VALUE: Texture and Mood

On Friday the class made value drawings addressing texture, mood and volume. In addition to addressing the local values discussed in last week's lessons, students applied individual textures to the objects and the space. You's drawing exhibits a keen observation of the categories of light. In addition, there is a skilled handling of the materials capturing the many surface variations without overwhelming or flattening the volumes.

You Nara

Ever Arango Lopez

Ever's drawing is rich in contrasting values as well as texture. The objects and the space possess individual textures yet remain unified within the whole composition. His attention to the details of the gas can capture the character of the object while establishing a pleasing use of repetition.

Dorothy Fast

Rainey Hoaglin

Dorothy and Rainey's drawings are from the afternoon session. Dorothy's employment of high key values produces a tight grouping of the objects where the forms are defined by texture rather than value. The dark background in stark contrast to the objects establishes a strong separation of foreground and background. Rainey's drawing illustrates a very theatric and dreamy lighting condition. The objects appear to be illuminated from within. Her use of the vignette controls the light and the ghostly, incompleteness of the forms evokes a sense of the paranormal.

VALUE: Mood

Amelia Ketzer Dean

John Burgess

Jonathan Martinez

On Wednesday the class continued working with value studies. In addition to texture and the categories of light, the class tried to address a sense of "mood". Amelia's drawing at the top is rich in value and texture. Her invention of the corner adds to the environment creating the appearance of locating these objects within a closet or shed. John's drawing in the middle exhibits a more dramatic sense of light with his "accenting" of the edges of the objects within the negative space. All of the objects possess a strong, individual character and texture as well as volume. Jonathan's drawing at the bottom exhibits  large geometric shapes complemented by bold contour lines. This drawing is very well composed and balances the positive and negative areas with equal importance adding to the success and unity of the composition.

VALUE: Texture

Last night the class made value drawings addressing texture as well as volume and the categories of light. The drawing above from a previous semester illustrates the additive and reductive techniques combined with tonal and linear mark-making.

VALUE: Local Value

Kyle Freyermuth

Veronica Argentieri

Friday morning the class made drawings addressing the local values and categories of light observed on white objects. Kyle's drawing has a strong sense of narrative and atmosphere. His rendering of the negative areas with whispy, streaked marks suggests moonlit clouds looming over a damp, creaking boat harbor. The mark-making applied to the objects has almost a wood grain texture as well as modeling the volumes. Even the tilt adds to the story.
Veronica has keenly observed the light and dark value patterns on the objects. She has very skillfully applied additive and reductive techniques to address the light and volumes of the still life. In addition, the negative space and cast shadow are very similar to one another adding atmosphere and balance to the composition.

Jose Auraz

You Nara

In the afternoon we increased the still life to one light object, one medium value and one dark. Jose's drawing exhibits a good balance of light and modeling on the objects. He has skillfully arranged the accents within the objects to relate to the accents in the space. The darker values applied to the background add depth and allow the objects to stand out.
You has created some very beautiful value patterns most notably within the iron. The dark values applied to the iron outline the pepper shaker allowing it to stand out. The cast shadows assist in moving the "eye" around the composition and work well with the background.

VALUE: Local Value

Allyssa Nunnemaker

Daniel Orjuela Beltran

Last night the class continued addressing local value. This time the still life consisted of three objects: one light, one medium and one dark. The objective was to address the local values as well as the categories of light. Alyssa has skillfully rendered the values with an even-handed application of the materials. The oil can is particularly well executed with a strong sense of texture as well as volume. Daniel has also effectively rendered the values but the real strength in his drawing is the composition. He has activated the negative areas by zooming in on the objects and engaging with the edges of the paper.

VALUE: Curvilinear vs. Rectilinear Forms

Last night the class made drawings from totems of white objects. The objective was to render the values observed in the still life as accurately as possible. Allyssa has keenly observed the limited tonal range of high key values. She has skillfully defined all of the contours without line instead focusing her attention to the juxtaposition of light and dark values in order to create edges.

Allyssa Nunnemaker

 Jack has added a touch of subjectivity to his drawing. The glowing edges and increased contrast in the values strengthen the graphic nature of the image. The light is bold and strong. His attention to the negative space and use of omission effectively unifies the positive and negative areas.

