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Art I Projects

Class projects will cover a variety of skills, content, and media. We will start with an introduction to drawing skills as a foundation on which to build. This page will contain important details, resources, and information related to each project. It is your responsibility to use this page to help guide and reinforce your learning.

Art 1 Gallery

Clay sculpture - Handbuilding

5/14/2018

 
Objectives: 
  1. Learn about clay types, processes, and related vocabulary
  2. Understand how and when to use each hand building technique: pinch, slab, and coil 
  3. Demonstrate proficiency in techniques such as wedging, the score/slip method, and additive/subtractive decorating methods (modeling, incise/excise, impress, appliqué)
  4. Create a clay sculpture using a spherical form made with two connected pinch pots as the basis for further construction, using additional pinch, slab, coil, and/or modeled construction methods.
  5. Use additive and subtractive decorative methods to create the details needed to give the work and finished look with characteristics of the chosen form (textures, patterns, etc.).
  6. Other than that (time restrictions...), the sky is the limit!

​PLEASE NOTE: 
  1. The projects illustrated in the slideshow above were based on the Global Studies focus on Latin America - YOUR sculptures will be inspired by your Pop Art painting.
  2. The projects illustrated in the slideshow above were made using red clay but YOU will be using white clay. Ways to add color will be discussed but time limits may prevent us from getting that far. If color IS added, it must be SIMPLE (like, spray painting with ONE color).
  3. Construction must be hollow and should be sturdy and well balanced and, of course, and the product must make it through the construction, drying, and firing processes!
  4. Use the button below to access additional photos of past projects - look at each carefully to better understand the construction methods that you will be utilizing.
Art 1 Gallery

Paint, Pop Art, and Color Theory

4/2/2018

 
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OBJECTIVES:
  1. Understand how the Pop Art movement came to be, especially as a reaction to previous art movements
  2. Recognize characteristics of Pop Art
  3. Understand color's 3 properties: HUE, VALUE, and SATURATION and how the artist has control over the choice and use of color
  4. Mix paint to achieve local color matches as well as arbitrary color choices based on formal color schemes
  5. Create a painting using: a) a self-selected, appropriated image, b) an area(s) of counterchange, and c) an arbitrary yet formal color scheme
CURIOUS? Here's A LOT more information:
  • http://www.theartstory.org/movement-pop-art.htm
  • https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/pop-art
  • https://theattractionpass.com/pass/the-history-of-pop-art-in-nyc
Art 1 Gallery

Cartooning with Kirk O'Brien

2/19/2018

 
Cartoonist, from Wikipedia:
"A cartoonist (also comic strip creator) is a visual artist who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is often created for entertainment, political commentary, or advertising. Cartoonists may work in many formats, such as animation, booklets, comic strips, comic books, editorial cartoons, graphic novels, manuals, gag cartoons, graphic design, illustrations, storyboards, posters, shirts, books, advertisements, greeting cards, magazines, newspapers, and video game packaging
."
Guest artist and local cartoonist, Kirk O'Brien, will teach you the art of cartooning! Pay close attention to his lessons because in addition to teaching you some new things, he will also reinforce concepts that we have been covering in class:
  • Figure drawing (even if your figure is non-human)(canons of proportion)
  • Composition (dynamic vs. static; the importance of space and continuity)
  • Content (what's your story about? tell it in a sequential manner)
  • Idea generation (dump the first ideas to get to the best - draw a lot)
  • Line quality (use line weight to accentuate action and dimension)
  • AND MORE! What connections/similarities/differences do you notice?

Select Art 1 cartoons from years past:

Helpful hints from Pixar and storyboard artist Emma Coats: 
  1. You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
  2. You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.
  3. Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about till you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.
  4. Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
  5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
  6. What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?
  7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
  8. Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
  9. When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
  10. Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.
  11. Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.
  12. Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
  13. Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.
  14. Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.
  15. If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.
  16. What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
  17. No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on - it’ll come back around to be useful later.
  18. You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.
  19. Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
  20. Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?
  21. You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?
  22. What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.
CURIOUS? Here's more information:
  • Tutorial - How to Draw a Cartoon Body
  • Krazy Kat - called one of the most original and influential comic strips
  • Jim Lee - a comic artist who attended Princeton University and majored in psychology, with the intention of becoming a medical doctor...

Figure Drawing

1/29/2018

 
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Figure drawing is an important yet difficult skill to master. Like most other art forms, it takes practice, concentration, and perseverance. 

You will learn about human proportions and continue to practice and refine the general drawing skills that you learned in Drawing Bootcamp and beyond. New skills such as sighting techniques, gesture drawings, and ways to capture the pesky illusion of foreshortening will be addressed.

REMEMBER - all art lessons are cumulative; you will need to use and refine everything that you have learned and practiced so far, in order to see the most progress in your work.

