November 22nd - Breaking the Page

For this Monday's class we will be creating a drawing of on object. We will be creating this drawing on a 3-d surface, we are going to break the page! The objective is to think about a 3-d for that will enhance the essence of the object (and your drawing of it) that you have selected. You may use a preexisting form, or you can construct one from scratch. You may (if the surface allows for it) draw directly onto the surface, or you can attach the paper to the surface after you have done the drawing. You may use any materials for your structure and it's construction. Think about that the style  you draw in should speak to the form as well. Below is a sample of a partially finished assignment (so that you can see the construction). The object was a brown glass soda bottle that is broken.

The form is made from cardboard and a plastic water bottle with the drawing sections glued on after it was built. The shape is meant to enhance the feeling of the sharpness of the broken glass and the action of it breaking. Think about how the viewer will interact with the drawing/form as well. You can place it in a sight specific area if you want too.

Some good advise you shouldn't have to wait to graduate to hear.

Our Big Heads

Here are a few of the finished drawings from our Big Head assignment. Good work on these everyone!

November 1st- The Layered Figure

In today's class we will be examining, and analyzing the various layers of the figure. The three layers will be the clothed figure, the nude figure and the skeleton, all in the same pose. You will be drawing all three forms in the same pose and then figuring out how to best combine the layers into one single drawing. The scale of each layer must be the same. Below are some examples of past students solutions. This first example (three images below) was put together using layers of tracing paper to show each.

This next one used various sections of each drawing and combined them into one new drawing that had parts of each layer showing.

Here is another one that used tracing paper to create the layers.

This one placed all three on a single page and added text to give it a scientific illustration feel.

This last one used layers of tracing paper also (shown here with all three layers on top of each other) but added text (the names of all the bones) to help create a more interesting use of the negative space around the figure.

Out in the field - Drawing on the High Line

Here are some pictures I snapped of you guys hard at work on your drawings yesterday on our perspective trip to the High Line. I am looking forward to seeing them all polished and perfect for next Monday!

October 25th - High Line Perspective Drawing

Don't forget to dress warm enough for drawing outside on Monday (and all your drawing materials and digital camera). I suggest wearing layers. So here are some samples of some artists who make large scale sculptures. Some monumental!
Below are some images of the Gates project in Central Park by the Christos. The first two are images of their wonderful drawings proposing the project before it was begun. The third is of the actual project after installation. This is just what we are doing in theory. I have added  a link to their website (left side bar) which has many more examples of their sculptures.

Here are a few Richard Serra sculptures.

An amazing Louis Bourgeois sculpture that has moved around to many city, including here at Rockefeller Plaza a couple of years ago.

An Atlanta based artist named Andrew Crawford makes some amazing sculptures based on enlarging tools and playing with their form ans implied materials  (see his website linked at the left for more).

 And lastly a well know Donald Judd sculpture.

On to the student drawings. In case you are wondering these were not done at the High Line walk as ours will be. They were using  Astor Square. Below are some examples of past students drawings of the same perspective assignment to help give you some ideas on how to integrate your object into the surrounding architecture. You can see that they all use various methods to help give a sense of scale, as well as various styles of atmospheric perspective to help create mood.

October 18th, Perspective

Perspective Drawing
The three photos below demonstrate the difference between 1-Point and 2-Point Perspective, as well as 3-Point Perspective. The first photograph (Fig. 1) is an example of one-point perspective. All of the major Vanishing Points for the buildings in the foreground of Fig. 1 converge at one central location on the horizon line. The angle of view or Point Of View (POV) in Fig. 1 is referred to as Normal View perspective. In Fig. 2 the vanishing points for the two opposing faces of the center foreground building project towards two different vanishing points on the horizon line. In Fig. 3 we see that the horizontal building elements project to the left and right horizon and the vertical building elements project to a central vanishing point in the sky. This upper vanishing point is called the Zenith. If one were looking down on the object from a Bird's Eye perspective, the vanishing point below the horizon and would be called the Nadir. Perspective Types

 Deconstructing "Perspective" from Photography
In the next three diagrams, you will see the same three photographs with Vanishing Point trajectory lines (magenta) and Horizon Lines (blue) traced over the subject matter. Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 are both examples of Normal View perspective. A Normal View angle places the Horizon Line at a natural height as if the viewer was looking straight forward without tilting the head/camera up or down. In these two examples, you will notice that all of the vertical features of the buildings are straight up and down.

 Fig. 6 is an example of a Worm's Eye perspective. In Fig. 6 the head/camera is tilted upward placing the Horizon below the picture. The perspective when the view is tilted in an upward direction, creates a third vanishing point at the Zenith. All of the vertical building features will converge at this upper vanishing point. If we were looking down on a subject, the viewing angle would be a Bird's Eye View and the vertical details would converge at the Nadir.
This technique of tracing parallel lines to their convergence point would be used to construct a Perspective Grid from exiting photographic material. Each convergence point will represent the exact location of the Horizon, Zenith, or Nadir in that photograph.
The Illusion of Depth
In the preceding photographic examples you will notice that as an object recedes towards a Vanishing Point (infinity) it appears to get smaller. This phenomenon is due to the fact that the "viewer" is at a steeper angle of view when looking an object that is in close proximity as opposed to an object of the same size that is farther away and therefor, viewed at a shallower angle. This phenomenon was first observed during the 16th century, when a German painter and printmaker named Albrecht Dürer began drawing observed objects onto a sheet of glass (below, left), later known as the 'picture plane.' Prior to the discovery of the picture-plane, artists used their best guess to determine perspective (below, right).