Final!

Hey guys,

Please come to my studio between 12 and 5 on Tuesday afternoon with your final projects. My studio is in 109 River St and it's #214.

To get to 109 River:
Cross either the bridge on Iowa Ave or on the IMU bridge. Turn right on Riverside. The first street on the left in River St. 109 River is the first building on the left. Here's a map: http://www.uiowa.edu/~maps/r/riv1.htm

If you would also like to show me redos or revisions on previous projects, that is of course welcomed and encouraged. if for some reason you cannot make it on Tuesday, please email me by Monday afternoon.

See you Tuesday!

Reminder

No official class tomorrow!

But, consider using the time to make/check your powerpoint presentations!

Brandon R's revised project

Lily's Blog Post

Interestingly enough, inspiration usually finds me in flea markets. Back home, there is a terrific little flea market in Sebastopol, a town about fifteen minutes from my home town. Sebastopol is right off the beach and it is a small hippie town. Almost every restaurant is vegan or organic; it has an artsy, natural, laid back energy to it. Anyways, every sunday morning in the summer, there is a flea market there. My mom and I would go and walk around, usually finding some kind of treasure. One time I stumbled upon a huge box filled with postage stamps, and got inspired. Another time I found a box of old typewriter keys along with inspiration. Another time I found a spool of copper wire and inspiration struck again. It’s in the small oddities, people random unwantables that I find beauty and the desire to create. I really like creating art using mixed media, so the treasures I find at flea markets are perfect to fiddle with and work with in my art.

Also, Sebastopol is simply a very artistic town. Just walking around down town or driving past town to get to the beach, I can get inspired to create just by looking around.

Check out some pictures of Sebastopol at the website below. Go to the photo gallery, by clicking on the picture in the middle of the screen on the left.

http://www.sonomauncorked.com/wine-country-places/sebastopol-and-west-county/

Nico's Blog Post

Whenever the question of what inspires me arises I don’t know what to say. As children we all have huge imaginations. We can take a few rudimentary things and in our minds create something fantastic. It never mattered if things looked accurate or right technically as long as we could tell what it was. I incorporate that aspect into some of my own work. Mainly I do sculpture but even today there is no rhyme or reason to what I do. I am inspired by things in everyday life and I use whatever might be lying around let it be wood, clay, wire, glass, or what have you. I like to make things that are different and interesting to look at even if they are weird or bizarre.

One artist that I look to for inspiration in my own work is a sculptor known as Red nose. Red nose does quite a bit of figure work. However, one thing that is cool about red nose’s work is that his figures aren’t necessarily proportionally accurate but they are very cool.

Here is a link so you can check out his stuff. Its kind of weird stuff but I think his technique is pretty sweet.

http://www.rednosestudio.com/index.html

Chris's Blog Post

Miniature games are the reason I became interested in Art. Specifically the assembly and painting aspect of small plastic or pewter figures. Today I play several miniature games namely; Blood Bowl, Warhammer 40,000 and Warmachine. The object of these games is to take your army of little figures and wreck your opponents army(using dice). However, the amount of time I've spent playing these games is almost nothing compared to the time I've spent assembling/painting my armies of little men. Not only can you paint the miniatures, many people use a two part epoxy (green stuff) to customize their miniatures. Some people Even sculpt totally unique miniatures completely out of green stuff.

