Sketchbook Assignments

PAINTING 1

SKETCHBOOK ASSIGNMENTS

 Sketchbooks are an important part of this course  Sketches are the visual thought process of design and composition  Sketches are plans for the organization of art elements  Sketches help improve drawing and observation skills

Sketchbook practices:  Bring your sketchbook with you to every class and take it home with you every night.  Use your sketchbooks for sketching, notes, comments, journaling, and collecting images.  Properly adhere images to the sketchbook page. For lightweight paper, use a glue stick. Points will be deducted from your grade if images are not properly adhered in your sketchbook when you turn it in. Images should be glued in place prior to coming to class on the day sketchbooks are due.  If you get an image from the Internet, make sure it is the full size image, not a thumbnail.  Thumbnail sketches must be drawn within a frame.  If the assignment calls for shading, be sure to use a full range of values, everything from white to very darks. Contrast is key.  If an assignment states that a drawing is to be done from direct observation, it means that you are to draw the object by looking directly at it. You are not to draw from a photograph or from your imagination.  Sketchbook assignments are homework assignments. Class time is for studio time and is generally used for the completion of projects.  Don't wait until the last minute to do sketchbook assignments. Excuses about printer problems the night before the assignment is due are not acceptable.  Turn sketchbook in at the beginning of class on the days assignments are due. (See below)  For each day that a sketchbook assignment is late one point will be deducted.

Sketchbooks are due on the first day of the week, usually Mondays.

 Turn sketchbook in at the beginning of class on the days assignments are due. (See below)

ASSIGNMENTS Sketchbook # 1 Painting styles Find an example of each of the following painting styles from existing paintings: flat, hard-edged; loose (impressionistic); blended, texture (possibly done with a palette knife). Find examples of each style and glue the examples into your sketchbook. Next to each painting write the name of the artist and the title of the piece. Indicate which painting style is used. Sketchbook # 2 Cityscape Thumbnails

Research paintings of cityscapes online to see painting of cityscapes. You are looking examples cityscape paintings completed by various artists.

Note that although all of the paintings contain buildings and architectural structures, they are done in very different styles.

Create 3 different thumbnail compositions for your own cityscape composition. Remember to place the thumbnail sketches within a frame.

You might try varying the size and shape of the frame.

