Daily Sketchbook 5/21

Before and After.
Go get your tub of supplies, put it down on the floor and take a photo of exactly what it looks like right now :)
Next, take the time to clean everything and get it ready to turn in (or at least as much as you can get done in 20-ish minutes.
Take another photo of your clean and organized tub.
Finally, upload those to Canvas for your daily sketchbook for today.

As a treat for me, you could put them both on one canvas in an app (procreate or the like) so that I can see the before and after at once. That would be nice.

After we are finished with this we will work on a follow up for the Process Self Portrait Project and discuss the rest of the week.


If you finish significantly before everyone else, draw in your sketchbook instead of just socializing or sitting there, please.

Daily Sketchbook 5/17

Those antlers. Give me a sloth hanging from them somewhere/somehow.
Smile. Enjoy.

Daily Sketchbook 5/15

We will start today's image, and then add to it on Thurs., for now just draw some deer antlers.
You can use the ones below, or find your own, but begin right away.

Don't wait to plug in to your music or spend this time catching up with your peers please. Just begin.
I'm less interested in the texture at the bottom, or any shading, than the overall shape for now. But in truth the shape shouldn't take long, and then you can begin adding values.
Use pencil only for this.

Daily Sketchbook 5/3

Last time you should have gotten a decent start on the egret.
Did you work on it yesterday even though you weren't required to upload any sort of update?
Did you work on i.p. instead?

Today I want you to add some colored pencil to the negative space.

Maybe it is mostly monochromatic and blending in value from light to dark?
Maybe it is proportionally appropriate stripes of contrasting colors adjacent to one another?
Maybe it is a rectangle of color somehow?

Just pick a color or two and go. Don't think too much. Do make it visually interesting.
Remember, this isn't a "finished" piece. We are just experimenting.

Also, remember the expectation is that you are starting within just a few moments of the bell ringing in order to be efficient with your time :)

A3/A4 Due Date Update

Further important reminders for my lovely A3/A4 students...

You need to have all of your independent practice pieces from the entire semester here by the end of this week (ending 5/4). We will be using them for peer feedback soon!

Don't forget your drop dead due date deadline of 5/11. Any past due work, do-overs, adjustments, etc. need to be turned in on or before that date. Of course, the earlier the better.

Your "last" I.P. piece is due on 5/11.
Notice how this date lines up with the drop dead due date deadline...this is the end of turning in anything except for our current project and the daily sketchbook.

Your Process Self Portrait is due on 5/17.
Since this is after the 5/11 drop dead due date deadline (have I repeated this enough for you yet?) you will not be permitted to turn this project in past the due date. You have what you have on the due date, and that is what will be assessed.

The super fun awards lunch is on 5/23. 
I just sent out the date to your parents on 4/30, so gently remind them and ask if they are bringing anything to contribute to the lunch :)

We will be creating an Adobe Spark Page portfolio to address and showcase the work you have been doing, so if you wanted to get started on that, nobody will stop you.

By the 17th you need to have all of the supplies that have been checked out to you for the semester here so that they are prepared to be cleaned (if they aren't already) and turned in.

Daily Sketchbook 5/1

We will begin today with the below image - one random bird from the natgeo instagram page from ages ago.
We will also continue to work on this on Thursday (to get even more practice at building up one image over time) in class, but more directions for that will follow at a later time.

Since we are also at the beginning of May, I want to throw a few more things out there, so please read carefully.

We are all, I'm sure, ready for summer. The truth is that we have many weeks of school left in us. With that said, I want to reiterate that in an ideal world, you are working on independent practice pieces as your daily sketchbook on those days that we don't have class. As I have reminded you many times, this makes this kind of a two-for-the-price-of-one kind of a deal.

However, I will not be requiring you to submit a daily sketchbook for non-class-meeting days for the next few weeks. When we are ready to pick this back up again, I will let you know. The hope is that it gives a wee bit of relief, but the hope is also that you have that daily practice instilled and that you keep drawing/working for a minimum amount of time each day - you just don't need to document/upload for non-class days after today.

We will keep doing the daily sketchbook in class though, so make sure you get started each and every day as soon as you come in the room!
:)

Daily Sketchbook 4/25

Please get out your pen and ink.
If you go back to your backpack image, from Monday (yes, this is the last time we'll address this image) I want you to find a way to draw attention to the backpack, or more ideally, a specific part of the backpack.
This could mean adding detail or shading to a part of the backpack.
Alternatively this could mean adding some sort of "contrary" element to the images (such as a series of straight lines in a defined shape around a particular part).
You could just address the negative space and add too what should already be there.

