Drawing Summer 2014: June 2014

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Tips for your Animated Drawing

General Tips

1. Read this sheet and the assignment sheet you received in class on Tuesday thoroughly. Then read them again.

2. Keep in mind that you are creating an animation; showing movement is part of the goal of this piece.

3. Email me with any questions you have.

4. Email me your first photo for feedback.

5. Seriously, read the assignment sheet.

Setting up your still-life

1. Use Dramatic Lighting

2. Use objects that are similar to each other, but not identical.

3. When you are ready to move your objects, light, or point of view, do so in small increments so that in the final animation we will have a sense of movement. (Big changes will feel like a new drawing.)

4. If you would like to control the environment your objects are in so that you have the same background in class as you had at home, use a box and a clamplight and bring it with you to class. (Visual examples on following page. Also, see this link: http://lindahuntstudio.blogspot.com/2010/12/blog-post.html )

Drawing

1. Your drawings must be made from observation. The quality of your observational drawing will be a large part of your grade for this piece.

2. Each new layer of drawing will be competing with the erased marks, therefore it is wise to use high contrast in your drawings.

3. Be sure that your drawing goes all of the way to the edges of the paper. (Your paper should be 22”x30”; you may create a one inch border.)

4. You should consider this a value drawing, not a line drawing.

Taking photos

1. Be sure all edges of your drawing and corresponding edges of the picture frame are parallel.

2. Be sure there are no shadows cast on your drawing as you photograph it.

3. Be sure that the lighting is even on the entire drawing.

4. Look closely at each photo before you move on to make sure the photo is perfect.

5. Take multiple photos until you get it right.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Final Assignment

Kentridge Project – Animated Drawing

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week will be used as practice for the final project, which asks you to emulate William Kentridge’s animated drawings.

During these class sessions we will work from a still life for one hour.

At the end of the hour you will photograph your drawing. (The photographs of your drawings should have even lighting, be square to the frame, and be cropped to show only the drawing.)

We will then change the still life set up slightly. Working on the same drawing, you will alter it to show the new arrangement of the still life.

Keep in mind that the drawings do not have to be erased entirely, even in the places it has changed. Part of the power of Kentridge’s films are the traces left behind. Those traces speak to the lingering impact of events on an individual, a relationship, or a nation. This is part of why Kentridge only uses one piece of paper for an entire scene, rather than one for each frame.

Final Assignment

On a 22”x30” piece of cotton rag paper, create a still life drawing using 1-3 objects. You may use vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, and/or conte crayon. You may use colored conte and shades of gray, but if you do so please do so with an emotive intent, please use it sparingly, and please use black as the dominant color.

When the drawing is complete take a photo.

The photographs of your drawings should have even lighting, be square to the frame, and be cropped to show only the drawing.

Once you have a satisfactory photo, move your objects or your perspective on the objects to create a similar, but changed still life set up. Then begin changing your completed drawing to reflect the new still life. (You could also change the lighting, or your distance from the objects.)

Repeat this process at home until you have at least 5 photos of the changing drawing.

You may use some imaginative elements in your drawing, however, your grade will be based primarily on your ability to show me what you have learned about proportion, mark making, line, and value. Please do not get lost in the freedom of this assignment.

On Tuesday June 24

Bring your drawing and your still life objects to class, as well as your drawing materials.

In class we will combine groups of objects into two or three in-class still life set ups, and we will repeat the process you began at home. The set ups will be changed around 7:30pm by the group of students working from each set up. We will continue to work this way on Wednesday the 25^th. *If you have an idea that would be difficult to execute in a still life that includes other people’s objects, let me know. We can figure out a way for you to work from your own set up in class.

Due Date and Critique, Thursday June 26^th

Your final animation must have a minimum of 8 photos of your drawing. For the final critique you will present both the resulting drawing and the 8+ digital images. Please get the images to me via email, a thumb drive, or disc, at the beginning of our last class.