4 hour project

What makes this project so different from the others we have done is that it is so independent. We were required to think deeply not only about what our skills are but what we are passionate about and what has inspired so far this term. Before we were presented with a challenge of some sort and had to work it out ourselves, this time we had the added pressure of choosing a project that would challenge us just enough so we would be pushed to create and showcase our best work. This term the drawing and sketching has been my favorite thing, I look forward to every thursday for drop everything and draw and have practiced sketching in my sketchbook when there was no assignment. So when this project came around I instantly knew I wanted to draw something. Then came the question of whether to draw an inanimate object or a person. As I looked around the class room for inspiration I knew I wanted to draw the sculpture of the hand. This was the perfect compromise. Everyday I have come in to art class I have looked at that hand and wanted to duplicate it. I thought I would put it on the floor to enhance the lost feeling it has. Looking at it alone on the floor I thought it looked too lonely so I decided to add another object that would be symbolic. At first I wanted to draw a pocket watch to show how we have no handle on time but realized that would be to hard of a challenge in our time restraint. After talking about it with Ms. Roberts I decided a light bulb could provide a similar effect. It was not until I finished that I thought of naming the picture mente e manu, hand and mind, the motto of our school. When I was sitting on the floor drawing actually drawing it there were multiple times that I felt stuck, not knowing what to draw next and frustrated it did not look more realistic. It took a while but as it started to take shape I became more confident with shading and it really took off. With helpful tips from Ms. Roberts and Mr. Brooks I am really proud of what I created and I think it shows where I am in learning to sketch so far.

The Book Project: progress and planning

When I first saw my photo I thought about how miserable the man looked, it was not until I picked the second picture I wanted to work with did I decide that one looked like a younger version of the other. I started planning out pictures to highlight times in this persons life that help describe why he is so sad looking in the final picture. In my original sketches I showed different instances where anyone would be miserable but as I am creating those pictures I feel they do not hold together as well as I would have hoped. My biggest problem is where I stop using the young boy and start using the old, I am worried my viewer might not make the connection that they are meant to be the same person only older. What is going well though, is that although I am putting time and energy into each picture I am working efficiently and getting things done.

Drawing the Human Form From Inside Out

I think the goals of todays exercise were to get us to look at the human form as a series of general shapes and less in the hyper-detailed way feel stressed to do. We also heard Ms. Roberts say "draw what you see not what you think is there" so this, like most drop everything and draw exercises, was to reinforce that concept. Also the focus on proportion (one of the principles of design) has been a major topic this week and this class was to drum it harder into our heads. Although I do not particularly like the drawings I created I think I achieved creating the general shape and image of people who are more or less proportionate. For me it was more interesting to see how other people aproached drawing the same subject and how although none were better or worse they were all different. A major challenge I faced, besides my easel breaking then falling on my head and giving a splinter, was drawing from the inside out. Constantly I had the urge to draw something else first, but I think this really made keeping things in proportion easier than if I had started with the head.

Shades of Grey

The goal of todays exercise was to carve out forms from our paper by using shading and erasers as our pencil. By doing this we were forced to take shading into account to make our drawings look realistic. Whereas we might not think to do this, or to shade to this extreme if we were left to our own devices, but here were depended on the shading of each object to bring it to life.

I think my drawing came out okay, but I am always very critical of my own work. I think you could see each object. If I had started out my drawing by making the background all around darker I think each thing would have stood out more, whereas right now my drawing feels very....safe.

NightHawks

By: Edward Hopper

Born: Nyack, New York (1882-1967)

Made:1942

Medium: Oil Paint

Overall I really like this painting. The contrast of the harsh lights inside to the gloomy darkness that exists oustide the bar makes the painting in a whole feel solemn. You really dont get the feeling you want to be in the bar or outside. There is also the contrast of the couple to the singular man. This makes you see the range of people in different walks of life who all co-exist in one city. What makes this painting so special for me is the awkward angle that the restaurant is set at. You feel as if you are so near the bar because of how close you feel to it on one side, though at the same time the people sitting at the other side seem just out of reach, Like although you are so close to where they are they are miles away spinning in their own thoughts. Each character brings an element to the piece as well. They all seem very different, the couple brings a fancy feel but with the distinct impression that is a facade, while the man sitting alone is more blunt with his message of loneliness. The waiter, in his old age gives the essence of desperation and expiration. To me the man sitting alone is the most intriguing, since you cant see his face.

Hopper, born in Nyack, Ny in 1882 was a pupil of Robert Henri. Hoppers style and taste was greatly influenced by his schooling, which was geared toward creating images of the city. This is how NightHawks came to be. When interviewed he said this piece was meant to convey the loneliness of a city. Originally this very diner stood on Grenwich Ave. in Nyc but is no longer there. There are many aspects of this painting that show the feeling of entrapment, for instance there is no way our of the bar area let alone the diner itself.

Although this paintings balance is clearly tipped to the right, you do not feel that something has just thrown you. It is clear where the emphasis is meant to go with the contrast of the bright restaurant to the dark outside, and since all the people are located in one area you eye is immediately drawn there. The curved sidewalk is also very suggestive, it leads your eye to the restaurant. The single man is also located in the general area that is the center which naturally catches your attention.

Finding Balance

Almost symmetrical

Radial symmetry

Symmetric

Asymmetrical, yet balanced

The principles of design

Principles of design: this set of rules that help artists from whatever they are working on

vocab

Balance: when the visual "weight" of an an artwork feels equally distributed

-symmetry

mirror image

-approximately symmetrical

almost mirror image feeling of symmetry

-asymmetry

opposite of symmetric yet still could be balanced

-radial balance

coming out from the middle (circular) infinite lines of symmetry

Emphasis:

rhythm and movement:

proportion:

unity: feeling that everything works together, if something was missing it would be incomplete

variety: having some differences in shapes, colors, forms, order, etc.

Emphasis:

Placement: where it is on the page

Contrast: color on color/contrasting colors

grouping: lots of the same thing around one different thing, little elements around inportant also their pose, arrows.

RHYTHM & MOVEMENT:

Repition:

-same elements

-alternating elements

-progression=things getting smaller or change colors

Leading Lines: lines that draw your eye to the main subject

Implied Movement: someone/thing thats been moving. an illusion to make you believe they are

in motion. repition

Optical movement: a line or shape that repeates that makes you feel

like its moving (optical illusion)

Actual movement: art and engineering fusion

PROPORTION: size relationships within the painting or sculpture

Colors>

Shapes> all to evoke emotion/story/emphasis

Forms>