In class/homework assignment, must be completed and posted on your blogs by Monday, Feb.7.
Exercise 2: Expression Studies
Mark out twelve roughly head-shaped ovals in your sketchbook, about 3” tall. Using a round brush, create monochromatic studies of the following expressions, as observed either in a mirror or a willing model:
Happy
Relaxed
Sleepy
Confused
Frightened
Proud
Angry
Resentful
Enamored
Nervous
Sneaky
Over-caffeinated
Materials
Sketchbook
Hand mirror
Medium-to-small round brush
Acrylic paint:
Titanium White
Dark Blue, such as Ultramarine
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Project 1: Tableau Vivant
Project 1: Tableau Vivant
A term meaning “Living Picture,” the Tableau Vivant was a popular form of entertainment in Europe before photography, radio, or film. A group of models would recreate paintings, etchings, or scenes from books by posing in frozen attitudes on a stage, often with elaborate costumes, props, and lighting. Tableaux Vivants are still created at the annual Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach – a $4.1 million production featuring 40 art works recreated over a period of 2 months. For this assignment, you will create a Tableau of one work of figurative art, and use it as reference for a new illustration. The illustration will be 11”x15”.
Objectives
To explore existing artistic traditions and history as a source of inspiration, to examine the role of image reference, both historical and created, in creating an illustration, to develop an immersive composition from a static one, to use warm and cool contrast in a painting.
Procedure
Chose one of the artistic traditions listed below:
Chinese Scrolls
European Illuminated Manuscripts
Egyptian Painting
Greek Vase Painting
Persian Miniature Painting
Ukiyo-e Prints
Research the tradition, and find an example of it that you would like to base your piece on. You must have a high quality copy of this image, at least 3”x3”. The image may be Xeroxed or scanned from a book. A low-res JPEG is not acceptable. Put the copy in your sketchbook. Record the name and period of the piece, and, if appropriate, the artist. Write about what is occurring in the image. Identify all the characters, the environment, and any significant objects in the image.
Photo-reference: Using friends or classmates, re-enact the scene from your image. You may want to arrange equivalents of the costumes, props, and setting, for instance, using a broom handle for a sword. Pay attention to the lightning of your tableau. When you are satisfied with your tableau, photograph it. The artistic traditions listed above tend towards flattened, theatrical compositions. Work against this in your photo-reference. Strive to find the point of view that will create the most interesting composition. Consider the depth of your arrangement: background, middle ground, and foreground. Present your photos in class.
Drawing: Based on the feedback you receive in class on your photographed compositions, develop your drawing at the size of the final illustration. Determine each figure on separate layers of tracing paper, as well as the background, and any major props. Manipulate the layers of tracing paper around to tweak your drawing. When you are satisfied with the composition, transfer it to illustration board. You may determine if your tableau will be in modern or historical dress.
Painting: Execute the painting as a warm and cool value scheme. Use Titanium White, Burnt Umber, and Ultramarine Blue acrylic paints. By mixing the blue and umber paints, you will create a dark near-black color. Adjusting it with a little more blue or brown will make it cooler or warmer, respectively. Adding white will provide you with full range of warm and cool values.
Presentation: When the painting is finished, mat it. The mat should have a second window for a good, clean copy of the source image. Flap the mat with a sheet of tracing paper and a sheet of cover stock.
1/19 Project 1: Tableau Vivant assigned
1/24 Project 1: Tableau Vivant research and photos due
1/31 Project 1: Tableau Vivant drawing due.
2/14 Project 1: Tableau Vivant critiqued.
2/16 Project 1: Tableau Vivant due, matted, flapped, labeled.
A term meaning “Living Picture,” the Tableau Vivant was a popular form of entertainment in Europe before photography, radio, or film. A group of models would recreate paintings, etchings, or scenes from books by posing in frozen attitudes on a stage, often with elaborate costumes, props, and lighting. Tableaux Vivants are still created at the annual Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach – a $4.1 million production featuring 40 art works recreated over a period of 2 months. For this assignment, you will create a Tableau of one work of figurative art, and use it as reference for a new illustration. The illustration will be 11”x15”.
