Art 1 – Blue Dog – due 4/29

Look at the following video on George Rodrigue:

and the website:

www.georgerodrigue.com

pay particular attention to bio and art/gallery

Make comments about:

1. the pros and cons for you about  the visual aspect of his works (what you like and don’t like)

2.  the ideas in his works and the interpretation of his paintings (especially the 911 painting)

3. the contradiction between the high market value and the negative reviews by art critics

In your sketchbook, do an hour drawing in the style of Rodrigue, of any animal (preferably a current or former pet) in a setting or location which adds to the overall meaning.

In class, your next painting will be of a familiar animal in a setting or location which adds to the overall meaning.  You may do it in a realistic or Rodrigue style, with realistic or exaggerated colors, realistic or exaggerated form.

Art 3 – Close-ups and artistic discipline – Due 4/30

You next project is a close up of a hand, foot,  or natural object placed within a well composed context.

Below are 2 sites with tutorials on drawing hands and one example or illustraion of a stippled hand in compositional context.

Hand tutorials

More hand drawing advice

stippled hand

Which method is most helpful to you and why does it seem like the best approach? Do you think you will try it?

Next is an interesting commentary by Guggi about art and discipline.

Comment on what your artistic discipline is. What routines and methods do you use to get your best work?

What contributes to your concentration, focus, and productivity?

What distracts you and how can you minimize, avoid, or eliminate these distractions?

Art 2 – Political photomontages Hoch and Heartfield – Due 4/30

Your next project is a politically charged collage on a subject important to you.

First, familiarize yourself with the work of Hannah Hoch and John Heartfield by visiting, reading, and viewing the information at all 4 sites.

Hannah Hoch – The Good Girl with the Big Scissors

Dada context 

Heartfiled and Hoch slideshow

More context for Hoch and Heartfield

Comment on the differences between Hoch and Heartfield.

What is your favorite work of Hoch and why?

What is your favorite work of Heartfield and why?

Consider the context and the differences between their photomontages or collages and the collages of Picasso and Braque.

Do you think that there are any connections between artists of our time and Hoch and Heartfield?

Do you see any of their influence in media or art of today?  If so, elaborate.  If not, why not?

For discussion / Dove ad

Art 1 – Google Art Project and mentors – Due 4/22

Now we return to studying about painters that use subject matter (NOT the non-objective, abstract artists, we have been looking at.)

Visit the following website to find a painter (that uses subject matter) that you find especially interesting and inspiring.

Look at the art on the site in both of the following manners: Using the menu bar at the top, look at  some of the Art Collections and some of the Artists.  Look for known museums and artists as well as new-to-you sources.

Post a link to your favorite discovery AND

explain why you like the painter/paintings that you choose AND

write a description and formal analysis on one piece you like the best. See notes on description and  analysis stages of interpretation as described in handout you received in class and on the widget.

Google Art Project

For sketchbook, do some drawing for one hour  in the artist’s style, relative to the artist’s techniques, in preparation for your next painting.

Art 2 – Remedios Varo – Due 4/18

Take a quick look at Remedios Varo bio on Wikipedia and then view carefully the works and interpretations in the link below.

Remedios Varo gallery and interpretations

What aspect of her life is most interesting to you in relation to the style and message of her paintings?

Which work is especially interesting to you? Do you agree with the interpretation of it on the site? If not, why?

Is her work out of date or is it relevant to us today? If not, how could you update it?

Art 3 – Florence Academy and Odd Nerdrum – Due 4/18

Look at the following website and choose 2 artists from the Alumni gallery  that you especially like. Go to the website and view more of their works.

Comment on what interests and impresses you about each of these artists.

Florence Academy of Art

Look at the following article and video on Odd Nerdrum (with whom some of these artists are also associated.)

Comment on the controversy.

Odd Nerdrum controversy

Art 1 – Collaboration Due 4/15

Read the following article and view the video.  First, comment on what interests you in the article AND in the video.

Dangerous Minds: Warhol and Basquiat

Read the following article and comment on any differences of opinion about the collaboration presented in it.

Does Artistic Collaboration Ever Work?

Visit the Whitney website and change the pattern. It is all the way to the right. Click on “Change it”.

Comment on what you did, why you wanted to make that change, and whether you liked the result.

Pattern Maker Collaborative

For sketchbook, collaborate in any manner and any media with one or more people, (fellow students, family members, friends) on one or more drawings to total 1 hour.

Art 1 – Creative objects – due 4/8

Jasper Johns said “take an object, do something to it, do something else to it.”  This famous quote signifies his creative method and artistic curiousity.  His art-making process was a visual dialogue driven by formal relations of the art elements (line, shape, space, color, value, texture) and the principles of design (opposition, proportion, transition, balance, dominance, rhythm, unity).

Look at the way he takes simple objects and visually plays with them as symbols. Notice how he creates interplay between figure and ground, the object and the background, so that the symbol or object is both lost and found.

Jasper Johns

Johns’ objects

Next, look at the scissors series of paintings by Skip Lawrence:

Skip Lawrence scissors series

Next, look at the abstractions of Kathering Chang Liu:

Katherine Chang Liu

Next, look at the first part of the demo on Why Gesso (at least half way through to see the technique which works with mat medium and alcohol too.)

In your comments, post observations about each of the 3 artists.  How do they each achieve complexity in their paintings? How do they invite viewer engagement?

How do they create unity?  Choose one work to analyze and describe the way that it functions visually through the relationships of the formal elements.

For sketchbook, draw a variety of simple objects or symbols and experiment with shading and/or color that may be a start for your next painting.  You cannot pre-plan the next painting because it is a dialogue with the creative process but you can explore through drawing the expressive potential of simple objects (tools, untensils, hardware parts) and you can consider the color scheme you will use when  you paint.

Art 2 – Perspective due 4/9

Watch each of the following three short videos related to your current project

AND post a comment with insights you have about each of the videos AND write a reflection on the process of learning to draw 3 pt perspective and your discoveries about imagination, visualization, and visually constructing an architectural type structureon a 2d plane.