Daily Sketchbook 1/9

Let's begin this semester!
Welcome, please look at the image below and only worry about the face today. Get it as close as you can to the original. If you finish with an amazing visage, move on to the helmet and goggles.
Have fun!

Daily Sketchbook 11/14

It's another art history day but I want you to follow a few directions.

Please read all of the directions before you begin.

• First, you'll need to go to The Lonely Palette website and begin THIS VAN GOGH EPISODE and skip forward to the 3 min mark.
• Next, set the timer for 13 minutes. (yes, I want each of you to set your own timer on your own ipad)
• While you are listening to the first portion of this podcast, draw the first image* you see at the bottom of the page in your sketchbook 
• Yes, you need to use headphones
• When your timer goes off, take a photo of your drawing and upload it for your daily sketchbook
• I would love for you to finish listening to this episode, but you can do that as you work on your painting as well

You do not need to listen to all 22 minutes of the episode, and I do not want you to take the entire episode length to draw and upload. However, I do want you to spend the above referenced 13 minutes to draw, so please get started asap and draw for the entire time until your timer goes off.
Smile. Art is fun.
Oh, sorry Sabine, I know you don't like her voice, but I do think it is an interesting podcast.



*I mean the below image

Daily Sketchbook 9/20

Remember that bird you began drawing in ink last week?
Go back to that page and spend some time adding watercolor to it some how to make it look better/more interesting/more complete.
Don't forget to photograph the entire page when you are done (without a shadow) and upload it!


Alternatively, you may continue inking if you don't feel like you got as far as you would have liked. Please just spend at least 13 min. working on this.

Daily Sketchbook 3/1

We will use our time as a continuation of what you began on Monday. You should be at a point where you are shading your object, so how much further can you get on that? Do you begin adding color with colored pencil or watercolor? Or do you do some inking/shading?

Also, the objects you had to choose from were not by accident. We spent all day on Monday thinking about symbolism and metaphor, and both of those objects are things you have dealt with in your English classes in the past. A mockingbird and a conch shell. Ring a bell?
Both of those objects mean different things to different cultures, but you should have had conversations about what they represent from texts you have read in the past.

Once the 15 min mark gets here today I will give the next directions, but I know you'll need to have your sketchbook and pencil and ipad out. Please make sure everything else is off of your desk.

Daily Sketchbook 1/31

On the next blank page in your sketchbook, use a pencil only and use the below image as your guide.

You will be continuing the use of this same inspirational image on Thursday. Oh, and if you are wondering who that is, it's Weegee.

Daily Sketchbook 12/1

Continuation!
Go back to the same ipad you had on Tuesday and open up procreate. Continue working on your sandcastle drawing to make it better and more accurate.
When you have finished 12 minutes of working on it, export it as a jpg and upload that image to Canvas please.

Daily Sketchbook 5/13

I'm surprised everyone loves those pens as much as they do. Well, maybe not. It is easier after all. 

You know what I'm talking about, so grab two things and begin drawing one of the two images shown below. 

DO NOT begin in pencil first and DO NOT begging globally. By this I mean do not outline the whole thing and then begin. 

Draw by dealing with a section at a time - including hatch and shading, and then gradually moving on. Your goal is to draw as close to the image shown as possible for a solid 14 minutes (please set your timer) knowing that you won't finish the entire thing. 

Oh, and those two things you need, an iPad and a uniball pen. 

Smile, be happy now. 

Daily Sketchbook 4/25

Here is the image for the right hand side of the double page spread you began last time.

Remember, PENCIL ONLY.

You will not "finish" this today - and are not expected to. You are expected to get the proportions down and to do a great job overall though.

Also, ONLY USE AN IPAD FOR REFERENCING THE PHOTO. So if you are reading this on your phone, walk over and get an ipad please. Prop it up on your desk for reference.

Daily Sketchbook 4/21

This is your image inspiration to draw IN PENCIL ONLY today.

Begin by designating the next blank double page spread with this guy on the left hand side page. Draw him as realistically as possible. Do not expect to completely finish.

We will be working on this image and double page spread for multiple days so DO NOT draw anything else on these two pages.

Remember, pencil only. Also, ONLY USE AN IPAD FOR REFERENCING THE PHOTO. So if you are reading this on your phone, walk over and get an ipad please. Prop it up on your desk for reference.

Daily Sketchbook 1/26

Lets continue that whole drawing from observation thing from last week. Your task is this, QUICKLY walk to the library and position yourself at a table away from a computer. Begin drawing your environment.

Are there people there? Are there tables? Are there bookshelves or the circulation desk? 

Draw all of that. Be as specific as you can. But make sure to block in a full composition before you worry about details. 

Set your timer and draw for 14 minutes. I will be looking for how productive you are. 

You should have his read, get to the library, draw, and be back within 22 minutes of the bell ringing. Some of you are great about getting started right away, but some of you are still challenged with your efficiency. Go!

