1011: Old Master Value Subjects

1. Tintoretto, Rape of Helen
2. El Greco, Laocoon
3. Tintoretto, The Raising of Lazarus

1847 Homework: 2 Hour Hatching Assignment

Your homework is two make a two hour drawing of the paper bag I gave you using the methods of hatching and cross-contour lines which we have been investigating in class. Working in graphite, build up a sense of form, light, and texture by addiing layers of hatched marks upon each other. Remember to start out using the lightest grade pencil you have and slowly work up to the 6B. In the end your drawing should have a wide range of marks and values and should appear to be a fully realized work. Finally, This is a key folio assignment and should offer indications of both your developing skills with hatching/graphite and of a significant time commitment. Good Luck!

**One last reminder: remember to crumple up your bags so they have a sense of texture and surface!***

1011 Homework/Quiz

Homework is to make considerable progress on Project 2 between now and next Tuesday. Attendance has been a bit shoddy around the Mardi Gras Holiday, so I expect those of you who have missed to be making progress outside of class. Several are coming along nicely and are already looking great! I would like to see the projects somewhere between 50%-75% completed at the beginning of next class.

Also, Value/LIne Quiz on Tuesday. This one will resemble the first quiz and will be completed IN class.

1847 & 1011: Chiaroscuro

Some examples:

1) Jean-Honore Fragonard
2) Francisco de Goya
3) Caravaggio

1011 & 1847: Chiaroscuro

Some words on Chiaroscuro as well as a diagram from StudioChalkBoard.Evansville.edu:



Chiaroscuro is a method for applying value to a two-dimensional piece of artwork to create the illusion of a three-dimensional solid form. This way of working was devised during the Italian Renaissance and was used by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. In this system, if light is coming in from one predetermined direction, then light and shadow will conform to a set of rules.

A hightlight will mark the point where the light is being reflected most directly. This is most often bright white, although in my illustration it is 10% Black. As one's eye moves away from this highlight, light hits the object less directly and therefore registers a darker value of gray. In my illustration there is a regular transition until you reach the point where the shadowed area of the form meets the lighted side.

Here there is a more sudden transition to darker values because no light is hitting that side. Some indirect light is available because the dark side does not turn solid black. This is the result of reflected and refracted light that naturally occurs. As you look at the extreme edge of the form, you will notice that it is markedly lighter than the shadowed area of the object. Light in the environment is illuminating the back edge.

The cast shadows are usually divided up into separate values as well. The area closest to the object is usually the darkest area that is being portrayed. Then, as light becomes more available, the same cast shadow lightens in increments until it reaches the shadow's edge.

Hint: Often times a drawing does not have this exact transition of grays. One can control and manipulate this formula to create interesting moods and character in a piece of work. A High Key drawing is one that has mostly light values, probably with no value of more than 60% at the darkest points. A Low Key drawing would be one that has mostly dark values. In both Low and High Key pieces this system of chiaroscura can be used to create the illusion of three-dimensional space in a drawing.

1011 Homework: Project 2

Your homework for next Thursday is simply to make CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS on Project 2. Come in with a good deal of value laid in and be ready to work. Also be sure to remember that a VALUE/LINE quiz is lurking on the horizon. It will likely take place the Tuesday after we return.

1847 Homework: Hatching

Your Homework assignment for next Thursday is to draw 10 objects using hatching and cross-contour lines. Use one piece of Strathmore to draw 10 individual objects on the page. Don't draw one unified composition, but rather ten individual studies of single objects. Remember some of the techniques we practiced in class. Think about using different grades of graphite and other ways to vary your line quality. Try some different approaches, but resolve each object as fully as you can so that it contains a sense of volume and light. Choose relatively simple objects, so that you can concentrate on line quality rather than the complexity of the object. Good Luck!

P.S. Remember that I now will be initialing each Homework assignment during the critique as an indication that it was completed on time. This will then be considered when grading the portfolio.

