final assignment, final day for LD I (fall 2008)

the dates and times of our final meeting(s) are listed to the left on the sidebar.

what you need to do before your final meeting time:

• create a final blog post which will serve as your class portfolio. the idea is to present to me (and to any other interested art professional) what you learned in Life Drawing I--how successfully you were able to put Life Drawing I concepts into your drawings.
  
  

• this post should include: 1) 5-6 of your best drawings since your october class summary (self-portrait, at least one skull, and 1-2 other long poses and 2-3 gesture drawings); 2) one or two paragraphs summarizing your experience in Life Drawing I including what two-three most substantial things you learned or at which you improved, citing examples; 3) a description of your experience building muscles on the maniken (photos optional).

• you will have 5 minutes to present this post during your final exam time.

• finish building muscles on your maniken--the last set of muscles were the arm/forearm/hand.

• bring your finished maniken to the final meeting time. i will grade this from the real maniken, but if you'd like to add photos to your blog, you may.

• draw a self-portrait (18" x 24") using what you learned about the structure of the skull and facial features. draw yourself from a front 3/4 view, using a mirror. construct the drawing with line and line value only, not with shading. your focus should be on planar analysis, anatomical landmarks, cross-contours, and line quality--as well as acute observation of your own particular skull and face.

• bring your self-portrait to the final meeting time. we will hang these up in order to look at everyone's final drawing of the semester (even though these will be in your blog summary, too).

assignment (ongoing)

beginning today (october 16)

• you need to respond to each of your blog group members at least two times per week:
  some examples of how to do this: respond to drawings or maniken images they have posted, go back through their blogs and respond to earlier posts, ask them meaningful questions, start a discussion about what you are experiencing with class that they could help you with, take something they are doing and connect it to what you are doing (what are they doing that you can learn from? tell them about that.) give them ideas--other artists they might be interested in, for example.

• you need to create at least one blog post per week that is not assigned in class:
  post something that is related to your professional life as an artist--for ideas, think about good books about art and artists, what else in your life relates to art, projects for other classes that you're working on, exhibits you've seen or would like to see, etc. use these posts to record what is important to you and also as a way to show or teach others something they might not know.

better blogging

some notes of the in-class discussions on blog writing/responding, image quality, text appearance, etc. (from class on thursday, october 9):

the overall ideas of the discussions were to treat your blog as an artwork itself, or as a presentation. this means it should look clean and thoughtfully designed. images should be clear, free of distractions. writing should be specific and useful for others, not vague and nondescript.

use the blog to present yourself in your best artistic and professional light.

your blog is also a place to interact with your blog group members: to give thoughtful feedback, record summaries of your group interaction in class, and to help each other solve problems.



writing/responding:

1. use specific language (most good writing takes time. this is especially true when it comes to writing about visual objects. slow down to find the necessary specificity you need to describe something.)
2. tell us (your audience) something we don't know already; make a new observation.
   
3. add to what has already been said by the artist or other people who comment; don't just re-iterate what has already been said.
4. resist the urge to sum up your writing with a happy ending sentence--it will be better if you just leave off with your last observational statement of fact.
5. use noticing to write about others' work. it makes you look more carefully and will give the artist useful feedback on how his/her piece comes across to viewers.
6. write thoughtfully rather than quickly. as you write, ask yourself what kind of feedback would you like to receive about your work (once you received that all-important "your work is awesome!" after you've heard that, then what else do you still want to know?)

images:

1. pay attention to how you are photographing and/or editing your photographs so that they come across clearly.
2. photograph your manikens against a plain, black or white background (matte board, for example) or edit the image in photoshop and give it a plain background.

text

1. think like a graphic designer. text should be easy to read, separated by enough space when appropriate. people like to read shorter rather than longer paragraphs, so if you have a long piece of text, break into paragraphs, give it some space, some breaks to make it easier to look at and read.

practice, practice all the way

"You must realize that there is no royal road to drawing. It is practice, practice all the way."


--robert beverly hale,
drawing lessons
from the great masters:
100 great drawings
analyzed/figure drawing
fundamentals defined

assignment for tuesday, september 23

1. find three old master drawings (in a book) that show a lot of information regarding the structure of the rib cage. make a copy or scan of each image and then, using tracing paper and a colored pencil/pen, trace this information.
   
   
2. the three drawings should include one each from the following points of view:
   

• straight-on (front or back)
• 3/4 view (front or back)
• moderate/extreme foreshortening
  
  

3. include in your tracing:

• egg shape of rib cage
• form of sternum (including three parts and angles)
• cartilage of rib cage (especially its convexity if seen in the drawing)
• thoracic curve
• first pair of ribs
  
  

4. post these three old master images to your blog, noting the artist, date, medium, size, etc. cite your sources. also post your three tracings.


5. write a short paragraph describing the rib cage's structure in each of the drawings.

check out...

... the updates to the syllabus post. the complete, official version is now on the blog! you'll want to read the whole thing. let me know if you have any questions about it.

quick link here

assignment for thursday, september 18

1) post images of your 30-minute drawings (the ones done at the end of class) from:

• tuesday, september 9
• thursday, september 11
• tuesday, september 16 (this one is slightly shorter than 30 minutes)

2) post at least one image of each of the above drawings. include detail shots as well, if you wish.

3) describe what you have learned about gesture drawing and the figure so far in class. use these three drawings as evidence to illustrate what you've learned. refer to the images in your written description. (200 words minimum)

art 3o1-oo1 blog groups (t.th.2:30-5:35)

group 1
layne bolden
nicole harvieux
erik theissen
ben wuest

group 2
scott christoffel
christa kunkel
cassie schneider
caleb summers

group 3
nathan dean
katie lewandowski
marta peterson
corey rice

group 4
erik gannon
melissa mantzke
nathan strauss
reuben balsis

group 5
amanda greene (greene design)
joshua kohlhepp (j.a.k.)
angel troxler
jordan ewert

group 6
derek hageness
jess moran
lance schott (the cage)