9/30/16- Basic Drawing

Today's Class- As we move toward our first complex still life of the semester, we added another aspect of drawing to our toolbox- perspective drawing.  The still life subjects we draw from are all part of three dimensional space, but our paper is two dimensional. meaning we have much less to work with.  To improve the results, artists have learned to use perspective in drawing.  Most of it is based on items further away diminishing at a standard rate and method, implying a logical distance from the artist/viewer.  Some of these systems are very formulaic, and while effective in some ways, tend to create a lot of distortions, so I prefer to teach  a more naturalistic approach- combining observations, and careful use of negative spaces.  The class did two full page drawings today, one of just identical boxes, and one where some cylindrical forms were introduced.

How to make this up- These are portfolio exercises that will need to be made up by the first portfolio collections (half way point of the semester) to received full credit.  Full descriptions and student examples can be found here.

Homework- Get a medium sized box with one large side (similar to the boxes used in class today, or a cereal box will do) and three small bottles of similar size.  Lay the box down on a table.  Place one bottle on its side on top of the box, and the other two in front of the box.  One bottle should point (open mouth) directly at you, one should be pointing to the side, and the third should be at a 45 degree angle to you.  Draw on a page in your small sketchbook using the pencil of your choice.  Then switch the bottles so that the ones facing various directions are in different places and draw it again.  Then rearrange again, so that each of the three bottle positions has once had each of the three bottle directions.  Total of 3 sketches.

For next class 10/7/16- We will do the first graded project of the semester, a complex line still life.  I will set up a still life in the center of the room with a variety of objects, some of which we've seen before, and nothing that you wouldn't be able to handle.  You will have the whole class period to do your best line drawing of the still life using pencil.  Bring your 18" x 24" pad, pencils, and eraser.  I'll provide the subject.