Objectives: 
  1. Continue to practice and refine observation and contour drawing skills by using the figure as a subject 
  2. Learn “gesture” and other figure drawing methods.
  3. Learn correct body proportions as measured by “heads”
  4. Learn sighting methods to help measure and place the figure accurately on the paper
  5. Apply knowledge of line quality to a final contour drawing the figure
  6. Compare the final figure drawing with the one you completed in the Art Skills Inventory...what improvements do you see? 
HELPFUL  RESOURCES:
  • Drawing the Figure 
  • Drawing Lab
  • Cartoon Fundamentals: How to Draw a Cartoon Body​
Gesture drawing - how to sketch a simplified yet proportionally accurate skeleton figure that captures the action of a pose quickly: 
More practice drawing skeleton figures, differentiating between the male and female form:
Here are some Art 1 examples from years' past....look for the drawings that are more naturalistic (why is that so?) and those that filled the space effectively (composition is always important, remember):

Linear Perspective and Value

1/15/2018

 
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Objectives:
  1. Understand the concept of scientific linear perspective - as it differs from intuitive and atmospheric perspective.
  2. Understand that drawing geometric forms is the basis for drawing most every 3D object (including figures) - and that linear perspective can help to draw those geometric forms accurately.
  3. Practice drawing with 1-pt. and 2-pt. perspective.
  4. Practice value scales with pencil, colored pencil, and paint.
  5. Apply highlights, midtones, shadow edges, and cast shadows to linear perspective drawings, according to the light source.
  6. Understand how using linear perspective PLUS values (implied lines vs. actual lines) can create the illusion of reality in a drawing or painting.​

PLEASE NOTE: the presentation below will be discussed in class - you can take notes at that time or access the information later; you cannot access this presentation on your phone, however!​​
CURIOUS? Find out more:
  • ​Perspective Lessons​​
  • Linear Perspective Interactive ​
  • More about Eye-level ​​​
  • "3D" Crosswalk​​

Art = Subject, Composition, Content

10/30/2017

 
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  • AI.5 - The student will employ a variety of subject matter, including cultural or social concepts, to express ideas in original works of art.
  • AI.7 - The student will adhere to ethical choices when creating works of art and design.
  • AI.8  - The student will select and apply elements of art and principles of design to communicate meaning in works of art.
  • AI.17  - The student will analyze how media and visual organization in works of art affect the communication of ideas.
So, you made it through Drawing Bootcamp...Now what? You are challenged to put your new observation and drawing skills to the test AND to add some new skills to the mix. Use the Project Planning document (download below) to help guide your artistic process:

  1. Using CONTOUR LINES, draw at least 3, three-dimensional objects from life (the SUBJECT). The objects can be from the art room or from home but you must draw from life because drawing from a photo is a completely different thing!
  2. Make sure to consider the ACCURACY of your drawing - are you REALLY LOOKING at the objects as you draw? Are you REALLY drawing ONLY WHAT YOU SEE? DO NOT use memorized symbols or make up information that is not there!
  3. Consider also, LINE QUALITY (weight). It is essential and WILL affect the accuracy and visual impact of your drawing.
  4. Carefully cut out your best drawings (you will likely have to draw many more than 3 in order to get the best drawings) and begin to arrange them on the picture plane that you have been given (paper). Remember what we talked about re: COMPOSITION and the Elements of Art and Principles of Design. Arrange and re-arrange your drawings until you find a STRONG COMPOSITION that supports the CONTENT of your work.
  5. Think also about additional ways that you can support the CONTENT of your work? ...What else will you add to complete the work? More drawings? Collage materials? Other mixed media?
  6. When you are SURE that you have the COMPOSITION the way you want it, carefully glue all the pieces down. Craftsmanship is essential here - be neat!
  7. Mount your artwork for display using the ATG; make a label, which includes a thoughtful title that supports the content of your work.
  8. Complete the assessment rubric; reflect on and rate your work. 
contour_composition_project_planning_.pdf
File Size: 42 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Art 1 Gallery

Drawing Bootcamp!

9/4/2017

 
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You CAN draw (you CAN draw better)! Whether you are starting from the beginning or improving upon existing skills, Drawing Bootcamp! will get you into artistic shape. 

Forget what you "think you know" and learn/refine observation techniques that will allow you to truly "perceive" objects vs. "just looking" at them. This type of keen observation, coupled with intense focus and purpose, is the key to drawing and also serves as the foundation for learning other artistic skills and processes.

These "bootcamp" exercises may seem difficult, frustrating, pointless, and even “painful” but there is​ a method to the madness. Stick with it, keep an open mind, and you should be pleased by the outcome.

