Hi folks! This snow day really throws a monkey-wrench in the schedule. Since we're gonna have to compress more into our final class meeting on Wednesday I wanted to lay out some info on what to expect.
Between Now and Weds.
Please take a moment to complete the SPOT teaching evaluation for this class through Canvas. Your feedback is helpful in improving the course over time.
If possible, get together with your group and get as far as you can with the collage materials that you've already printed on your collaborative frieze. (Note that the studio is occupied from 9am-3:15pm tomorrow/Tuesday. Hiromi will be holding her final class meetings so please don't interrupt.)
Wednesday, Dec. 10 = Final Class Meeting (there will be donuts and stickers)
1.) Final Project _ Upon arrival you will hang your final project (the one where you revisited a previous unit) in the space designated for install. Each of you will complete a brief written reflection on the piece and your development over the semester.
2.) Unit 4 Collab Collage _ We will quickly jump back into a final work session to resolve the collages as best as we can using remaining collage materials AND black and white acrylic paint (provided by instructor).
3.) Studio Cleanup _ At 2:30 we'll stop working on the collages and conduct a studio cleanup (everyone will receive a task and we'll work together to get the space ready for next semester).
So this will be more of a 'working' final meeting than a 'critiquing' final meeting.
Note that you'll need to remove all prints/drawings/materials from your cubbie by Friday, December 12. Anything left after this date will be thrown away.
Drawing Concepts: Final Project You will revisit one of our earlier units and make a companion piece to your earlier drawing.
Reminder of what we’ve done:
Unit 1 > Large Charcoal drawing that combined representational image (your original) with abstract composition (erasure with line). Unit 2 > I Notice Journal OR Prismacolor Still-life drawing Unit 3 > Space in Time Synthesis drawing
Between now and Weds. 11/19, go back and review what you made for each unit. Choose a piece that you're interested in revisiting. Brainstorm a few simple parameters to guide your work.
You’ll have time to start these in class on Weds. I suggest that you plan to work at a smaller scale so that you can take these with you if you travel next week. I can provide paper/materials. These will be due for critique during our last class meeting on Weds., Dec. 10. You will divide your time/effort between completing this and the Unit 4 Collage over the remainder of the semester.
Next class I will demonstrate linocut technique and we will move into the printmaking component of Unit 4.
For Wednesday, November 12:
1. Complete 2 texture/pattern drawings
A.) Conduct a simple scavenger hunt (using your phone's camera if that helps) to gather various examples of textures and patterns. Patterns may be organic or geometric. Naturally occurring or fabricated. Try to select patterns that result in different values. By this I mean that you should imagine what value would be created if the pattern were simplified to a simple black and white image that creates value based on closure. ALSO don't zoom in so far on simple textures that you end up with very large fields of black and white.
B.) Select 2 of your found textures/patterns and draw them each at in a 4x6" rectangle. This size is important because it's the exact size of the blocks we will carve. (1 pattern per rectangle)
Draw them in black and white (no gray scale).
Draw them edge-to-edge filling the rectangle like wallpaper.
C.) Bring these drawings to class on Wednesday. We will translate them for linocut and I will demonstrate the linocut process.
2. Bring your COMPLETE Unit 3 Synthesis Drawing for critique.
Using one of your “Walks” as subject matter, create a drawing that unfolds over time. Rather than a depiction of a single frozen moment, your drawing should employ some of the strategies that we have practiced since the start of this unit*.
What happens if you think of your drawing as a composition of events in sequence? Linear narrative may or may not emerge. You might wish to tell a “story” or arrange events in less clear ways. Space as an organizing context should be part of your solution.
The only restrictions for this project are that you must work within a single picture plane and it should be no smaller than 19x26.” Medium is student choice.
By Wednesday: Brainstorm and sketch simple diagrams for at least 3 different formal solutions before settling on your final idea. Have these idea sketches (and all other drawings made for this unit) with you next class for small group discussion and input from me.
This drawing will be developed over multiple sessions both in-class and out of class and should reflect an appropriate level of attention and investment given the time allotted.
* A review of some of our exercises from the previous week.
Consider the strategies for exploring/depicting Space in Time inherent in each activity.
Today in class we went outside to make some drawings embracing change over time, which echo the Challenge A Drawing from Film exercises from Monday.
Then we completed an exercise in class called "The Walk" which is borrowed from cartoonist Lynda Barry. In that exercise you were asked to spend some time recreating moments from a well-remembered, often-traveled walk in your past.