I'm not sure the best path forward for you but please keep adding to your image until I ask you to stop.

Once we are uploaded here please come close to my desk so that we can look at some examples together.

Daily Sketchbook 4/23

We are returning to the backpack image again, so when everyone has a pen and their sketchbook out (and is quiet and ready for directions), I'll let you know what we will be doing with that image.

Daily Sketchbook 4/19

Open back up to the backpack image that you began last time, and let me give you additional instructions before you get started.
Please get out the following supplies:

• self-healing cutting mat
• x-acto knife (at least two per table) you will need to share
• watercolor palette
• watercolors
• water
• paper towels

Additionally,  please get out an 18"x24" piece of drawing paper and make sure each table has a roll of masking tape to share.

I'll give you a couple of minutes and then ask that you join me in the middle of the room so we can go over directions.

Daily Sketchbook 4/17

Please make sure you are not sitting at a table by yourself.
Next, have one person from your table group place their backpack in the center of your table group.
Yes, we will be drawing this, but I don't want you to begin yet. Let me guide you a bit further and give some additional instructions before you begin.
Also, welcome back. If I haven't said so, I'm happy to see your beautiful mug in the studio :)

Very Important Date Announcement

Good afternoon all!
Just like last semester I have to set a "drop dead due date" for all pieces.
As a reminder, this is when all refined, adjusted, do-over, or late pieces must be turned in by in order to be appropriately assessed for the semester.*

The date to mark on your calendars for this semester is Friday, 5/11 

Note that we will still be working on projects beyond this date, and for those projects you must turn in on time. I will delay them as far as I can in the semester, but it will be the end of the semester, so after 5/11 I cannot accept late pieces.
That Friday, 5/11, is a black day. Clearly I do not teach my Art 1 or Art 2 students on that day, so if you are in one of those three classes, please don't let the date slip by you.

As always, if you have questions, please let me know.



*A3/A4 - your daily sketchbooks have been entered for the first two grading periods well before this, so they lie outside of this date (as in, they are said and done already)

Daily Sketchbook 4/2

Good morning!
I'd like to walk backwards a little bit today and look at the week as a whole as we get started.

Friday: mindful moment; wrap up and self assessment of current painting; looking back at what we have created during the month of March (this will require you to have all of your independent practice or self-directed pieces here this week (I would bring them earlier vs later). You'll need to have your sketchbook here on Friday as well.
Remember you should have been doing one or the other during March.
Hopefully we have time to begin towards our next work.

Wednesday: daily sketchbook - this will be our self assessment at the end of the grading period as we typically do; finish and turn in painting

Monday: daily sketchbook of which you have two options today. Option One: continue working on the negative space you began with your blackbird last week. Option Two: get a mirror from the tool cabinet and create a contour line drawing of your face resting on your hand (not a blind contour drawing).
Please spend a min. of 8 min. and a max. of 11 min. on this.
Continue working on your acrylic painting - due Wed.

Daily Sketchbook 3/27

For the last week of March, if you are not actively engaging in your self-directed project - which we will talk more about, I want you to work on the below image.





Please begin by drawing the outline ONLY of the above blackbird.
Next I want you to work on the negative space around the bird.
What can you do to make it visually interesting?
What object(s) or pattern or use of shape or use of color or...will make it interesting?

Is it something geometric? Is it something organic? Is it a combination?
I would ask that you do not do a tree branch. I would ask that you experiment.

Since you'll have two days to work on this, what can you do that is visually appealing?

As an alternative, you may use the slightly different view from below if you like.

Important News for Next Week

Good afternoon, all.

I have already told you that I will be gone to the NAEA conference next week for two days (Thurs., and Fri.), and because of this there are a couple of things that you need to be aware of. I will try to break it down by level below so that you don't need to read the entire post. However, there is one thing that applies to you all: you need to have color printout of any reference photo for your current project in class to work from.


Art 1
You will be continuing on your album cover as it is due shortly - which you should be well aware of. While you do not have access to the ipads today since Mrs. Matsui and I are both out of town, this means you do not have them to use as a reference. You need to have any references for color/texture/values printed out ahead of time. But I'm giving you a week prior notice so this shouldn't be an issue, right? Good :)
This also means that you do not have them to use for music. I know some of you are really  used to having your own tunes playing in your ears, but you will just have to (gasp!) live without it for a whole 90 minutes. Don't worry, I think you'll survive.
I am giving the sub directions that he/she can play music from the computer in my cabinet so you'll just have to be fine with that.
To summarize: just...no electronic devices are to be used during class on Th/Fri. next week.

