On the road the the Apocalypse: Drawing Exercise/Design for context

Monoform projects are those where many artists take on a singular object/shape etc. and put their own spin on decorating and redesigning it. Some great examples of this include THE VADER PROJECT and the populist sculpture/Vinyl toys project done in Grade 11 here at NCC.

Examples of this type of thinking are not limited to the world of fine art - but rather can be found all around you on a regular basis. A great and creative example of this is in aftermarket wheel design for the automotive industry - custom and decorative wheels are all made of the same basic circles in standard sizes yet give a wondrous opportunity for creative decoration and design!

In this particular exercise you will need to work towards what is generally referred to as a concept drawing.
The sketchbook portion of this task is to take the simple circle (at least 4 inches in diameter) and redesign it to create a great visual impact as the custom wheels of a car or bike. Aside from simply designing the object concept, however, you will also need to give consideration as to the type of vehicle it will be attached to. You will have to explain how it relates to the design of the vehicle in terms of form, function, colour, shape, audience/consumer and your general design choices. In explaining I would encourage you to give some thought (and include notes/pictures or sketches) as to what kind of car you are designing for and how this wheel would relate to the overall impression of the vehicle. Does it subtly compliment the overall look? Does it use contrast to create additional focus and specifically draw attention? Does it rely on the vehicle having additional customization/colours etc? Does it add function or is it purely decorative?

Mild or Wild - the choice is now yours!

Sketchbook by Ruriko

A beautiful sketchbook by Ruriko - Grade 10

Dali and Duchamp

Hey folks, we will cover some of this in class - the rest is homework.

It will be the topic of the next art history discussion.

 Do well with it by being prepared to discuss and we will watch one of my favorite surrealist films to challenge your brains and the limits of your imagination next week........ Enjoy! 

Salvador Dali visuals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-HAyqUPmeo

About Dali - You REALLY should consider watching this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkGfWZfRzWM#t=102.5395

 

Dali on ``What's my line``

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXT2E9Ccc8A

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

 Duchamp
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYqDpNmnu8I 

Duchamp - bicycle wheel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63yYbOnJt-o

Duchamp - Shovel – concept as anti art

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRv20I13vqM

Gr 10 - Intro to Painting Techniques

Here are the set of painting techniques that we are going to practice in anticipation of your formal painting. They are chosen to give you a real hands on exploration of many of the possibilities and properties of Acrylic paint. When combined with our discussion on proper consistency, thinning and maintenance - It should also give you some real insight into which techniques do and do not work for you personally and how our class colours relate to each other on a painted surface.

Painting techniques – 8 4x4” squares with simple geometric ABSTRACT designs (do 3 rough choose 1 – transfer best to Bristol board or primed cardboard by scribbling on back of page)

1 - hard edges clean smooth surfaces - complimentary colours

2  impasto – attempt min of three different surfaces – one dark and one light colour (other than white)

3 graded washes – thin layers of wet colour built up to different degrees of intensity - monochromatic

4  wet on wet – again thin wet paint applied to a wet surface, analogous primary and secondary colours (no tertiary!)

5 Gradation– any 1 colour + white/black ; each area must display gradation in pure tone OR tint OR tone

6 Painterly Pointillism - mixing on surface - showing brushwork/demarcation - use 2 hues of a single colour plus white and/or black

7 splatter/airbrush technique – using 1 colour plus tint and tone – masking of areas is necessary to preserve the original underlying pattern

8  collage – using any colours they like but the student must incorporate paper collaged into the existing pattern – using the paint itself as the sole bonding agent

Grade 10/11 Pencil Crayon/Colour Overlay Examples

Grade 10 Animal Drawing Project Part 2 - Process

Once you have chosen you animal image it needs to be drawn onto the assigned paper. Depending on the class this may mean on good quality paper or even illustration board. Whatever paper you are assigned - it is Mr.Craig's expectation that you will enlarge the image you have chosen to fit the majority of the surface provided to you.

There are several ways to enlarge and prepare an image for colour work. Please do remember that we are trying to develop a number of skills simultaneously here - drawing, enlarging, proportion, simplification, colour matching and colour overlay. The last two are the most important aspects in this particular project, though it the drawing is inaccurate there will be no hiding that behind even the most exquisite colour work.

