Sketchbook Assignment Due October 5

Skeleton/Figure Drawings

• Set aside a double-page spread in your sketchbook
• Go to a public space at a busy time of day (the cafeteria, McDonald's, a grocery store, etc.)
• Bring along an image of a skeleton.
• Create quick figure studies from observation of four different individuals using the unfinished-to-finished technique.
• Then, working from observation of the skeleton image, superimpose a drawing of a skeleton onto each figure, paying attention to accuracy of proportions and foreshortening.

I'm sorry that the printer gave me trouble in class.  Here is the skeleton image that you can download and print:

Skeleton/Figure Drawings

Sketchbook Assignment Due September 26

Planar Development

• Two double-page spreads of planar development practice

This time around, practice more complex planes and incorporate sideslant and "massing",  You may even combine the two techniques as you can see in some of the examples below.

Models, Should You Need Them

Sketchbook Assignment Due September 19

Planar Development

• Two double-page spreads of planar development practice
• One double-page spread of artist research (planar figures)

This time around, practice more complex planes and incorporate sideslant and "massing",  You may even combine the two techniques as you can see in some of the examples below.

Also, remember the artist research.  This is not something arbitrary that I am asking you to do just to keep you busy.  You are learning skills, concepts, and techniques in this class that have been used by many artists before you.  You can learn from their examples.  One of the great things about art is that there are so many other artists out there who have done the hard work for you already.  You can look at their work, analyze it, try to imagine how they did it, read about their processes, and try to attempt it yourself.  This is how we grow as artists.  You have THOUSANDS of years of art that has come before you, and new art being created every day.  That is an immense and ever-expanding treasure trove of resources!  So, don't ignore it.

Artists Using a Planar Approach to the Human Figure

Luca Cambiaso (1527-1584)

Cambiaso was a prolific draftsman. In his early drawings Cambiaso showed a preference for bold foreshortening and exaggerated gestures. In the mid-1560s he began to draw in a simplified, geometric style that may have been inspired by similar works by Albrecht Dürer and other German artists.

Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966)

Giacometti was a key player in the Surrealist art movement, but his work resists easy categorization. Some describe it as formalist, others argue it is expressionist or otherwise having to do with what art historian Deleuze calls "blocs of sensation". Even after his excommunication from the Surrealist group, while the intention of his was was usually imitation, the end products were an expression of his emotional response to the subject. He attempted to create renditions of his models the way he saw them, and the way he thought they ought to be seen.

Zak Smith (1976-still living)

An enduring interest in comic books informs Smiths dynamic and obsessively detailed depictions of the people, objects, and stories that inhabit his world. Smith draws on traditions of decorative art to produce visually complex, labor-intensive pictures characterized by intricate patterns and vivid coloration.  These include repeated shapes (such as squares and lines) that are compressed to form 3D hints that form the picture. Zak also contrasts colors in his work, often using black and white with clear differentiation within the scene.

Sketchbook Assignment Due Sept. 12

Photo Planar Analysis

• Gather at least four photographs depicting human figures.
• Make full-page photocopies of these photos and paste them into the book.
• Using ink or charcoal pencil, analyze each face and body and draw a series of planes over each figure that corresponds to what you have learned in class.

Below is an example I did digitally to help you:

 First, find a photograph that includes a human figure.

Next, using a series of straight lines drawn directly over the photograph, begin breaking down the figure into planes that help make three-dimensional sense of the form.  Notice how in this image I got far more complex than we did in class.  I want you thinking about planes that will follow closer to the form of the figure this time.  Use light, thin lines at this point.

Next, start thinking about line variation.  Where should you push lines darker to enhance the illusion of three-dimensional space and the form of the figure?  In this case, I strengthened all of my contour lines just a little so that the contours better contain the form.  Then I looked for places where I wanted to pull certain planes forward in space toward me and push others away from me.  So, I gave some extra strength to the lines around the models head, because the way she's standing, it is the closest thing to me.  Then, some stronger lines to accentuate the arm and elbow on the right to punch it forward in space.  Then some stronger lines around the leg and buttock which is closest to me so that the viewer can understand that the other leg and her torso go behind this leg.  Then, some stronger lines around the breasts in the areas where they are furthest from the figure's torso.  Then, some good dark, thick lines where her feet touch the floor to give an indication of gravity pressing down.  Now the figure has weight, mass, and volume.

Here, I have removed the photograph so that you can see the resulting planar line drawing and get a better idea of where I strengthened lines and what \resulting effect it has.

Examples:

If you are having trouble finding photographs to use for the assignment, here are some examples that you can feel free to download and print (try to find your own, first, however):

To get the full sized photo, right click on the image then choose "Open link in new tab".