Objectives
To explore existing artistic traditions and history as a source of inspiration, to examine the role of image reference, both historical and created, in creating an illustration, to develop an immersive composition from a static one, to use warm and cool contrast in a painting.
Procedure
Chose one of the artistic traditions listed below:
Chinese Scrolls
European Illuminated Manuscripts
Egyptian Painting
Greek Vase Painting
Persian Miniature Painting
Ukiyo-e Prints
Research the tradition, and find an example of it that you would like to base your piece on. You must have a high quality copy of this image, at least 3”x3”. The image may be Xeroxed or scanned from a book. A low-res JPEG is not acceptable. Put the copy in your sketchbook. Record the name and period of the piece, and, if appropriate, the artist. Write about what is occurring in the image. Identify all the characters, the environment, and any significant objects in the image.
Photo-reference: Using friends or classmates, re-enact the scene from your image. You may want to arrange equivalents of the costumes, props, and setting, for instance, using a broom handle for a sword. Pay attention to the lightning of your tableau. When you are satisfied with your tableau, photograph it. The artistic traditions listed above tend towards flattened, theatrical compositions. Work against this in your photo-reference. Strive to find the point of view that will create the most interesting composition. Consider the depth of your arrangement: background, middle ground, and foreground. Present your photos in class.
Drawing: Based on the feedback you receive in class on your photographed compositions, develop your drawing at the size of the final illustration. Determine each figure on separate layers of tracing paper, as well as the background, and any major props. Manipulate the layers of tracing paper around to tweak your drawing. When you are satisfied with the composition, transfer it to illustration board. You may determine if your tableau will be in modern or historical dress.
Painting: Execute the painting as a warm and cool value scheme. Use Titanium White, Burnt Umber, and Ultramarine Blue acrylic paints. By mixing the blue and umber paints, you will create a dark near-black color. Adjusting it with a little more blue or brown will make it cooler or warmer, respectively. Adding white will provide you with full range of warm and cool values.
Presentation: When the painting is finished, mat it. The mat should have a second window for a good, clean copy of the source image. Flap the mat with a sheet of tracing paper and a sheet of cover stock.
1/19 Project 1: Tableau Vivant assigned
1/24 Project 1: Tableau Vivant research and photos due
1/31 Project 1: Tableau Vivant drawing due.
2/14 Project 1: Tableau Vivant critiqued.
2/16 Project 1: Tableau Vivant due, matted, flapped, labeled.
Artist research presentation
I strongly suggest you begin your research sooner rather than later. At the end of the semester, students always seem to be surprised that all of their classes have finals due. Do yourself a favor and get as much out of the way beforehand as possible.
Illustrator Research Presentation
Overview: Research each of the listed artists. Collect five of their images in your sketchbook or on your blog, and write a paragraph on who they were, when they worked, and what sort of work they did. This must be written by you—do not simply print out information from the Internet. I will check.
(Names with strikethrough have already been selected, the others are still up for grabs)
Will H. Bradley
Sir Edward Burne-Jones
Dean Cornwell
Edmund Dulac
James Montgomery Flagg
Ludwig Holwein
Tamara de Lempicka
Joseph Leyendecker
Maxfield Parrish
Howard Pyle
Arthur Rackham
Frederick Remington
Norman Rockwell
Egon Schiele
Jessie Wilcox-Smith
NC Wyeth
Image Research Due: 2/21.
Research Paper: Choose the artist who interests you most. Research this artist for your presentation. At least five sources must be cited in your bibliography. Use at least two non-internet sources. Write a 2000 word paper about the artist: who they were, who their influences were, what their art training was like, when they worked, what sort of work they did, and what sort of techniques they used.
The final paper must be emailed to me at mduckworth@mca.edu.
