9/30/16 3D Design

Today's Class-  Despite the very low attendance today, we opened as planned, with a critique of the graded project that was due today, the Make 100 module project.  Below are some examples from today's class.

Then we moved on to start the next graded project of the semester, a focus on positive and negative space, with a starting point of skeletons.  Skeletons are nature's perfect structure, providing both protection and means of locomotion to every animal on earth.  They also demonstrate positive and negative space relationships, and can inspire other art.  You are going to choose a skeleton (human or animal), and use part or all of it as the basis for a relief sculpture made from foam core.  You will then use that skeleton relief as the inspiration for a second relief of a different subject, but sharing similar shapes and positive/negative relationships.

How to make this up-  Find an image of a skeleton.  I provided the class with photocopies of skeletons from a biology textbook, and of student drawings of human skeletons from a figure class, but they were welcome to find one from another source if they had something else in mind.  Below is an example of this project that I did as a demo for the class in a previous semester.

I started with a student drawing of a human skeleton from a figure class.  I selected a portion to turn into a relief.  Started with a 12" square piece of foam core, and set it aside.  Then used another 12" square piece to start making the skeleton piece.  Basic shapes were drawn, and an x-acto knife used to cut out the negative spaces in the drawing.  The resulting pieces were then glued to the first square, maintaining the same spacing as the original drawing.

With that done, I moved on to the second piece.  Borrowing an idea from a recently completed artwork of my own, I came up with an image of a frog amidst tall grass.  The grass makes use of lines and movements meant to evoke the ribs of the skeleton, and I saw the frog a having similarities to the shoulder blade and other wider bones in the skeleton. Those pieces were cut from another 12" square piece and attached to a second piece of foam core.  Results are below.

Even better than my demo piece have been some of the student produced examples of this project.  Click on the images below to enlarge if needed.

Above, spine and rib cage are transformed into a bridge.  Below, a student finds the relationship between the bones of a human hand and the exterior of the classic pineapple style hand grenade.

I have allowed students to use foam core of different colors for this project, to help them emphasize the positive negative differences.  Above, fin and rib cage from a fish are compared to a tree, below, a flying fish skeleton is found to have a relationship to an ear of corn.  

Homework-  This positive/negative relief project is due at the beginning of class on October 14, 2016.

For next class 10/7/16- We will work on a portfolio exercise on the topic of planes- exterior surfaces. The subject will be cars.  You will start with a photo of a favorite car- any model, style, or vintage, one that you like just because you like the way it looks.  You will make a model of it using foam core and bristol board- doesn't have to be a perfect scale model but should basically match the main surfaces and overall proportions. (having photos from different angles will make this easier) As you make each piece for the car, make an identical piece and set it aside.  When the car is complete, you will use the second set of pieces to make a sculpture of something that is not a car.  Below is a student example from a previous semester.