FIRST: Are you a Right or a Left-brainer? What does that even mean? Does it even matter? What does it have to do with learning to draw? While it may be an outdated and defunct brain theory, it still offers us food for thought re: how we think and learn - and how we LEARN TO DRAW. Find out about the ways of YOUR brain by taking the following quizzes and then documenting and reflecting on the results.
Some of the questions in the below quizzes may seem silly, or repetitive, or even contradictory, and you may not be sure how to answer...just go for a gut reaction so that you can get some results to consider. Take all 3 quizzes to get an "average" and document the results and notes in your sketchbook as a Curiosity page.
  • Quiz #1 - 54 questions with extensive results. Document the brain dominance results (%), read the explanations, and make note of what could be helpful to understanding the ways that you process information. Note also any information that you find contradictory to what you know about yourself.
  • Quiz #2 - 32 questions with a # result for R or L brain dominance. Document the results and compare them to the first test.
  • Quiz #3 - A set of activities to be completed. Document the result and compare it to the results of the first and second tests....
  • After taking all three tests: What conclusions can you draw?​ Do you have additional questions - is there more to be curious about?

One of the most challenging exercises that you will work through is the blind, continuous line contour drawing. Here's a video that might help:

CURIOUS? Find out more:
  • This article (and the video below) says that all the R/L brain stuff is nonsense....you decide
  • A quiz about "Dominant Intelligence"
  • What practice can do for your drawing skills 
  • THIS IS HOW LEONARDO DA VINCI DID IT! (and you can too!!)

Aleatoricism + Pareidolia + Drawing

10/24/2016

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During this unit, presented by Ms. Manandhar (student teacher) students will explore themes of spontaneity, serendipity and play through art while also improving the drawing skills introduced through "Drawing Bootcamp." Activities with media that are less controlled will lead to more controlled and directed work. Found and accidental shapes, patterns and textures will be elaborated into recognizable forms by applying specific concepts such as using contour line and line quality to enhance the illusion of form. New rendering skills will be introduced as well.

By the end of the unit, students will have:
  • Created a mixed media, two dimensional work that combines the collage of experimental shapes with thoughtfully drawn and rendered forms
  • Experimented with different media using unconventional drawing and painting methods to create textures, pattern and shapes
  • Created, morphed, and distorted drawings of familiar objects 
  • Understood the role of composition in visual art, as well as how different elements of art and principles of design affect composition and content
  • Identified the types of composition in a broad range of art historical work
  • Manipulated the same set of shapes to construct and sketch a number of different composition types
  • Studied and practiced different ways of rendering a form with drawing media
  • Observed and discussed the works of Mika Angela Hendricks, Sketching Backpacker, Sunga Park, Hua Tuan, and other artists
  • Provided constructive feedback to peers about works in progress and finished work
  • Reflected on their own work and written an artist statement, which uses art vocabulary effectively and illustrates comprehension of presented art content and concepts
arnheim_reading_due_11_1_16.pdf
File Size: 1112 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

"Objects are People Too" - photos of faces in ordinary, inanimate objects
Review this presentation for concepts, vocabulary, and related imagery:
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Pop Art - Still Life - Color - Paint

4/11/2016

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Tom Wesselmann's "Still Life #60" (above, as installed; below, get a sense of scale)
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OBJECTIVES:
  1. Understand how the Pop Art movement came to be; compare and contrast it with other art movements 
  2. Understand and manipulate color's 3 properties: HUE, VALUE, and SATURATION through the medium of paint
  3. Experience the way that an artist has control over the choice and purposeful use of color
  4. Draw the still life accurately and with good composition (use ALL the skills we have been practicing this year!)
  5. Select an ARBITRARY color scheme with which to paint the still life while matching observed values
  6. Paint highlights, mid-tones, shadow edges, and cast shadows to create the illusion of real form
  7. Use selected Pop Art attributes to finish the work (Ben Day dots, etc.)
  8. Mount work for display
  9. Self-assess work to comprehend growth and understanding of concepts and objectives
Here are some examples from past years:
still_life_rubric_arti.pdf
File Size: 56 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Inspiration: Pre-Columbian Pottery

5/11/2015

 
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Objectives: 
  1. Specific inspiration will come from the Anthropomorphic and Zoomorphic pottery of Latin American Pre-Columbian cultures....but your imagination should go wild....
  2. Learn about clay types, processes, and related vocabulary
  3. Understand how and when to use each hand building techniques of pinch, slab, and coil 
  4. Demonstrate proficiency in techniques such as wedging, the score/slip method, and additive/subtractive decorating methods (incise, impress, appliqué)
  5. Create a clay sculpture or vessel using a spherical form made with pinch pots as the basis for further construction.
  6. Additional pinch, slab, and/or coil construction will complete the form and additive and subtractive decorative methods will create the details
  7. Construction must be hollow and should be sturdy and well balanced... and the product must make it through the drying/firing process without breaking, cracking, falling apart or exploding!

CURIOUS?
What is Clay?
Ancient American Art at the VMFA
Costa Rican Pottery 
rubric_ceramic_art1.pdf
File Size: 48 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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