Reminders About Class On Wednesday, September 23

What to bring with you:

1. Your completed homework assignment (free hand perspective interior drawing) along with the 1-point and 2-point assignments so you can hang all three together for comparison.

2. 18"x24" white bond paper, CHARCOAL pencils (2B, 4B, 6B), metal yardstick, hard & kneaded erasers, sharpener.

3. An analytical mind.

What to keep in mind:

We'll be working on something completely different this week. We've spent 4 weeks on perspective, line variation, and creating a realistic representation of depth and space on a two-dimensional picture plane using only line. As we move on to the next problem, don't forget any of the lessons you learned or skills you picked up during the past four weeks. They are all related and cumulative. You don't leave one behind merely because you're learning something new. So, as we begin this week to explore the interpretation of three-dimensional objects onto a two-dimensional surface using planar analysis, don't forget proportion, composition, line value, and the observational skills you've developed.

Zak Smith Studio Visit

Examples of Planar Analysis Drawings

Here are some examples of what others have done with the planar analysis problem. This is a very new idea to many of you so I wanted you to have an opportunity to see what you'll be doing in the upcoming weeks.

Videos To Help You With Free Hand (Intuitive) Perspective

To help get you ready for drawing in free-hand (intuitive) perspective, here are a couple of useful videos I came across in my searches:

The first video outlines some tips to keep the objects in your composition in proper in proportion and to establish guidelines to keep the composition organized well on the page. Notice how the instructor here holds the pencil correctly up until the very end. I groaned when I saw him switch how he was holding it.

In this video, the instructor is using a finished drawing to point out all the considerations he put into its construction. Everything he mentions, with the exception of value (which we just don't deal with in this class) applies to everything you will be doing in this class.

Remember, however, that--unlike the instructor in these videos--you will continue to use your ruler for a while, even now that we're moving into intuitive perspective. I hope by now that you've come to see that the ruler isn't the constricting, limiting thing you originally thought it would be and that you have, instead, discovered just how loose and free this tool can allow you to be.

Some Good Sketchbook Examples

Since we'll be reviewing grades and sketchbook progress next Wednesday (9/16/09) and since so many of you have been asking what should be included in the sketchbook, I thought I'd post a few good examples. Now, you are your own, individual, creative human being, and I shouldn't see you mimicking what you see here in these examples. Rather, these images will allow you to see how others have made good use of their sketchbooks, and from that you can perhaps glean ideas of your own. (For whatever reason, Blogger isn't letting me shrink down these images, so some of them are cut-off. Just click on them to see the full image.)

Here's an excellent example of a student making notes on an artist he/she researched accompanied by a second page in which the student drilled him/herself on 2-point perspective.

This student designed something like a "title page" to introduce the section of the sketchbook that would explore perspective. On this page, you can see where the student pasted in a small article on the subject as well as wrote down definitions of key terms.

Here is an example of a student using a two-page spread of the sketchbook to drill him/herself by practicing drawing ellipses--particularly ellipses on several different types of cylinders viewed from different vantage points.

Here we have a student who took an article on 1-point perspective, photocopied it, and pasted it into the sketchbook. The student also added some visual motifs as a design element to unify the 2-page spread.

Here's another student dealing with ellipses and foreshortening. In addition to the student's own drawing and notes, illustrations and sections of an article have been pasted onto the page.

An interesting way of exploring 1-point perspective: a piece of tracing paper showing all of the orthogonal lines that fits over the finished drawing.

Pure experimentation that has nothing to do with the class. It's OK to do this.

Here's an example of a student using his/her writing in a creative way that becomes a design element in and of itself.

This student practiced drawing the interior in the sketchbook before executing it on the full-sized paper. Notice the article pasted into the book as well.

Again, pure experimentation.

And more experimentation.

Reminder About Homework Due September 16

On a sheet of 18"x24" WHITE bond paper, draw an interior (the same one you did in the last homework assignment) in 2-point perspective. Consider a different view this time around. Get adventurous if you want. Sit low to the floor or on a high platform. Just remember that whatever view you choose YOU MUST USE 2-POINT PERSPECTIVE.

Materials:

18"x24" white bond paper

Drawing Board

Drawing Pencils

Eraser

Metal yardstick

To give you a hand, click HERE for some good online instructions on drawing a 2-point interior. This example gives a third reference point in the center of the horizon. You don't need to worry about that.

You can also click HERE for a small (3 images) gallery of 2-point perspective interiors done by other classes.

Your Pencils May Be Worth More Than You Thought...

Since you guys are spending so much time with your pencils lately, I thought this article might appeal to you.