TUES. 2/14 SUBJECTIVE USE OF VALUE

Brenda Laoxana

Kannha Hemsouvanh

Value is used "subjectively" when the artist bases his or her decisions on intuition and the demands of the design. In other words, values are used to create volume, rhythm and psychological or dramatic impact. Brenda's drawing exhibits a strong rhythm directed by the subtle use of line wandering through and around the forms. This is complemented by the triangular and diagonal placement of similar values and textures that also help direct the "eye." Kannha's drawing is a very dynamic, moving and confrontational view of a portrait in turmoil. The combination of pointed and curvilinear forms creates a sense of movement and animation as if the facial features were liquid and fluid. His use of value propels the design while bringing volume and depth to the image.

Tues. and Wed. Feb. 8 & 9 VALUE STUDIES

Students made continuous line drawings based on Cubist Ideals of fragmented and fractured space.  The forms the images took were one of three possibilities: portrait, landscape or abstract design. Giselle Chavez's drawing above would fall under the abstract design category. This drawing is unfinished at the time of photo but note the rhythm established by the placement of the black values.  Also worthy of note, is the reductive work on the left curl and in the central flower/ bow shape.

Clearly Mariah Clark's drawing is a portrait albeit distorted.  This is an extremely dynamic and animated piece. She has made excellent use of angular shapes juxtaposed with more fluid like forms.  There is a sense of the negative space pushing in on the face like the hands of an unforeseen figure pawing and smearing the features. The accenting with the eraser against the line work is especially well done.

 Kristin Rimal's drawing has a great sense of movement while exhibiting strong use of pattern elements. Note how the wavy lines add a fluid quality to the image.  This also creates the illusion of transparency.  As mentioned the drawing is rich with patterns that bring visual interest.  The thing to remember about patterns is that they essentially read as "grays".

The beauty in Hong Lin's drawing lies within her use of repetition. Notice how your "eye" is lead throughout the profile by all the repeating circular shapes.  Placing the eyes at a diagonal also helps push the viewer's attention across the profile image. This is a very interesting image with many points of interest and the allusion of being the portrait of a bejewelled princess.

HOMEWORK #3 Imaginary Face

This homework assignment is a repeat of what was covered in class on 9/13(Monday) and 9/17(Friday).  On 18 x 24 in. drawing paper using charcoal materials and erasers make a drawing of an imaginary face or landscape or abstract design. If drawing a representational image (i.e. face or landscape, etc.) address the subject as though it were observed from multiple viewpoints.  Cover the picture plane with large, open shapes.  Don't get caught up in details.  The primary objective here is to fill the shapes with as many different values and textures as possible.  Refer to the post from 9/17 for two excellent examples.

9/17 (Friday) Imaginary Face and Value Reduction

The morning session began with a slide presentation on the various methods and applications of Value; followed by a brief presentation on some late portraits made by Pablo Picasso.  The project, inspired by the portraits by Picasso, was to divide and cover the picture plane with large open shapes resembling a face seen from multiple viewpoints.  Values and textures were then applied to the shapes using charcoal materials and erasers. Drawings by Jennifer Garcia and Matthias Linford.

In the afternoon, we continued working on value studies.  This next project is called Value Reduction.  All values located in the still life ranging from 1-5 are rendered white, all values 6-10 are rendered black.  The resulting drawing is a flattened, abstract image with a merging of the positive and negative areas. Drawings by Stazi Borissenko, Nancy Rubio and Monica Gomez.

6/23 Imaginary Face

This morning we did some review of proportions with the rendering of a chair.  Then we discussed the characteristics of value.  The project was to investigate value and mark-making while creating an imaginary face rendered from multiple views simultaneously.  The results were imaginative, humorous and bizarre to say the least. Drawings by Karen Robinette, Jemma Eubanks, Lexi Mason-Davis and Jonathan Stagnaro.