Friday, April 27, 2012

THURS. 4/26 Portraits continued

Keely Killeen
Students in the T/Th night class had another round of portrait drawing of their classmates. In the drawing above, value has been used very effectively to illustrate the planes of the face. The light to gray transitions across the forehead and brow as well as the cheeks identify the volume and depth of the bone structure. The tilted gesture adds to the emotion portrayed in the model's eyes. Light smudging in the background suggests a hint of depth and atmosphere.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

WED. 4/25 Portraits continued

Anna De Torres
Students continued making portrait drawings of classmates. The primary objective in these drawings is to capture the proportions of the head and not likeness. Cartoons and caricatures can capture likeness without being proportional. Anna's drawing above holds the page well by rendering in large scale utilizing much of the image area. The portrait exhibits good attention to the proportions and structure of the "head",
I also gave the tentative list of drawings due in the final portfolio. The list is only partial/ up-to-date. DHR and homework will be due the final week of classes. The list is above in the menu bar.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

TUES. 4/24 Portraits

Lily King
Students in the T/Th class made portrait drawings of their classmates. The drawing above has a good scale, holding the page well. The contrasts and comparisons to placement and proportion have been well observed. Note the bone structure across the forehead, eye sockets, cheeks and chin. A common area of "over-drawing" or putting in too much information is the hair. The hair has been rendered with patches of light and dark values with minimal line work for texture. The rule of thumb for hair is "less is more". Remember when drawing the contours of portraits to use "soft" lines avoiding harsh lines. Notice how the lines in the cheeks spread into the tonalities of the jaw.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

MON. 4/23 Portraits

Alisha Ascencio
Class began with a lecture on the proportions of the head followed by examples from artists of various levels. The drawing above was initiated by drawing a human skull then superimposing the portrait of a classmate over the top. Note the bone structure evident in the brow, nose and chin. Soft lines and edges are essential when rendering the smooth contours of the face. Harsh lines cut out the volumes flattening the surface creating a "cartoonish" appearance. Alisha's drawing above exhibits smooth gradations and soft lines. Of particular note in this area is her rendering of the eyes. Notice how the "eye ball" sits inside the eye socket.

Friday, April 20, 2012

WED 4/18 & THURS 4/19 COLOR continued

Amy Eldridge

Dayana Leon
Students finished large scale color drawings. Amy's drawing above is electrified by her use of complementary colors in the floor boards and shadows. The color scheme adds to the dynamics and energy of the composition established by the tumbling bowling pins.
Dayana has employed more of a split complementary color scheme (yellow, red-violet, blue-violet). She has beautifully rendered the color gradations as well as the textural qualities of the objects.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

TUES. 4/18 COLOR: Large Scale Compositions

Nemea Laessig: work in progress
The T/Th class started their large color drawings. Above is a picture of Nemea's work space. You can see that Nemea has chosen to work with a more traditional still life arrangement.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

MON. 4/16 COLOR: Large Scale Compositions

Becky Gonzalez: work in progress
Class began with a discussion on Color Schemes; standard color combinations that create balanced and unified compositions. After the slide lecture, students worked with items brought from home or chose 5 to 7 objects presented in class to create large scale compositions in color.