About Getting Practice

An interesting article from the NYT a week or so ago. It doesn't speak so well, ultimately of the artist it discusses, but it does address practice, practice, practice ... and learning from those that came before.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/arts/design/15painting.html?hpw

Art 1 Grid Drawing

I know, I know, I hate it when students are given homework over the break, but ...
you have to admit that this is pretty easy.
Since we are getting ready to begin the grid drawing each student needs to collect some photographs to choose from.
The guidelines are as follows:

• must be black and white
• must be "high quality" (showing good contrast, crisp, etc.)
• min. of 4" on the short side
• bring in a min. of 3-5 to choose from
• no silhouettes for the subject
  
• avoid really big areas that are really dark
• avoid really big areas that are really light
• try to find that "sweet spot" for detail - not too much, but not too little
• look for good contrast
• look for a wide range of values
• try to get pictures you enjoy looking at and will look forward to as a finished product

Remember, this project takes time, but is impressive when finished.
You will need matboard in order to finish the project, but we will discuss that come March.
I will put reminders of that up here and tell you where to get it later.

Art 1 Set 4 Updates

Some changes/reminders for Set 4 Study Drawings.
1. The due date for Art 1 is Mar. 2nd
2. #1 is now "any medium, any subject"
3. #4 - Analogous Colors = 3-4 colors adjacent to one another on the color wheel (ex. - blue, blue-green, green, yellow green). Yes, you can, and SHOULD, use white and black to create many different values of those color combinations.
4. #2, the portrait - look at angles, proportions, shapes, lights/darks, etc. You can draw yourself in a mirror (ideal), another real person, or from a photograph.

Let me know if you have questions.

Museum Dates Announced

Again this year LGHS will be showing at the Los Gatos Museum for our end of the year show. The museum has been a generous donor of exhibition space and time for LGHS for more than 15 years, and we expect another stellar show.
For the second year in a row we will be sharing the space with Saratoga High School, and we had a meeting at the museum yesterday to finalize the details of the exhibit.
This year the dates are from 29 April, 2010 to 27 May, 2010.
The opening reception will be from 6-8 pm on April 29th, and the awards juror will be Kenney Mencher.
Please mark your calendars now and make sure to be there for this always fun and well-attended event.
You can always email me for more information, but you can also visit the museum's site, too.

www.museumsoflosgatos.org

Town Council Opening Reception

This year's Art in the Council Chambers exhibit of paintings from the advanced art classes will take place this Thursday, Jan. 14th, from 6-8 pm in the Town Council Chambers (below the LG Public Library).
The link from the town's site is:

http://www.town.los-gatos.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=349

The mayor generally speaks at around seven, and there will be light food and drink available.

Students, don't forget to sign in on the extra credit sheet for points to be added to your first semester grade! No, you do not have to stay for the entire time, but it's always good to support your peers.

I hope to see everybody there! Let me know if you have any questions.

Stencils!

Just because they are fun. And a fun extension of drawing. And of drawing styles that we have done in other media.
Did I mention that it's fun?

The process includes:

A) Cutting out your image after you have drawn it





B) Placing some "weights" on the paper so that the stencil is in close of contact with the paper as possible


C) Spraying a not too thick but even layer of paint





D) Revealing the final results!!!

Extra Credit

There will be one opportunity for extra credit first semester. The date is 1/14/2010 and begins at 6pm.
Each year the Arts in the Council Chambers is generous enough to allow LGHS to show some advanced art paintings on canvas in the Los Gatos Town Council Chambers. Jan. 14th is the opening reception at which the mayor usually speaks and there are refreshments.
It will be a great opportunity to see the oil paintings produced during first semester from the Art 2, 3, and 4's outside of the the classroom for the first time this year.
As always, there will be a sign up sheet that you will need to autograph in order to get said extra credit.
Smile.
Two more weeks until break.
Until then, here are a couple of the paintings that will be on display.

Art 1

The finished watercolor landscape grades are up on Aeries. Overall the project came out well. Mainly what the beginning students need to take out of that project is not just that a bunch of different techniques can be used in a given painting, but that LAYERING of techniques and color will greatly enhance your finished project.
We'll be continuing our perspective unit until the Dec. break, and move perspective, watercolor, and pen & ink into a project we'll begin right before the semester ends.

Art 1 Due Date & Next Steps Notes

Yes, I know, we aren't finished with the lighthouse landscape. The new due date it 12/3. We should finish the demos for this project the day we come back from Thanksgiving break, and then you'll have until the next class period to finish the painting.
Before the end of that class period, though, we'll probably have a demo on the next project - so be prepared to be busy before the holiday break.

New Art Now

So one of my "personal" goals for this year is to rotate the art in the library on a more regular basis. Which, by the way, is my way of saying that there are new art projects up in the library as of about 5 minutes ago.
Most are from Art 1's newly finished Color Wheel Project, but five are from my Art 4's.
I hope to have more from Art 1 rotated before Thanksgiving, so if you're on campus make sure to stop by and check everything out.