Presentation: Prepare a 10-minute slide or Powerpoint presentation based on your paper. It should include at least twenty images of your artist’s work, and at least five of an artist who influenced your artist. You may wish to also include images that set the time and place that your artist worked in.
Do not include fancy backgrounds or transitions. I’m looking for a simple, clean slideshow of the artists’ work. Choose a black or white background, and make the images fill up as much of the screen as possible. Keep onscreen text to a minimum.
Presentation and paper due: 4/20.
Illustrator Research Presentation
Overview: Research each of the listed artists. Collect five of their images in your sketchbook or on your blog, and write a paragraph on who they were, when they worked, and what sort of work they did. This must be written by you—do not simply print out information from the Internet. I will check.
(Names with strikethrough have already been selected, the others are still up for grabs)
Will H. Bradley
Sir Edward Burne-Jones
James Montgomery Flagg
Ludwig Holwein
Maxfield Parrish
Howard Pyle
Norman Rockwell
NC Wyeth
Image Research Due: 2/21.
Research Paper: Choose the artist who interests you most. Research this artist for your presentation. At least five sources must be cited in your bibliography. Use at least two non-internet sources. Write a 2000 word paper about the artist: who they were, who their influences were, what their art training was like, when they worked, what sort of work they did, and what sort of techniques they used.
The final paper must be emailed to me at mduckworth@mca.edu.
Presentation: Prepare a 10-minute slide or Powerpoint presentation based on your paper. It should include at least twenty images of your artist’s work, and at least five of an artist who influenced your artist. You may wish to also include images that set the time and place that your artist worked in.
Do not include fancy backgrounds or transitions. I’m looking for a simple, clean slideshow of the artists’ work. Choose a black or white background, and make the images fill up as much of the screen as possible. Keep onscreen text to a minimum.
Presentation and paper due: 4/20.
Syllabus
Illustration 2: Painting for Illustration
IL265
Course Objectives
Illustration 2 continues the introduction of fundamental drawing and communication skills from Illustration 1, introducing wet color media.
Grading
These courses involve of both in-class and out-of-class assignments. Out-of-class projects will be graded on research (including sketches and visual reference), composition (the design of the picture plane), communication (whether or not your image reads as you intended it to), and technique (your use of the various media explored in this class).
Additionally, participation in critiques, adherence to deadlines, and attendance will be factored into the final grade. Every absence sets a student back dramatically.
Attendance:
• There is no penalty for a single absence.
• The semester’s final grade is lowered by one letter upon the second and third absences.
• Upon a fourth absence, the student is automatically failed.
• The first “free” absence is in lieu of excused absences. Save it for an emergency.
• If you come to class late or leave early, you will be marked as tardy. You can receive multiple tardies for a single class.
• Three tardies equals one absence.
Professionalism
• Late work is lowered by one letter grade per week after the deadline.
• If you can not deliver your work in person, have some one else bring it.
• A project will be reduced by one letter grade for late or incomplete thumbnails, sketches, or research.
• When size or format is specified, projects not meeting those requirements will be reduced by one letter grade.
• Each project receives two grades: One upon critique, and one when turned in.
Participation
• All students are expected to participate meaningfully in critiques, discussions, and in-class exercises. You will receive a Participation grade at the end of the semester equivalent to one project.
Grades
A • Exemplary work, professionally acceptable
B • Solidly good work
C • Acceptable work, meets assignment expectations
D • Flawed, does not successfully meet assignment expectations
F • Failing grade, work is unacceptable
Materials Binder
Maintain a sketchbook or binder in which you will keep any handouts presenting in class (including this syllabus), copies of your thumbnails, and visual research from each project. Bring this binder to each critique, and plan on maintaining it through subsequent Illustration classes.
Mounting and Presenting Your Work
• Leave a protective border of at least three inches on all sides of your mounted original.
• Cover, or “flap,” your work, first with tracing paper, then with cover stock, or some other heavy weight paper.
