Project 3: Invisible City

Project 3: Invisible City
The great modern fabulist, Italo Calvino, released Invisible Cities in 1972. The book’s framing story involves Marco Polo describing to Kublai Khan the cities in the Khan’s empire (the empire having grown too large for the Khan to visit them all himself). The cities are described in series of prose poems, and often less about describing urban geography than exploring philosophical or poetic notions, such as human nature, linguistics, metaphysics, ethics, and memory. We will create images based on some of Calvino’s Invisible Cities. This illustration will be proportional to 11”x15”.

Objectives
To adapt a visual image from a literary source that uses non-literal and poetic imagery; to expand upon source material in order to have greater insight into its depiction; to fuse disparate historical sources to create a credible non-existent environment; to contrast interior and exterior space using separate warm and cool palates.

Procedure
Read the packet excerpted from Invisible Cities, and choose the city you would like to illustrate.

“Day in the Life:” Write 300-500 words about a typical day in the life of an inhabitant of your city. Begin in the morning, and record the inhabitant’s routine until he or she goes to sleep at night. Look to your own daily routine for events to transpose upon your inhabitant.

Research: Research the cities of two different cultures. Each culture should be separated both geographically and by at least 200 years in time. Find images from both of your selected cities for each of the following:
•5 building exteriors, including personal dwellings and a religious center
•5 building interiors
•3 forms of transportation; public art
•furniture, including chairs, beds, tables, and storage
•clothes for men, women, and children.

The more images you collect, the more inspiration you’ll have when designing your city.

Concept Art: Design the following for your city:
•3 building exteriors, including personal dwellings and a religious center
•2 building interiors
•3 forms of transportation
•public art
•furniture, including chairs, beds, tables, and storage
•clothes for men, women, and children

Consider what you know about your city both from Italo Calvino and your own writing. Remember that people have lived in this city for generations: their will be older and newer styles jostling against one another; there will be inhabitants who prefer more conservative styles, and inhabitants who are more progressive. There will be noise, and garbage, and graffiti. It should look lived in.

Some inspiration:
http://www.rot13.org/~dpavlin/bladerunner/design.htm
http://www.fengzhudesign.com/gallery.html
The Production DVDs for The Lord of the Rings

Sketching: Develop 30 thumbnails of a scene in your city. The scene should show both an interior and exterior space, and should contain enough specific action that it looks like a scene taking place in your city, not just a study of the city itself. You may want to return to your “Day in the Life” piece and depict some of the actions described there. Choose the best two thumbnails and draw them larger and cleaner as presentation sketches for class.

The “Day in the Life” piece, the visual research, concept sketches, thumbnails, and presentation sketches are all due 3/23.

Drawing: Based on the feedback you receive in class, refine your sketches into a full-size drawing, 11”x15”.

Color Compositions: The color scheme for this project is a warm/cool split. Paint the interior of your scene mixing only cool versions of the colors on your palette together, and paint the exterior using only warm colors (or vice versa). When you are satisfied with your drawing, execute three color studies to determine the most effective way to use this particular color scheme.

Painting Stage One: Using a neutral color (not black) that will blend well with your color scheme, paint in the values for your painting. You may also use white paint to re-establish lighter values.

Painting Stage Two: When the value scheme has been satisfactorily established, begin to lay in the colors with transparent layers of acrylic paint. Do not use white paint at this stage. Build rich, deep shadows with many transparent layers.

Painting Stage Three: When the color scheme has been established for the painting, you may adjust any final details with opaque paint. When used as highlights, opaque colors contrast well with transparent shadows.

3/9 Project 3: Invisible Cities assigned.

3/14 Spring Beak

3/21 written and visual research due.
3/23 thumbnails due

3/30 Cities drawing due.

4/4 Paint Invisible Cities.

4/13 Project 3: Invisible Cities critiqued.

4/18 Project 3: Invisible Cities turned in, flapped and labeled.