Gallery Reception today --- Jan. 30

A closing reception for the Faculty Exhibit in Ross Gallery today---4-6pm. See you there!

Drawing I Positive/Negative Exercise

The class was asked to use their viewfinders to compose an image that had an interesting play between positive and negative space.....they took note that more negative space typically means a more static image.

ART 131, January 28, 2008, last exercise of the day

Some "blog worthy" samples..................

What if.........

What if I told you to create a drawing using a single contour line? No, you can't shade, you can't overlap....just a single contour line to describe the form you're drawing. What would you do?

Would it look something like this?

The contour line begins at the tip of his nose and spirals around...

Thanks to Carolyn Greer for sending me this.....

Class Exercise---intro to ink and ink wash

Drawing I students were introduced to ink today, and asked to explore working wet-in-wet, and in layers. We talked about learning when to let go a little and let the ink just "be".....and when to exert control. Also, we talked about creating hard and soft edges with ink. So we worked from a still life, and a few chose to work from imagination on the second image.

JannaWilliam

Yll

Malinda
Nicole

Sherrin

Sorry for the poor slide quality on these last ones...as usual, operator error.
Marilyn
Jonathan

Wendy
Roderick


Good job, Drawing I.....

FYI, from here on out, it's going to get a little tougher to get onto the blog!

Ink wash samples....

These are posted to inspire (specifically, my Drawing I class)....... I can't recall where I've collected all these images, but I will attribute where I can....

Yes, this is ink......

A Delacroix Landscape

Richard Diebenkorn

H. Tokahu

A student ink drawing (mostly line)

Both of these are by Rembrandt....note the drybrushing in Sleeping Woman.

J. Piper

Jim Dine

All by Victor Hugo

Yes, this is ink....and yes, it scares me a little. I can't find the artist's name...sorry.

These two are watercolor, but the techniques are essentially the same as ink....
The one on the left is Mondrian....I believe the one on the right is Luks.
I adore the Mondrian...

Drawing I---First exercise

Drawing I, Spring 2008, First Exercise!
I'm really proud of this class---they jumped in, listened, and even though they didn't get to finish the first drawing, it was successful across the board. Sorry for the lousy slide....operator error. Students were asked to tone their paper, and using charcoal, a chamois, and erasers, draw from the still life set up; working reductively and adding details with charcoal.

Here are some "blog worthy" drawings from the first session:

First Drawing, Sherrin

First Drawing
Malinda Balcom.

First Drawing
Nicole Rivera

First Drawing, Yll

Keep up the good work Drawing I students!

Watercolor Assignment

Here's the homework assignment for Friday, January 18 class:

As always, work in your sketchbook, by drawing, but also list 20 different types of watercolor paintings/drawings you'd like to do...think subject matter and technique.

Beginning Exercises:The following info is from The Watercolor Artist’s Bible by Marylin Scott. This is a good reference for you, and it’s inexpensive. All information is intended for educational use by my Watercolor class at CPCC.
Get to know your palette….here are the colors you’ve been asked to have on hand
Cadmium Red (Primary)
alizarin crimson (Primary)
Lemon yellow (Primary)
Cadmium yellow (Primary)
Yellow ochre or raw sienna (Primary)
Burnt sienna (Tertiary)
Burnt umber (Tertiary)
Viridian (Secondary)
cobalt blue (Primary)
Cerulean blue (Primary)
Winsor blue (phtalo blue) (Primary)
Payne’s gray (Tertiary)
Perm. Sap green (additional color)
Indigo (additional color)
Permanent Rose (additional color)
Violet (additional color---this one is tough to mix)

First of all, we all know that on the basic color wheel we’re all taught, there are only three primaries. But considering the transparency of watercolor and the trickiness of mixing for beginners; we’re going to start with 6 primaries----a warm and cool of each of the three main primary colors (red, yellow and blue).

Begin with a sheet of watercolor paper. You won’t need to stretch it; and these are just exercises, so don’t waste the paper. I estimate you’ll need about a 16x20” (give or take a little) to do this. Or you can do it on smaller pieces---or directly in your sketchbook. Think about your traditional color wheel, and paint a shape (such as the pie shape) using your six primaries:

You will paint this on dry paper, and be sure to clean your brush thoroughly when you change colors. Paint them large enough that your can really see the color---several inches at least. You will notice that there is a warm and cool version of each color.

The most vibrant and intense secondary colors (colors made by mixing two primaries) are made by mixing primaries that have the same bias (i.e., cool primaries together, and warm primaries together).

Mixing primaries of opposite bias will give you a more muted secondary color. So, mix a warm primary with a cool primary:

There is no substitute for experience. Sometimes you’ll want to create layers of color---like glazing in oils, this can create a very luminous effect. So, let’s see what happens when we try some Overpainting effects:

The colors listed are simply samples. Mix from your own palette, and be sure to label it. This will be a great resource for your sketchbook.

Hint for oil painters…blending isn’t a good idea here…lay the color down with a sure stroke, then layer the next color over it. Experiment with how much you let it dry between applications---you’ll get different effects that way.

Transparent and opaque colors:
Theoretically, all watercolors are transparent, and it is this quality that characterizes the medium. However, some pigments are slightly more opaque than others, the most transparent colors being the dye-based ones such as alizarin crimson, sap green, and phthalo (or Winsor) blue and Panyne’s gray. Lemon yellow, yellow ocher, and cerulean blue are all relatively opaque, so they can be used to lighten the tone of a darker color beneath, or to amend it if required. Printed directly from The Watercolor Artist’s Bible by Marylin Scott.

Granular Effects: Some colors tend to “break up” when you add water, so it’s good to have a reference for ones that have this tendency.

Click here for a printable version of this assignment.