• Use a sharp blade and a straight edge to trim excess cover paper so that it is flush to the mounting board.
• Securely attach a completed archive label to the back of the piece.
Materials
Acrylic paints
Titanium White
Burnt Umber
Cool Yellow, such as Lemon Yellow
Warm Yellow, such as Cadmium Yellow Light
Cool Red, such as Alizarin Crimson
Warm Red, such as Cadmium Red Medium
Cool Blue, such as Pthalo Blue
Warm Blue, such as Ultramarine Blue
Any other colors that strike your fancy
Matte medium
Palette paper
A variety of brushes, both round and flat, in various sizes
Long metal ruler
Illustration Board
Large pad of tracing paper
Sketchbook
Pushpin
Acrylic Paints
Almost one hundred years old, acrylics are considered a new medium in the world of art materials, where durability is judged in centuries. They are extremely flexible and can be used to emulate oil, watercolor, and tempera techniques. Acrylics are water soluble from the tube, but waterproof when dry. Because acrylics dry quickly and permanently, it is important to keep your brushes wet until you are ready to clean them.
They are composed of the same pigments found in other paints, such as oil or watercolor, but suspended in a polymer resin emulsion (basically, plastic). Aside from pigment and resin, a tube of acrylic paint contains water, a coalescing agent (to help form into a film of paint), and small amounts of other additives to maintain consistency. The difference between a cheap and expensive brand of acrylic paint is how much resin is in the tube. The highest quality paints are 65% resin. Most paints are 40 to 45% resin, meaning that 55% of what you brush onto the paper is going to evaporate right off the painting surface.
Acrylics can be used in conjunction with oils, although only as a first stage. Oils can be painted over acrylics, but acrylics should not be painted over oils. Oil dries very slowly, and if trapped under a layer of fast-drying acrylic, cracking can occur. Also, acrylic does not adhere well to oil surfaces.
Acrylic Materials
Acrylic gesso: composed of Titanium white, inert pigment (such as chalk), and a stiffer version of the same polymer resin used in the paints, acrylic gesso is used to create a smooth, bright ground before beginning a painting. It is different from genuine gesso, which is composed of fine chalk and size.
Matte and Gloss mediums: unpigmented polymer resin used to adjust the consistency and opacity of paint, formulated to create either a shiny surface (gloss) or a dull one (matte). They also make excellent archival adhesives.
Gel medium: a thicker medium that bulks up paint for thick, impasto painting techniques.
Retarder: slows down the drying time of acrylics
Painting Terms
Alla Prima: An opaque use of oil paint in which each brushstroke is the final effect desired in terms of color, value, and texture. As opposed to underpainting techniques where the paint is leyered and each layer effects the character of the paint layers above and below it.
Body: Describes the density of pigment, medium, or application of paint. A thinned down, transparent layer of paint has little body. “Body Color” describes paint applied opaquely, either because of the density of pigment, or the addition of white.
Covering Power: The ability of paint to obscure what it is painted over.
Fat: Refers to the quantity of oil in a paint, painting medium, or ground. When paint is fat it is rich, non-absorbent, and has a slick surface. Used in conjunction with the term “lean.”
Lean: Paint with a low concentration of oil, a degree of absorbancy, and is less rich or greasy than “fat” paint. This may be the result of diluting with a thinner.
Fat Over Lean: A painting technique wherein the paint begins lean, and becomes increasingly fat as additional layers are applied. The lower, leaner paints have greater absorbency, allowing the fatter paint to adhere, prevents “sinking in,” and cracking.
Glaze: A transparent layer of paint that leaves the layer beneath it visible.
Ground: A base layer that acts as a barrier between the surface of the paper or canvas and the paint itself. The ground is intended to improve the surface for receiving paint. In the case of oils, gesso is the most common ground. The ground can also be an underpainting, for instance, in acrylics.
Impasto: The use of thick paint to create texture that stands above the painting surface.
Scumble: A half-covering layer of opaque paint, made by lightly dragging relatively dry paint over a surface, or by stippling thin paint.