Daily Sketchbook 1/5

Pull out the contents of your backpack or purse.
Ok, ok, it doesn't have to be everything, but you should have at least five to seven items there.
Please don't be too un-fun and take "easy" things like a stack of books out. Keys and pens and cool stuff that is challenging is way better.
Set them on your table and draw them in pencil to create a composition on your page.

If you came to class with nothing - or just not enough - share items with your neighbor. Put your things together and have both of you work from the same thing.

Please make sure you have all of the same stuff here on Thursday as we will be using it again then.

Oh, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Artist of the Month

As we'll be going over Jeff Koons in all of the advanced classes I thought I would link to a couple of interesting articles here.
The first comes from Vice, that you can read HERE, and the second from Time.

Above you'll see the image you need to draw for this month's worksheet before taping it in your sketchbook, and below you'll see Mr. Koons and a few select pieces of his art.

Art 4 Daily Drawing for 3/26

Ah, Scott C.
That is, the guy you drew from last time. You know, your pencil drawing.
Today I want you to go back to that image and add as much watercolor as you can in your 15 minutes to get it to look like the original.
Get your paints out and let's go!

Art 4 Daily Drawing for 3/4 (Creating Balance Writing Exercise)

In life we all strive for balance. Sometimes this is super easy, but more often than not it proves difficult.
I mean, physically there is this:

Cool I know.

But physically creating balance is only one way to approach the idea of creating balance.

Read the below questions, close your phone and then do some stream of conscious writing on a blank page of your sketchbook.

Don't think about what is "right" or "wrong", just write. Get as much written as possible until I tell you to stop. Please also cease your conversations because we all know that if your are super focused on letting the words flow you can't carry on a conversation at the same time.

What are some of the most important things in your life?

How do you engage with one or more of these things?

How would you ideally engage with one or more of these things if nothing else "got in the way"?

What are some of the "have to do" things in your life you feel consistently obligated to engage in?

How do you engage in these things?

Do you feel you do these things well?

Do you feel you do these things efficiently?

Art 4 Daily Drawing for 3/2 - Blackout Version

Austin Kleon is a favorite. Much about the career he has constructed for himself is crazy great, and he is someone I suggest you investigate/look up at some point.

He first became "known" online for creating what he has termed "Newspaper Blackouts"

I want you to watch the following video (volume not necessary) and use the provided magazine pages to create your own.
(If the video doesn't play, try clicking on THIS LINK)

When you are finished you should use rubber  cement or glue stick or scotch tape to attach your blackout poem to the next available page in your sketchbook.

As an added bonus, I will call on a few of you to read yours aloud to the class!

You are being timed...Go!

Art 4 daily Drawing for 2/26

Look at these cute felines:

For your daily drawing today I want you to recreate this project in your sketchbook in your sketchbook.

Cutting out cat heads from magazine pages without drawing then out first, and then use a marker (or marker type object) to add the features so it actually looks like a cat. 

Then use the rubber cement, glue sticks, or scotch tape to paste them in a page of your sketchbook.

You will need a page or two from a magazine (I have a pile of them ready for you), some scissors, a sharpie or other marker, and some rubber cement or a glue stick.

How many can you create in 15 minutes? Go!

Monday Warm Up

Art 2's, welcome back.
We'll start our time together by getting the ol' arm moving quickly.

Step 1: Set your timer for five minutes and draw the following image on a fresh page of your sketchbook (orient your sketchbook horizontally please).

Step 2: Set your timer for another five minutes and draw the following image on the same page as the above quail in your sketchbook.

Step 3: Set your timer for two minutes and create a "conversation" between the two fowl.

Step 4: Smile. You are done.

Art 4 Daily Drawing for the week of 2/9

What does 45 mins of solid drawing look like?
At this point in your studies it should be pretty significant. You should be able to get a lot of high quality work done as you have a lot of practice under your belt.

This week you will work on the same image for the first 15 minutes of class all three times I see you. My expectations are that the drawing not only be accurate in proportion but also in things such as value and texture.

Begin with the children and what they are holding/using, and work from there. The points for these three days will be based off the progress and product both.

Art 4 Daily Drawing for 2/5

Last time you drew one of the two pictures in THIS POST from 2/3. You should have been focused on getting an accurate image and one with clean lines without getting to any (or maybe very little) shading.

This time I want you to take the OTHER photo and incorporate the head/face of that person as an addition to the head/face of the drawing you did on Tuesday.

Please use pencil again, and focus on accuracy of proportion, line, shape, etc. before beginning shading.
Yes, it will look strange. That's the point - to get you to expand what you think of as a portrait.

If you have time to begin shading, perfect, but approach that slowly - as you would a more finished piece.

Art 4 Daily Drawing for 2/3

Below you will find two photographs by the amazing Irving Penn. If you don't know his work - well, you probably do but don't realize it - you should look it up with the above link.

I want you to choose one of the photographs and begin to reproduce it as accurately as possible in pencil only.
At first focus on line. Don't worry about shading until you have your lines/shapes finished. We will be spending more than one day on this drawing so don't try to rush through and "finish" in one 15 minute session.

 

Just think about the figure in this exercise. I don't care so much about the background, and intentionally picked images with, basically, nothing there. Cheers.