You can use pictures of buildings for structural ideas and information, but don't copy your composition from a single photograph. Consider the crowded, congested feel of a city with many buildings in a small area. You may wish to convey that aspect of a city in your own composition. Your composition need not be in a realistic style. You might keep the style loose or even somewhat abstracted. Also give consideration to the background as well as the buildings. Sketchbook # 3 Houseplant Draw a houseplant (real or artificial) from direct observation. Use most of the space of your sketchbook page. Using watercolor or watercolor pencils to apply color with washes. Add additional value for form and contrast with pencil shading and/or crosshatching. Remember to take home watercolor paints or pencils. Sketchbook # 4 Flower painting sketches Make 3 thumbnail sketches of a flower following the guidelines on the sheet provided. Give special attention to the compositional arrangement of each sketch. Sketchbook # 5 Drapery from Direct Observation Drapery studies are important because artists often have to draw or paint cloth, in clothing, tablecloths, curtains… Cloth has unique characteristics. There are many different textures associated with cloth. The folds of cloth create areas of highlights and shadow that the artist must learn to capture in order to make the cloth look like cloth. Drape a piece of clothing or cloth over a chair, table or some object. Make sure that there are several folds in the cloth. Draw the cloth and pencil shade to show the dark and light values in the folds of the cloth. Sketchbook # 6 Still life Composition of Same Objects Gather a bunch (at least 5) of like items (pens, scissors, keys …) Arrange them randomly on a surface to create an interesting compositional arrangement. The arrangement should bring the objects together as a composition rather than just individual objects. From direct observation, draw the arrangement. Pay attention to the spatial relationships of the items, both individually and in relation to the surrounding items. Use watercolor or watercolor pencils to apply color washes. Add additional shading for form and contrast with pencil shading and/or crosshatching. Sketchbook # 7 Landscapes in the Impressionist & Post-Impressionist Styles Find an example of a landscape painting from 3 of the following artists: Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Georges Seurat, Vincent Van Gogh, Camille Pissarro, or Maurice Prendergast. Glue the examples into your sketchbook. (Don't use the thumbnail.) Next to each example write the name of the painting and the artist. Also write a few comments about the characteristics of that artist's style. For example you might note things like the artist's use of color, the type of brush strokes used, the linear and/or textural qualities in the painting, the compositional arrangement, the space created within the painting… Sketchbook # 8 Drawing an Object from Different Points of View (All 3 drawings will be on the same page) Choose an object such as a shoe, purse, pinecone, tea kettle…. Observe and study the object for its contours, edges, textures… Set up the object and, from direct observation, make a continuous contour drawing of that object. Be sure to included edges as well as interior creases, shadows, folds, seams… Rearrange the object so that you are seeing it from a different point of view. Do another continuous contour drawing on the same page. The second drawing can overlap the first. For the 3rd drawing, focus on one small detail or area of the object. Do a continuous contour drawing of that area or detail. Again, put it on the same page as the first two drawings. It can also overlap. Add value & color with watercolor washes. Sketchbook # 9 Overlapping bottles For this assignment you will be using a variety of bottles in different shapes and sizes. You will be drawing one bottle at a time from direct observation. Starting at the bottom of your page, begin drawing a bottle using the contour line method. Then do the same thing with another bottle. Continue drawing bottle to fill your page with bottle shapes. Go over all of your pencil lines with permanent black marker. Apply color to the drawing using watercolor washes Sketchbook # 10 Clouds Find photographs that include clouds. Look for different types of clouds; fluffy cumulus, dark storm clouds…(They can be personal photos or from a magazine.) Using a variety of media, draw at least 3 thumbnail sketches of clouds. (Draw each thumbnail from a different photo.) The objective of this assignment is to experiment with a variety of ways to depict the forms of clouds. Use a different painting style (flat, blended, loose, washes, subtractive painting …) for each thumbnail. Sketchbook # 11 Watercolor wash techniques For this sketchbook assignment you will be practicing some watercolor techniques as preparation for the watercolor paintings that will be done in class. The provided handout explains each of these techniques. These will be done on watercolor paper which will be provided. You will be practicing the techniques of flat, graded, and gravitational washes, and the wet-in-wet technique. You will also be practicing the following lift-off and textural techniques: tissue blotting, scraping, salt application, plastic wrap application, spattering, and stamping. The finished washes should be labeled and glued into your sketchbook. Sketchbook # 12 Stones Gather several small stones. Arrange them on a surface. The stones should be touching or overlapping. Draw the stones arrangement, enlarging it fill the sketchbook page. Use watercolor washes and either pencil shading or crosshatching to indicate value and form. Sketchbook # 13 Black & White Watercolor study Complete the black & white watercolor study. Find interesting b and white photography that has good ranges of values. Use only black and white watercolor to complete this assignment. Remember to take home watercolor paints or pencils. Sketchbook # 14 Composition with a Grouping of Figures For this assignment you will be creating three different thumbnail compositions in which figures are the dominant focus. On the Painting I website is a PowerPoint presentation with examples of such compositions. Your composition may be of a narrative or genre nature. In either case, the figure should be placed in the appropriate setting, which will be an integral part of the composition. The figures can be realistic or stylistically drawn. Indicate general colors for each composition with watercolor washes or colored pencil. Sketchbook # 15 Tree Painting from Direct Observation From direct observation, sketch a tree in your yard or neighborhood. Observe the details of the tree, its shape, its leaves, the negative spaces surrounding and within the tree. Do a simple contour drawing of the tree. Lay in the colors and values of the tree using watercolor. Remember to keep the watercolor fluid and transparent. Work in layers, building the values from light to dark. Sketchbook # 16 Self Portrait in Mirror Hold a small mirror in your hand (the one you don’t draw with) so that you can see at least most of the feature of your face. Draw your hand, the mirror and your face reflected in the mirror. Apply values and shadows with pencil shading and/or watercolor washes. Sketchbook # 17 Gloves Arrange a pair of gloves on a surface. The gloves should overlap in at least one location. Using most of the sketchbook page. Draw the gloves. Add value and shadows with pencil shading and/or watercolor washes. Sketchbook # 18 Surrealistic Composition Look at examples of the surrealistic works of artists such as Dali, Chagall, and Magritte. Note that they consist of realistic, recognizable images in unusual, inexplicable arrangements or settings. Make a sketch for your own surrealistic composition. Rough in color using watercolor washes and/or watercolor colored pencils. (These can be checked out from the art room.)