CLASS INTRODUCTION

Last night was the first night of Art 7A Drawing and Composition 1, Fall 2014. We discussed the syllabus and materials. On Wednesday we will discuss Line. The materials needed are graphite pencils, 18 x 24 in. drawing pad and a sketchbook.

COLOR

Betty Burg

Siobhan Williams

Last Friday students began the morning with color studies of three objects: dice, ball and a letter or number. Betty has effectively employed a complementary color scheme of blue and orange. The expressive mark-making brings extra energy and dynamism to this lively scheme. Notice how she has mixed a little of all the colors in each object.
In the afternoon, students made individual still life arrangements. Siobhan has skillfully employed various elements of the distal cues, specifically overlapping forms and a value gradation. In addition, she has effectively used color temperature to address the advancing and receding forms in the space as well as on the skull.

COLOR

Students finished up working with color pencils last night. Some students made multiple small compositions while others worked on large scale compositions.

Riley Crandall

Riley chose to work from observation arranging multiple objects for a traditional still life study. The composition is well balanced and the objects are proportional to the size of the paper. The spacial relationships are believable and his observations of the values and colors are very well executed.

Jane Collier

Jane combined elements from observation as well as tapping into her imagination. The composition is balanced and framed well within the space focusing attention towards the glowing bottle. In addition, she has effectively used a transition from cool colors in the shadow areas towards warm colors in the light. Her manipulation of color complements the subject matter while creating a visually pleasing environment. The dragon seems to be blissfully embracing or cradling the bottle of fire elixir.

Stevie Young

Stevie has combined elements from her imagination with those observed as well. She too has very effectively used color suggesting spatial depth -cool colors receding, warm colors advancing- as well as casting a sense of light and overall mood within the composition. Especially successful is her use of complementary colors on the antlers creating  glowing oranges, reds and yellows on the underside accented by blues on the receding planes.

COLOR

Last night students worked with color pencils from their own still life arrangements. They were given the option to work on two small pieces for the week or one large. Pix to follow.

INK: wash

Guendalina Codella

Last Friday students made wash drawings from a large still life arrangement. The whole class dug in a bit more than expected so we didn't get to color pencils. We will address color pencils this Friday. Guendalina has made a beautiful drawing exploring ink and wash techniques. Her approach employs both direct wash drawing as well as wet on wet. The values are rich adding volume and a strong sense of light. Those of you familiar with this still life arrangement will notice that she pushed the funnel and book out to the right strengthening the direction and balancing the composition.

COLOR PENCILS: Dice and Balls

Jay Odenthal

Leah Lehr

Last night students began working with color pencils. Before drawing we briefly discussed color schemes and the properties of color and working with color pencils in particular as opposed to paint. The drawings above illustrate two different approaches.
Jay, at the top, has taken a more layered and expressive method of applying color. Notice how subtle accents of red in the yellow and blues and reds in the violet help to unify the composition by relating to each other and the background as well.
Leah's drawing is more tonal and objective in her rendering. She ,as well, has balanced the colors unifying the space and objects. Her rendering with soft contours accented in white rather than black has captured the soft, foam composition of the dice. In addition, both drawings have used the black of the paper well, drawing around the cast shadows and darker tonalities. 

INK WASH

Last night students tried their hands at ink and wash. To achieve the most amount of clarity with washes, it is best to work in layers allowing the first to dry before applying the second. In addition, students mixed 2 - 3 values in cups of water. As in Richards drawing above, some students employed pen techniques as well. The strong diagonal division balances the cluster of forms against the open, atmospheric background. The cloud-like washes  are achieved by working wet on wet (flooding the ink into pools of water). The linear elements add structure while the wash provides a sense of light as well as addressing the local values.