For Monday, Oct. 27:
A. "The Walk"
For homework I'd like you to complete the same exercise, but this time it will be based on a walk that you take specifically for this purpose.
1. Go for a 1-hour walk. Pay attention to moments, images, locations, people, snatches of dialogue, sounds, etc. that you encounter on along your way. Feel free to snap photos from time to time if you wish.
2. When you return from your walk spend at least an hour re-creating it on the 12 x 18" paper I provided you in class. Materials are up to you. Make sure to include text/notation in addition to imagery.
See below for a reminder of the steps and format of "The Walk."
Today we looked to film techniques for inspiration and conducted a few drawing exercises in class to experiment with ways to describe a more fluid sense of time and space than we're accustomed to expect from drawings.
For homework I'd like you to find your own examples of the kinds of sequences that we drew from in class today and make drawings in response to them. Below are descriptions and examples of each approach as a reminder, but part of this will involve “searching” for examples of your own in whatever you’re watching.
Drawing from Film Exercises
Challenge A _ Static Camera, Static Background, Moving Figures
(1 drawing, but only if you were absent for the class exercise. Otherwise move on to Challenge B.)
What you’re looking for is a scene in a television episode or movie in which the camera doesn’t move, keeping the frame and background consistent, while figures/objects/animals move around and interact within the frame. Here’s an example from Jacques Becker’s 1952 film, Casque d’Or:
After you’ve found a scene that meets these parameters, you’ll pause and screen capture at least four frames over the course of the scene. Like this:
Then, in order, spend about 7 minutes drawing each frame successively on the same piece of paper. This means you’ll draw the first frame to establish your picture plane and then draw each frame that follows DIRECTLY ON TOP of the previous drawing. Use a soft pencil or ballpoint pen for this. Draw everything you see (i.e. the entire picture plane in a rectangular frame), not just the figures. What’s interesting in this challenge is the relationship between those fixed elements of the ground and the movement of figures within that frame. Don’t get bogged down in details. This drawing challenge involves a lot of overlapping and the requirement of hierarchical decision making through value and mark. The result will feel more complex and chaotic than what we’re accustomed to expect in a representational drawing and that’s OK!
I'd like you to find a good example from a film/tv show that you're interested in on your own. However, in the event that you simply can't find anything, here's a link to the entire Casque d'Or film on youtube and approximate timestamps for relevant scenes:
Busy Dance Tavern: 31:55
Closing Dance: 1:32:35
Challenge B _ Tracking Shot, Long Take (1 drawing (2 if you were absent); use the 9x12" paper provided in class)
A long take or oner is an uninterrupted shot in a film which lasts much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general, usually lasting several minutes. It can be used for dramatic and narrative effect if done properly, and in moving shots is often accomplished through the use of a dolly or Steadicam. Long takes of a sequence filmed in one shot without any editing are rare in films. The continuity provided by this technique often allows for a more complete understanding of the space in which the action takes place than typical editing allows for. Here’s an example from the opening sequence of Joss Wheedon’s Serenity:
Notice how it’s possible to reconstruct the overall spatial layout of the ship because of the continuous “tour” created by the long take.
The rules for this challenge are simple. Find an example of a long take and make a drawing of it. All in one picture plane. Use whatever materials you prefer. There is no single strategy or approach for solving this. Follow your instincts. What we’re interested in here is to try and represent complex information that is based in time and space (4D & 3D) in a medium that is inherently ill-suited to the task because of its limitations (2D).
For this challenge I’d like you to select 2 long-take sequences from different sources. Because of the relative rarity of this technique you should probably google long take sequence examples rather than just watch a lot of movies and hope for one to turn up. And if you want to see something crazy, research the movie Russian Ark which is a feature-length movie shot in a single take.
DUE for discussion: Wednesday, October 22
1 drawing for Challenge A (only if you missed class today)
1 drawing for Challenge B (x2 if you missed class and the initial exercise)
1.) As an introduction to Unit 3: Space in Time, I'd like you to read the following:
Time Frames excerpted from Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics.It's a comic that explains how comics work. You can find the reading as a PDF in Canvas>Files>Unit 3.
2.) After reading the chapter, I'd like you to compose a brief (200-250 word) response in which you address the following:
a. Methods and techniques for showing time in comics > List as many as you can.
b. Give a personal response to the reading. Describe a few ideas (2-3) that really resonated with you.
4.) Make a drawing that employs at least one of the methods/techniques for showing time. [8.5 x 11" paper provided by instructor; medium is student choice.] DUE for discussion Monday, Oct. 20.