Art 2
You will be continuing on your acrylic painting. You need to have a color reference photo before Thursday of next week if you are to make appropriate progress on your painting. Don't just "go for it". Use your reference, since I will be using it when you turn your painting in anyway.
You need your reference photo because the ipads will be locked and unavailable during class time since I will be out of town.
No, you may not use your phones as reference and you may not use your phones to listen to music. Nobody should have headphones in during class when the sub is here. I will be leaving very specific directions for the sub to not allow phone use, and to quietly tell me who is violating this policy so that I can deal with it when I come back.
Please sit in the seats you typically sit in because I will be leaving a seating chart for the sub to help with this and to help with attendance.
Honestly, I just don't want it to be an issue. I will let the sub pic music to play in my absence, so even if you don't like it, it really isn't a big deal, so please don't make it one.
Make good and legit progress on your work and all will be good.

Art 3/4
If you perused over the above you'll notice a common thread - when I am gone at the NAEA conference you will not have access to the ipads.
This means you need to print out any necessary photos/images ahead of time so that you have them to paint from. Uploading them to google drive will not be enough since I will not allow you to access your phone (per normal class policy) while the sub is here.
This also means you will not have access to the ipads for listening to "your" music. You cannot use your own device to listen to music either.
I will allow the sub (not you) to put some music on the stereo and you'll just have to be ok with that. It isn't the end of the world so please don't create an issue out of it. It's only 90 minutes of your life. You'll survive.
There isn't a "daily sketchbook" that you need to upload during class, so this isn't an issue, and anything you need to document and upload a photo of to Canvas can be done before or after class (since you are totally ok to use your phone outside of those 90 min).

Daily Sketchbook 3/14

This is another day I will request you work on your elephant image (if you are not doing a self-directed March project based off the answer to your question from before), so think about the following two options.
Is there a way to fix/finish/alter the elephant itself to make it significantly stronger and/or more refined?
Is there a way to consider the idea of repetition/multiplicity with your stacked elements from Monday (donuts and/or paper boats) to give additional visual interest to the drawing?

Please be productive and upload your drawing after about 12 solid minutes of drawing.
Cheers!

Daily Sketchbook 3/12

Back to that elephant.
Continuing to add on, alter, or change an existing page makes for images that can be unexpected.
They don't always have to make sense, and sometimes the pages that have less energy devoted to the items on the page can be the most interesting.
Below is a pretty simple donut. You could add some shading today, or tomorrow.
You could have this balancing on your elephant's head or back. Up to you.




Or what if you did something with the boat below?

If you used the boat below, what else would you put on the flag?


What happens if you do multiples of something? Or if you have the elephant balancing on one set of things while it is simultaneously balancing other things?

Daily Sketchbook 3/8

How about you go back to that elephant from last week and make it better and on the way towards complete?
I think that a good idea.
We will balance some things on its back later (as was said before).
Like a donut, maybe.

Of course...you have the option of working on your self directed project for the month of March if that is where you are heading.
What is fun/interesting for you to draw.
Is this a series of drafts in your sketchbook? Is this on a "final" piece of paper/canvas?

Sometimes it pays to look around

The interwebs are a great place to look and find inspiration.
It could be specific content, but it might be something kind of random - which are often the best.

Koosje Koene is one of those. Most of her images are pretty "simple" upon first glance, but you know there wouldn't be any sort of consistent style present if she hadn't done something over and over and over again.
She has some good work on her site and some great video content up on youtube - which you can see below.
There are some great and fun tips for keeping up a consistent sketchbook practice on her channel, and in the below video - which is why it is here, so I would say, check it out.

Cheers.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Good day to all of you Art 3 and Art 4 folks.
I realized (too late) yesterday that some of you are lacking in a few turn-in items that you need.
Please make sure to address the following things:

• are your memory thumbnails turned in and marked complete in the gradebook?
• did you give me a description of what your final painting will look like in the acrylic painting assignment in the gradebook (if you are in the app hit "message instructor")?
• how many process photos have you uploaded (drawing, initial glaze, layering, initial color mixing, etc.)?
• have you uploaded your photo reference(s)?

These things hit on success not just for this project, but for a later project as well. Please work on this during tutorial today if you have not done it already!

Thank you!

Daily Sketchbook 3/6

You know that you have been given options for the Month of March, and while I have said that you will still get the first few minutes of class every day to work on something (and that I will still add prompts here), you have options of what to work on.
Sort of.
Today we will all work together on the AOTM.
This is a particularly good one as you begin to create your own work/topics as you can see how very little can be used to maximize variety at times.
Come up to my desk for the presentation of Mike and Doug Starn.