1847: Portfolio Drawing List

A running list of the drawings to be included in your midterm portfolio:

1. 5 Straight Lines
2. Best Blind Contour Drawing
3. HW: 10 Minute Blind Contour Self-Portrait
4. Collaborative Blind Contour
5. Long Blind Contour
6. First Geometric Still Life
7. HW: 2 8x12 Still Lives using the same 3 objects
8. Long Geometric Still Life
9. Perspective from Life: 2 Cubes
10. HW: 2 Pt. Perspective Experiment
11. Long Cubic/Geometric Still Life (Books & Boxes)
12. HW: 8x12 Still Life of 3 Objects (Manmade & Natural Forms)
13. Long Mixed Still Life: Natural, Manmade, & Geometric Forms (Pears, Potatoes, Bottles, & Boxes)

More to follow...

UL VIAR 111: Hatching

Some examples of artists who were masters of hatching and the cross-contour....

1. Ingres
2. Rembrandt
3. Daubigny

1011 Homework: Project 2

Your homework for the weekend is to complete part 1 of Project 2. In this part, you will be using your camera to come up with a photograph that is both a well-balanced composition (think about the elements of the Form chapter) and is interesting in terms of value. It may be that the image contains a particularly wide value range, deep value contrasts, or uses value compositionally. Remember, on Tuesday YOU SHOULD HAVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPH AVAILABLE either on disc or printed out. If you print it out yourself, go ahead and convert it to black and white if possible. This is a wide open assigment; so the pressure's on you to come up with something great! Good Luck!

1847 Homework

Your homework assignment (which we will look at on Tuesday, Feb 13) is to create a small still life similar to the one we drew at the end of class on Thursday. Use dimensions of/or around 8" x 12" on your Strathmore. Construct the still life with three objects. Remember, they should be a combination of natural forms and manmade forms. Also, think about how you may want to use a different approach for each type of object; depending on if it is an irregular form or it is a complex form made of smaller geometric components.

1011 Form Quiz

As mentioned in class, the point of this quiz is to get you to write an extended piece on one work of art. Remember to describe specific characteristics of the work in terms of form. How does the composition achieve balance? What elements are at play? Write around 300 words on one of the following works and turn it in on Thursday.

1. John Frederick Peto, Office Board for the Smith Bros. Coal Co, 1879
2. Lucian Freud, Reflection, 1985
3. Piet Mondrian, New York City 1, 1942

1847: Two Point Perspective

As I mentioned in class, two point perspective is often times more useful to consider when drawing from life because our picture plane is not usually perfectly parellel to the object we are observing (the conditions necessary to draw in one point perspective). There are many different ways to approach two point perspective. Here is one brief explanation from studiochalkboard.evansville.edu that helps again to explain the process we have been practicing in class:

When using two point linear perspective, one must look carefully at the placement of the object. If the object is not perpendicular and parallel to you and you are looking at it's corner, then you probably want to work in two point. Sometimes when working in two point perspective one of the vanishing points is not on the page. You then must approximate where the point falls by looking at the angles of the object which you are drawing. The best way to approximate an angle and find a vanishing point in two point perspective is to first find your horizon line. This is a level line. By using this level and placing it next to the front corner of the object one can then see the angle and continue this angle out until it intersects with the horizon line. After you have found this intersection, then you have established your vanishing point for all the planes that are parallel and recede the same direction. Repeat this process for the other side of your object and all convergence lines will be established. Use the font edge of an object in two point perspective when you want to scale it. This is the only constant line in two point because there are no horizontals on the object to work from. Verticals are always at a 90 degree angle to the horizon line in one and two point perspective.

Hint: Find your horizon line first. Then find out how much distance in proportion to the object's height there is between the horizon line and the front vertical edge of the object. This will help eliminate distortions.

1847: Examples of One Point Perspective

1. School of Athens by Raphael, 1518
2. The Disputation of St. Stephen by Carpaccio, 1514

1847 Homework: 2 Pt. Perspective

Your assignment for Tuesday, Feb. 6 is to construct something using the 2 point perspective method we practiced in class. Remember these elements: horizon line, two vanishing points, the station point. It can be anything, small or large, simple or complex; but whatever the case, really try to make it have a convincing sense of space based on this method.

1011: Project 1 due Tues, Feb 6

Your first project (both parts 1 & 2) will be due on Tuesday, February 6. Come to class with the project totally completed and be ready to talk about it. Specifically, be ready to tell the class about your formal decisions for part 2. Which elements of form were you considering when constructing the image? What steps did you take to assure it would be a balanced and harmonious composition? Did it ultimately work or do you have reservations about the outcome? You will turn the project in to be graded after the critique.