Jack Brady

 Techi has equally relied on objective observations enhanced with subjective "touch-ups" for contrast and design most notably in the negative space. The values are effectively rendered addressing light as well as volume. The dark plumes in the negative space allow the lighter contours of the bottle to stand out without the need for line while providing a sense of atmosphere.

Techi Brant

VALUE: Subjective use of value

Last night we began our investigation of Value, the gradations between light and dark. The drawings we made used value subjectively. Placement was determined by the demands of the design in order to achieve the best compositional balance. The objective was to create a design that used a minimum of (10) values and explored various applications. Daniel has effectively used value and shape to create a dark and menacing image of bat shaped gaps and squirming worm-like forms. The dark tonal range adds to the nightmarish mood.
Stanton has also a employed a low key (dark) value range. Again the values are very complementary to the ogling eyes and the monstrous, looming form. The cropped image makes for a very confrontational encounter where the spider-like creature is about to pounce on its prey.

Daniel Orjuela Beltran

Stanton Williams

PROPORTIONS

Yesterday class began with a discussion on Proportions and "sighting" (see previous post and menu above for more info). We also talked about emphasizing and engaging with the negative space by employing cropping. Observe in Kyle's drawing below how cropping the bottles and shadows has isolated areas of the negative space dividing the background into four individual shapes.

The class then made drawings searching for the ideal solids within more complex shapes. Celindrea's drawing above is a cropped view of a mixer. Again the cropping helps divide and activate the negative space. She has also addressed the negative space with some tone which emphasizes the stand of the mixer while forcing the background to recede. Her preliminary marks are still visible with the base of the stand.

After the lunch break we discussed Linear Perspective (see menu above for more info). The class made drawings of blocks in one-point and two-point perspective. We ended the day with a free-hand drawing of a still life of blocks. The students were armed with the knowledge of the rules of linear perspective and eye level, proportions and sighting. Celindrea's drawing above is a well balanced composition with strong attention to the relationship between the positive and negative areas. The lighting is powerful and the textures are rich. The texture of the background is particulary inventive. Kai's drawing exhibits a more somber mood and an approach that is more suggestive of the forms. The positive and negative areas are very unified as if the blocks are emerging from fog or smoke.

PROPORTIONS: Identifying the Ideal Solids

Dylan Murdoch

Emma O'keefe

Last night we discussed Proportions and the measuring technique called "sighting". The first thing to consider when addressing the proportions of things is style and genre. The proportions for cartoon characters is very different than the those of realistic or even idealized proportions. That said, our objective was to develope accurate proportions of the still life objects. Dylan's drawing (top) effectively relates and compares the various parts of the vase. Notice his use of vertical lines enclosing the negative space. Emma's drawing (bottom) reveals a sphere located within the structure of the pitcher. Locating and rendering the ideal solids will increase your drawing speed, because they are easier to draw, and strengthen the volume because they help define structure and placement of values.

LINEAR PERSPECTIVE: Building a Better Box

Liz Bufton

Michelle Reardon

Last night we discussed One-Point and Two-Point Linear Perspective. The class made drawings from a still life of blocks addressing the perspective, proportions, line quality, values and imagined textures. Liz's drawing (top) illustrates evenly, rendered gradations and complementary line quality. The mood of the piece is light with short shadows suggesting mid-day light. In contrast, Michelle's drawing is dark and solemn. The bold lines are very complementary to the slight distortions in the forms making them appear heavy and grounded. The mood of the drawing is enhanced by the grainy quality of the surface which helps to unify the objects with the space.

DISTAL CUES: Composing with Ideal Solids

On Friday class began with a discussion of the Ideal Solids and rendering the categories of light. After the lunch break we used the aforementioned forms to create images addressing the Distal Cues, categories of light, texture and mood. The images below illustrate two very different settings in light and atmosphere. The top image exhibits the cold, stark lighting of a wintery night. The bottom image is a warm, hazy afternoon light. In addition, both drawings effectively use diagonals within the location and placement of the objects. Eduardo has created a zig-zag up the center of the composition like a slithering snake whereas Nicole has an implied diagonal between the two spheres and triangulation with the placement of the cylinders.

Eduardo Gonzales

Nicole Stender