INDIA INK: Wash drawings

Techi Brant

Jack Ryan

Last night the class began working with India Ink and wash techniques. Techi's drawing above is rich in value exhibiting good volume and a strong sense of light. The vertical brush strokes in the background suggest an outdoor environment and a perfect contrast to the horizontal strokes predominant in the objects.
Jack's drawing is from last week. He has successfully rendered the light and volumes with the stipple technique. This too is a perfect contrast to the cross-hatch technique in the background and the rhythmic hatches within the shadows.

INDIA INK: Exquisite Corpse and Still Life

Friday morning began with a game of the Exquisite Corpse. This is one of the strongest group displays I've seen yet. All of the work exhibits strong use of value techniques and line quality. Well done and a fun game.

Dorothy Fast

In the afternoon, students practiced the various techniques of value and mark-making on a still life. Dorothy's drawing illustrates the strength and graphic qualities of working with pen and ink. The contours swell and the values are rich. She has effectively used darker forms to recede allowing the objects in the foreground to advance. Her attention to the negative areas between the forms and in the background enhances the contours of the forms as well as re-enforcing depth and space.

INDIA INK: Still Life

Daniel Orjuela Beltran

Techi Brant

Last night the class continued drawing with India ink. The objective was to address either the light or volume or a combination of the two of a complex still life arrangement. With his parallel hatched lines following the cross-contours of the forms, Daniel has equally addressed the light and the volume. The values are rich and the image is well balanced with its asymmetrical placement.
Techi's drawing is also very rich yet she has giving each object an individual character by applying a different mark-making technique. The values are strong and bold. The image has depth and the negative areas have been emphasized enhancing the juxtaposition of the varying edges.

INDIA INK: The Exquisite Corpse

Monday night students began working with India ink. To become familiar with the medium and explore the various techniques, the class played a round of the Surrealist game "The Exquisite Corpse".  The drawings above illustrate the techniques of parallel and cross hatching, short hatching, scribble, stippling and drawing with a brush.

MIDTERM

All this week both drawing classes are working on the midterm drawing exam and reviewing portfolios one on one with me. Pics will follow.

COMPOSITION: Positive and Negative Balance / Diebenkorn Studies

Ellen Cox

Ever Arango Lopez

Last Friday morning began with a series of drawings addressing positive and negative balance. Each student drew a single item with the objective of activating the negative areas of the composition. Ellen has employed "cropping" to isolate the negative areas. Her composition spirals outward from the upper right hand corner. The keys also establish a strong bottom left to upper right diagonal with the negative areas between the keys reinforcing this push upward.
Ever's drawing has a strong downward push emanating from the upper left to the lower right. The dynamic foreshortening and directional mark-making add to the velocity of the movement.

Rainey Hoaglin

You Nara

In the afternoon, students drew from individual still life arrangements. Rainey has effectively employed atmospheric perspective in her drawing. We enter the composition at the doorknob and wander back towards the bottle. You has also established a close grouping of objects drawing us in along the backscratcher then allowing us to orbit the objects. Both objects exhibit a strong attention to the location of the objects and balance with the negative areas.

VALUE: Diebenkorn Compositions

Jack Ryan

Kathy Heglin

Last night began with a discussion on the work of Richard Diebenkorn and small scale compositions in general. Each student had their own arrangement of 3 -5 objects. Jack's drawing is very well composed, engaging all four sides of the composition. The objects are locked into the space. Your "eye" is directed over and under the positive shapes moving up the page. A bit more contrast in the values would increase the dynamics as well as add clarity.
Kathy has effectively used diagonals in her composition creating a zig-zag, "s-like" formation. There is an interesting flatness to the space. It's as if we are viewing two different angles of the space; one for the objects and another for the background. The objects appear to float on the background partially due to the similarity in size but also the placement (none of the shapes overlap). Kathy's drawing, like Jack's, moves up the page rather than into it.

COMPOSITION: Balancing the Positive and Negative Areas

Mika Embroden

Tatiana Guberman

Last night the class made drawings exploring the distribution and division of the positive and negative areas within a composition. Mika has successfully divided the composition into three areas of various sizes (not including the areas within the handles). The location of the handles seems to arc rather than moving in straight diagonals. In contrast, Tatiana's drawing exhibits bold diagonal or triangular shapes within the negative areas. In addition, both drawings illustrate rich textures and values adding to the volume, light and mood.