Week Four - One-Point Perspective

- Critique on Contour Line Still Life assignment

- Intro to One-Point Perspective

One-Point Perspective: A Drawing has one-point perspective when there is one vanishing point, which is almost always on the horizon line.

"receding railroad tracks phenomenon"

In Class Project 1: Draw 10 boxed in One-Point Perspective

1. Draw a straight, horizontal line. This is your horizon line.
2. Draw a vanishing point somewhere on the horizon line
3. Draw 10 boxes in space, some above the horizon line, some below, with perspective lines of each box leading to the vanishing point.
4. Show all of your perspective lines

examples below:

In Class Project 2: Draw a room from your imagination in One-Point Perspective

1. There must be at least three objects, a window, and a door/doorway in the room

Homework: Due 10/2 From Observation, draw a room in One-Point Perspective

1. Stand with your back against a wall and look towards the opposite wall (that will be One-Point Perspective) 

2. Draw in a horizon line and a vanishing point somewhere on the horizon line. If you are standing, and looking straight into the middle of the wall, the vanishing point will be directly in the middle of the page (as seen in example below)

examples of rooms in One-Point Perspective

Week Three - Contour Line

• Introduction to Contour Line Drawing, Continuous-Line Drawing, & Blind Contour Line Drawing.
• Introduction to Line Sensitivity & Line Weight.

Contour_Line  (Download PDF)

1. Line – The basic element of all art, line is a type of mark that contains both direction and length.

2. Contour Line – The line that defines the form or edge of a shape, the outline.

3. Continuous-Line – The line remains unbroken from the beginning to the end of the drawing.  The artist does not lift the drawing tool off the page at all during the drawing process.

4. Blind Contour Line -  The artist draws the contour (outline) of a subject without looking at the paper or canvas.

5. Line Sensitivity – Line that creates minute changes or differences in the structure or contour of the subject, and conveys a strong sense of mass, volume, form, weight, dimensionality, and emotion.

6. Line Variation – Line that varies in width, lightness and heaviness to convey depth, mass, form, volume, weight, and dimensionality.

7. Cross-Contour Line – Lines that run perpendicular to the contour lines of the shape.

8. Implied Line – An incomplete line, or one that is inferred (or implied) by the viewer through elements in the composition, but which is not physically there.

In-Class:

1. In your sketchbook, do a quick, five minute blind contour drawing of one object in the still life. Do five different blind contour drawings total.

2. In your sketchbook, draw three thumbnails of the still life. Make sure to move around the still life and crop to make three interesting compositions. 

3. Choose one thumbnail you like best. On a full sheet of Bristol, make a final contour line drawing based off the thumbnail you chose. Focus on line sensitivity, line variation, and implied line to describe the surface structure of the objects so that they have volume. Do not erase, but leave your process lines. Start by drawing with a hard pencil (4H, 2H, H), until you have the objects sketched in place, and with a softer pencil (B, 2B, 4B, 6B) darken your lines and add line variation. 

Homework Assignment – due 9/25/14:
Choose 4 different objects, 2 man-made objects and 2 organic (plants, fruit, etc.) to set up a still life. Follow steps 1 and 2 we did in class. Draw three thumbnails of compositions, choose one thumbnail with the most successful composition, and draw a full Bristol page size contour line drawing from it. 

More examples:

 Cross Contour line

 Cross Contour Line

 Implied Line

 Implied line

 Continuous Line

 Continuous Line

 Line Variation

 Blind Contour 

Contour Line Drawing - Multiple Techniques



Contour Line Drawing - Multiple Techniques

Week One - Composition

Week 1 - Composition

There are many different ways to manipulate composition. Three of them we will cover this week, and are sometimes the most important.

1. Focal Point - What does your eye look at first?

2. Directional Forces - What moves your eye through the piece?

3. Compositional Balance - How is the space filled or broken up?

Focal Point

Claude Monet, Sunset (Impression)

The focal point is the silhouette of the boat because of its contrast. It is the darkest thing in the painting, therefore is stands out the most. Sometimes there is a secondary focal point. In this case, the sun functions as a secondary focal point. Since it is the brightest part of the painting, it also has contrast, and it is where your eye travels to second. 

Directional Forces

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec "Salon v rue Moulins"

The directional force starts at her foot in the lower right of the painting, moves up her leg, up her arm, up to her head, right to the woman seated next to her, then left along the ladies seated in the back of the painting.

Compositional Balance

Paul Cezanna "The Bathers"

Is there an overall shape to the composition? Is it more heavily weighted on one side of the piece or another? This has a symmetrical composition, split almost exactly in the middle and evenly balanced on both sides, and the composition has an overall triangle shape to it.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec V Moulin Rouge

This composition is more heavily weighted on the right side of the painting. The people sitting in the cafe, and the angle of the bar and chairs, give the composition an offset triangle shape.

Homework assignment

1. Pick three artworks and ROUGHLY sketch them out in your sketchbook in any media you choose. Make sure to label each piece with the name of the artist and the name of each piece

2. Consider the three compositional elements we've gone over:

• Circle the focal point
• Draw lines and arrows to show directional forces
• Draw or describe compositional balance

You may choose any piece of art you'd like for this assignment, but below is a list of artists that would be great to look at if you need help finding things.

• Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
• Edouard Manet
• Vincent van Gogh
• Alphonse Mucha
• Michelangelo
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Edgar Degas
• Jan van Eyck
• Sandro Botticelli
• Raphael
• Caravaggio
• Diego Velazquez
• Albrecht Durer
• Johannes Vermeer
• Paul Cezanne
• Claude Monet
• Peter Paul Rubens
• William Blake
• Salvador Dali
• Paul Gauguin
• Mary Cassatt
• Gustav Klimt

Week Two - Composition Continued

Week Two 

• Continue with elements of Composition:Unity & VarietyBalanceEmphasis & Focal Points

• Introduction to Thumbnails.

Balance 

Emphasis and Focal Point

Unity and Variety

Thumbnail Drawing Examples

In-Class Assignment:

• Create compositional thumbnails for 4 separate Focal Point Designs:
  1. Contrast
  2. Isolation
  3. Placement
  4. No Focal Point
• Each design should relate to each other (Conceptual Unity).  They can be representational or non-representational. Once you have a direction with your thumbnails, start to refine your ideas by making quarter-page size compositional roughs.
• The Final 4 Thematic Focal Point Compositions should be well executed designs with a distinct focal point created using each of the 4 techniques listed above and outlined in class. The Final Designs should be one half of the Bristol page or larger per design and can be in the media of your choice.  Make your designs “graphic” and easy to see from a distance.
• Keep in mind the concept of hierarchy and how to direct the viewer through your design.  What is the most important, second, third, etc.?  How does your eye flow through the design?  Is the concept you are representing depicted clearly?

Homework Assignment – due 9/18/14:Continue working on In-Class assignment.