Sinking In: The dulling of oil paint as it dries, leading to loss of color saturation or an uneven finish.This is caused by either an absorbent lower layer of paint, or by using too much of a thinner.
Thinner: A solvent added to paint to reduce it’s consistency, such as turps. The solvent evaporates upon drying.
Tooth: The texture of the painting surface, be it paper, canvas, or board, or of the ground applied to that surface. Tooth helps paint adhere.
Underpainting: A deliberate approach to painting the lower layers of an image to create effects in the later layers. this may include using colors that are intended to optically mix with later colors.
Wet On Wet: Painting into paint that hasn’t dried, so that the new paint can be worked into the existing paint.
Wet On Dry: Painting onto dried paint so that the new paint doesn’t disturb the existing paint.
IL265
Course Objectives
Illustration 2 continues the introduction of fundamental drawing and communication skills from Illustration 1, introducing wet color media.
Grading
These courses involve of both in-class and out-of-class assignments. Out-of-class projects will be graded on research (including sketches and visual reference), composition (the design of the picture plane), communication (whether or not your image reads as you intended it to), and technique (your use of the various media explored in this class).
Additionally, participation in critiques, adherence to deadlines, and attendance will be factored into the final grade. Every absence sets a student back dramatically.
Attendance:
• There is no penalty for a single absence.
• The semester’s final grade is lowered by one letter upon the second and third absences.
• Upon a fourth absence, the student is automatically failed.
• The first “free” absence is in lieu of excused absences. Save it for an emergency.
• If you come to class late or leave early, you will be marked as tardy. You can receive multiple tardies for a single class.
• Three tardies equals one absence.
Professionalism
• Late work is lowered by one letter grade per week after the deadline.
• If you can not deliver your work in person, have some one else bring it.
• A project will be reduced by one letter grade for late or incomplete thumbnails, sketches, or research.
• When size or format is specified, projects not meeting those requirements will be reduced by one letter grade.
• Each project receives two grades: One upon critique, and one when turned in.
Participation
• All students are expected to participate meaningfully in critiques, discussions, and in-class exercises. You will receive a Participation grade at the end of the semester equivalent to one project.
Grades
A • Exemplary work, professionally acceptable
B • Solidly good work
C • Acceptable work, meets assignment expectations
D • Flawed, does not successfully meet assignment expectations
F • Failing grade, work is unacceptable
Materials Binder
Maintain a sketchbook or binder in which you will keep any handouts presenting in class (including this syllabus), copies of your thumbnails, and visual research from each project. Bring this binder to each critique, and plan on maintaining it through subsequent Illustration classes.
Mounting and Presenting Your Work
• Leave a protective border of at least three inches on all sides of your mounted original.
• Cover, or “flap,” your work, first with tracing paper, then with cover stock, or some other heavy weight paper.
• Use a sharp blade and a straight edge to trim excess cover paper so that it is flush to the mounting board.
• Securely attach a completed archive label to the back of the piece.
Materials
Acrylic paints
Titanium White
Burnt Umber
Cool Yellow, such as Lemon Yellow
Warm Yellow, such as Cadmium Yellow Light
Cool Red, such as Alizarin Crimson
Warm Red, such as Cadmium Red Medium
Cool Blue, such as Pthalo Blue
Warm Blue, such as Ultramarine Blue
Any other colors that strike your fancy
Matte medium
Palette paper
A variety of brushes, both round and flat, in various sizes
Long metal ruler
Illustration Board
Large pad of tracing paper
Sketchbook
Pushpin
Acrylic Paints
Almost one hundred years old, acrylics are considered a new medium in the world of art materials, where durability is judged in centuries. They are extremely flexible and can be used to emulate oil, watercolor, and tempera techniques. Acrylics are water soluble from the tube, but waterproof when dry. Because acrylics dry quickly and permanently, it is important to keep your brushes wet until you are ready to clean them.
