Week of March 30 exercises

This week we are going to focus on turning form by controlling edges.  You’ve heard me talk about the importance of edges in the past, but I’m not sure we done class exercises that truly focus on it.

Edges draw the eye.  They also suggest contrast, bringing the area forward even if the two colors coming together are very close together.  Soft edges create space and enhance the illusion of turning form and atmosphere.

You are to choose an interesting (group of) object(s) and set up a still-life that is somewhat monochromatic (I don’t want you to be distracted too much by color).  Your object(s) should have enough curving planes to serve our purpose Be sure to light it with directional light so there are clear light and shadows.  Then make a painting of it using any painting approach with which you are comfortable that focuses on edge quality.  Downplay anything that happens in shadow, and play up the lights and their transitions into shadow.  See the links to my demonstration below

A couple of principles

·         If in doubt, make an edge soft. 

·         It’s easier to harden up an edge once the paint has dried than to soften a dried hard edge

·         If one side of a form needs a hard edge, make sure the opposite edge is soft

My demo

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYT1NUB5S_0

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hkPlIeRYz8

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGKuKx0mNG0

Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMOSm39wlFQ

Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee-bhbfHjcY

Assignment #5: Pop/Lowbrow Culture

Due April 30

You are to make a painting about consumer culture that prominently uses Branding imagery.  That means that the logos and color combinations that we see in corporate branding will figure prominently in your composition. This could mean a variety of approaches to making paintings.  Your painting may be realistic or somewhat abstract, using believable illusionistic space or flat pictorial space.  Below are some examples of artists using brand/consumer culture imagery.

There are many more ways to handle branded and consumer culture imagery than the examples below.  These are just some of the ways that artists have dealt with such imagery over the last several decades.  Find a way that make sense to you using imagery and approaches to painting that you understand and are interested in.

Douke. Heinz

Zoey Frank. Orange Glo

Kaws. Simpsons

Lichtenstein. Look Mickey

Warhol. Campbell’s Soup Cans

Sachs. 3M Tape Dispenser

Assignment #4: Multiple Figure Composition

Due April 30

You are to design a composition that involves at least three human figures physically interacting with each other.  Your painting must be of a size that is larger than you are normally comfortable with. The narrative that combines these figures is completely up to you. The figures may be any scale necessary as long as they are formally essential to the composition (for example, I don’t want you making a painting where there is a single prominent figure with a couple tiny figures stuck in the background). You may use any visual reference necessary.

Think about the kind of narrative that might work with multiple figures.  There are plenty artists that have dealt with such a subject.  Below are a few examples from Art History.  Borrow as much as you need to from other artists! However, don’t merely mimic the solution from another artist.  Come up with a solution that is YOURS.  Make work about the stuff that interests you and that you tend to think about. Find your solution from your well of experience.

Stevenson. After Matisse

Freud. Large Interior

Kadevsky. Party

Pontormo. Sacred Family

Breugel. Blind Leading the Blind

Spencer. Apple Gatherers

Picasso. Demoiselles D’Avignon

Currin. Thanksgiving

Fischl. St Barts

Katz. Round Hill

Demo Video for Class Exercise

So I just posted links to a series of short videos demonstrating what I've asked you to do this week.  I hope they help!
Here are the links as well:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYXiUIgxh-s&t=53s

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFRI4QQRA8I

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2ArXTfEQOw&t=23s

Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKMoVfOnMO4

Blackboard is LIVE!

Hi All,
From now on we will do business through Blackboard, so be sure to familiarize yourself with it.  Check out our course shell, and note that Project #3 is due this week.  Please submit an image of it through the assignment post in the Lessons section.  I'm still working out how to effectively post demo videos through Blackboard, so even though I'm trying to that might not happen this week (sorry!).  I realize none of us signed up for this, but here we are. 

Be sure to stay safe, healthy, and SANE!

Assignment #3: Self Contained Shape Painting

Due March 24 for morning class

        March 25 for evening class

You are to design a painting that emphasizes the overall shape of the image.  In the manner of a logo, sticker design, or family coat-of-arms, the painting must not be composed on a rectangle.  Instead, though the painting will probably be made on a rectangular canvas or similar, it must be composed within its own irregular silhouette.  The subject and scale is up to you.  The negative space around the irregular shape of the design may be the raw white color of the gessoed canvas.

Though I’m using the word “logo” as an example of the self-contained nature of the image, I do not want you to make shape or the image inside as simple as a logo.  I’m looking for something complex enough to be interesting with some density and detail inside.  A logo is designed to be instantly recognizable and readable, not necessarily very interesting.  Your painting is still a PAINTING!  Embrace the paint, complex color relationships, and as much detail (or density) as needed.  Have fun with it!  Feel free to reference branding or pop culture, but make your painting feel unique and complex, not mass produced.  Good luck!