the middle values. To save you from having to search for and purchase colored paper, we'll do drawings where the white of the paper will be the light, the red crayon will be used for medium values, and the black crayon to make the dark values. Below is a student example from a previous semester showing how this can work.
How to make this up- To provide a break from our usual still life subjects of containers and such, and to allow you to try something more complex, today's subject was a cross between still life and figure- fashion mannequin parts from around the classroom. For the first drawing, I put three of our mannequin torsos around the room, and students could choose one to draw, first using red to do a value drawing, then gradually adding black in spots to deepen the shadows. For the second drawing, I added additional body parts to create combinations, the least disturbing probably being the torso and leg combination below.
For the second drawing, students had the option of trying a simplified three solid tone style, reminiscent of traditional chiaroscuro woodcut. The specifics of each assignment, as well as student examples of each style, can be found here.
These are portfolio exercises that must be made up by the last day of class to receive full credit.
Homework- We go back to the beginning, and make shoes the subject. Find a shoe, put it on a table in front of you, and draw a full value rendering with the combined red and black conte crayons. Take care with contour, shape, proportion, texture, value, and include any shadows. Then find a different shoe and do another red/black drawing. Total of two drawings.
For next class 12/12/14- We will do our Final Drawing of the semester. I will bring in various still life materials and try to have it set up by 2:00. You will have the whole class period to work on a drawing using your choice of the following mediums- charcoal (vine or compressed), ink wash, conte crayon (red, black, or both) I will also have a list of all the things needed for the 2nd Half Portfolio, which will be graded the following week, which will be the last meeting of the semester.