They are composed of the same pigments found in other paints, such as oil or watercolor, but suspended in a polymer resin emulsion (basically, plastic). Aside from pigment and resin, a tube of acrylic paint contains water, a coalescing agent (to help form into a film of paint), and small amounts of other additives to maintain consistency. The difference between a cheap and expensive brand of acrylic paint is how much resin is in the tube. The highest quality paints are 65% resin. Most paints are 40 to 45% resin, meaning that 55% of what you brush onto the paper is going to evaporate right off the painting surface.
Acrylics can be used in conjunction with oils, although only as a first stage. Oils can be painted over acrylics, but acrylics should not be painted over oils. Oil dries very slowly, and if trapped under a layer of fast-drying acrylic, cracking can occur. Also, acrylic does not adhere well to oil surfaces.
Acrylic Materials
Acrylic gesso: composed of Titanium white, inert pigment (such as chalk), and a stiffer version of the same polymer resin used in the paints, acrylic gesso is used to create a smooth, bright ground before beginning a painting. It is different from genuine gesso, which is composed of fine chalk and size.
Matte and Gloss mediums: unpigmented polymer resin used to adjust the consistency and opacity of paint, formulated to create either a shiny surface (gloss) or a dull one (matte). They also make excellent archival adhesives.
Gel medium: a thicker medium that bulks up paint for thick, impasto painting techniques.
Retarder: slows down the drying time of acrylics
Painting Terms
Alla Prima: An opaque use of oil paint in which each brushstroke is the final effect desired in terms of color, value, and texture. As opposed to underpainting techniques where the paint is leyered and each layer effects the character of the paint layers above and below it.
Body: Describes the density of pigment, medium, or application of paint. A thinned down, transparent layer of paint has little body. “Body Color” describes paint applied opaquely, either because of the density of pigment, or the addition of white.
Covering Power: The ability of paint to obscure what it is painted over.
Fat: Refers to the quantity of oil in a paint, painting medium, or ground. When paint is fat it is rich, non-absorbent, and has a slick surface. Used in conjunction with the term “lean.”
Lean: Paint with a low concentration of oil, a degree of absorbancy, and is less rich or greasy than “fat” paint. This may be the result of diluting with a thinner.
Fat Over Lean: A painting technique wherein the paint begins lean, and becomes increasingly fat as additional layers are applied. The lower, leaner paints have greater absorbency, allowing the fatter paint to adhere, prevents “sinking in,” and cracking.
Glaze: A transparent layer of paint that leaves the layer beneath it visible.
Ground: A base layer that acts as a barrier between the surface of the paper or canvas and the paint itself. The ground is intended to improve the surface for receiving paint. In the case of oils, gesso is the most common ground. The ground can also be an underpainting, for instance, in acrylics.
Impasto: The use of thick paint to create texture that stands above the painting surface.
Scumble: A half-covering layer of opaque paint, made by lightly dragging relatively dry paint over a surface, or by stippling thin paint.
Sinking In: The dulling of oil paint as it dries, leading to loss of color saturation or an uneven finish.This is caused by either an absorbent lower layer of paint, or by using too much of a thinner.
Thinner: A solvent added to paint to reduce it’s consistency, such as turps. The solvent evaporates upon drying.
Tooth: The texture of the painting surface, be it paper, canvas, or board, or of the ground applied to that surface. Tooth helps paint adhere.
Underpainting: A deliberate approach to painting the lower layers of an image to create effects in the later layers. this may include using colors that are intended to optically mix with later colors.
Wet On Wet: Painting into paint that hasn’t dried, so that the new paint can be worked into the existing paint.
Wet On Dry: Painting onto dried paint so that the new paint doesn’t disturb the existing paint.
Welcome to Illustration 2
This blog is for the MCA Illustration 2 class of Spring 2011 (Duckworth section), where I will be posting assignments and other materials relevant to the class. Can we make this the most inspiring and productive semester ever? I expect nothing less, folks. Cheers!
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