I suggest the use of a graphite transfer or (preferably) a grid approach to enlarging the image. The latter definitely requires a ruler and some thought, but it is a traditional skill that can benefit you in the years to come. We will discuss the grid in class and Mr. Craig will be happy to help you figure out grid ratios and if there is a need to crop. Try to stick to whole numbers (such as 2 cm or 1 inch squares) or easy to use fractions (1.5 inch for example) where possible when gridding.

Here is a great example of a complex picture developed using a grid and the proper pencil crayon overlay techniques. Note how the background has been somewhat simplified to create greater focus on the primary focal pint. Just a beautiful piece.

USEFUL FORM AND SHADING TUTORIAL!

Couldn't resist posting this link as I think it will be very helpful to some of my new/junior students in particular:

http://juliannakunstler.com/images_art1/3Dforms.swf

Not quite life drawing - pose portfolios

It has long been believed that working from Life is the best teacher, when it comes to learning to draw the human form. Most post secondary institutions will offer course in life drawing and anatomy for the artist. In the high school setting we are certainly limited by access and expense, so finding additional ways to supplement your usual drawings of the same forms (often your friends and family) sitting on the same furniture or having to pose for you in ways and outfits that suit your needs can be almost as challenging as getting them to help you in these ways in the first place.

While I don't have the perfect answer by any means I would like to suggest a couple of websites than can give your drawing a little boost and can assist you in figuring our proportions and forms or push you to develop strong skills for quick pose sketches (Super recommended if you are going to be doing this type of thing post secondary....)

Senshistock http://senshistock.com/index.php - is a great one to start with. The figures are non nude but wearing form fitting clothing so that figures and musculature are still relatively clear.  They have some programs and collections of poses for sale but also have a number of free practice forms in their "sketch section". When you click on this it sets up a timed posed image for you to draw. When the timer runs out it moves to the next image - just like a live session. You may adjust the length of the timer, skip images and pause it in its entirety. The pictures use a variety of lighting, expressions and - in contrast to many sites - a lot of props. My only real critique is that there are far more images of female figures than male. Overall a great site with some really useful images and an easy interface.

Pixelovely - http://artists.pixelovely.com/ - another great one with a slightly more complex but still really user friendly interface.  This one gives you a choice of figure drawing, animal drawing, hands and feet or portraits an expression. The interface lets you choose between specific genders (or all/random), clothed or nude and two styles of session - standard or class. A class set will give you short timed poses first working into longer poses with breaks actually built into the time! Pretty awesome. A great variety of figures and forms coupled with a lot of choice in parameters make this an excellent resource.

Those should really help get you started with gesture and form!



Look for future updates/reviews for: Quickposes.com & posemanicas

Grade 10 Art History pages to review

367-375 High Renaissance (DaVinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Perspective and absolute "reality")
380-385 Northern Renaissance (Oil Painting, VanEyck, Symbolism)
386-390 Realism and Emotionalism (van der Weyden and van der Goes, modified space/proportion)
401-406 Mannerism (Parmagianino, El Greco, Challenges to the Church, unbalance in the world)
407-410 Northern Painting (Durer, Bosch)
546-548 Dada and Surrealism (Dali, Miro, Klee)

Hieronymus Bosch: BBC Documentary

A Documentary on the art of Hieronymus Bosch - one of the key figures in our study of the roots of Surrealism. The Documentary is broken into six 10 minute sections here - the link should take you to a playlist page where you can choose to "play all".

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL142CBC1FA3C93178

Note the similarities in use of symbolism, distortion, and story telling that we have seen in the art of the northern renaissance, mannerists and emotionalists combined with the absolute technical depiction of his subjects as "real" seen throughout this era (even when they clearly stream from his imagination/dreams).

More of his work can be seen at http://www.wikiart.org/en/hieronymus-bosch

Grade 10 Animal Drawing Project Part 1 - Example starting images

As a part of our unit culminating task students are required to bring in an animal photo from
which to work. Here are some examples of great photos that could be the starting point for the student projects.

Note the strong contrast and rich colour palettes. This is something that will be of great value in choosing the best images for this project.

Ask me why this last one is probably not a great choice.... you may be surprised

Intro Pages

Here are some intro pages completed by

current and former students:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you spot the key problem with this one?