Most miniatures range from ¾ inch to 3 inches tall with most falling around 1.5 inches. They are typically depictions of various types of warriors from varying genres. The two games I play; Warhammer 40,000 and Warmachine are both set in their own unique worlds with background material made up about the various armies available to do battle for you (the fictional background is called “fluff”). Not only can you paint and customize your forces, you can do so in keeping with the background set out by the creators of the game (or not if you don't like it). Once I got further into the miniatures game hobby I started to look on line for inspiration and ideas for painting. I came across a competition for Warhammer 40,000 miniature painting held yearly in different cities (and countries) called the “Golden Demon” competition. I was totally blown away by the work I saw. The amount of detail on these tiny miniatures blew my mind. This summer I had the chance to one of my favorite painters/sculptors in the field named Joe Orteza. Joe has won multiple Golden Demons including a Blood Bowl team that is one of my favorite works I've ever seen. I attended GenCon in Indianapolis (really big 4 day gaming convention) where I took a class about green stuff sculpting taught by Joe. I was able to see some of his work in person. It kicked ass! Ridiculous amounts of detail, it was more than I could probably ever do, but Joe and other artists like him are a wellspring of ideas for me when I'm assembling and painting my own stuff. Below are some links to stuff I think is pretty cool, and links to the two company websites of the games that I play. If anyone is interested in seeing any of the little guys I have painted let me know and I would happily bring some in.
-Chris
www.games-workshop.com
http://privateerpress.com/
http://www.sodemons.com/gd29baltimore/13-honorable/index.htm

Grid Instructions

here's a recap of the instructions for making the grid thingy:

1. cut a 6 x 8 inch window into a piece of cardboard
2. with strings, create a grid that makes 1 inch squares inside the window (ie cut lengths of string that are as wide as the window and then tape them to each side, one inch apart. do this horizontally and vertically.)
3. draw a 3 inch grid on two sheets of your newsprint (ie each line is three inches apart)
4. label the columns on both your cardboard grid and your newsprint with letters (a,b,c...) and the rows with numbers (1,2,3...)

the more carefully and accurately you make both your grids, the more accurate your drawing will be.

Don't Forget!

Hey guys,

don't forget to bring your ink and nice paper pad to class today. Remember, the ink should be in three separate containers: one really light, one medium, and one dark tone. Also, bring your bamboo brush!

see you today!

one more time

here's nicole's, turned rightside up.

More comics!

Here are some more

Comics!

Here are a bunch of the comics! I have not undertaken the task of scanning the two really big ones (Chris's and Nate's), but hopefully I'll be able to do that later this afternoon.

Office Hours

Hey guys,

I have to cancel my office hours today. If you were planning on coming, email me, and we'll work out another time.

Look out for comics soon!

'Shop It Up

Hey guys,

Here are some rather rudimentary directions on how to put all your images together in photoshop after you have scanned them. (To scan them, go to "File" then "Import").

1. The most important thing to remember in photoshop when putting images all together is that the DPI, or resolution, of all the images must be the same if you want their sizes to remain consistent. If you scanned all your images with the same scanner settings, then the DPI should already be the same. If you get something off the internet or from another source, then the DPI could be different. To check this, open the image in photoshop and go to "Image", "Image Size". The "resolution" is the DPI. In Photoshop, you can always make the DPI smaller, but making the DPI larger is risky. If you have unchecked the "resample image" box, then changing the resolution will change the size of the image (which is always fine). If that box is checked, then when you change the resolution, the size of the image will stay the same, and Photoshop will either make up data or erase it. If you have one image that is 300 DPI and another that is 72, when you put them together on the same canvas, the one that is 72 DPI will be much smaller. So, I would suggest scaling all your images to your lowest resolution one.

2. Once you have all your images opened in photoshop and their resolutions are the same, figure out how big you want the canvas to be that all the images will be collected on. Then, go to "File", "New" and create a new blank image that is the size you want it to be and the resolution of all your images. Then, go back to the window that your first image is in, and draw a selection box around the part you want to copy into your new image. You can draw a selection box by using the selection box tool (it is the second one down on the tool bar). Then go to "Edit", "Copy". If you get an error message like, "Cannot copy because selected area is blank", then go to "Layer", "Flatten Image". Then open your larger, now black canvas, and hit "Edit", "Paste". You can move the new image (or layer, in photoshop speak) around by selecting the arrow tool (the first one in the tool bar) and clicking on the image and moving it. When using the arrow tool, make sure at the top of the screen the "auto select" button is checked.

3. Repeat this step over and over until all your images are on the new canvas. If you are having issues with overlapping, you can either erase part of the offending image or you can send that layer to the back. To do this, look to the right of your screen and you will see a window that has listed all the layers (or images) that you have copied or created. The top one on the list is sitting on the top of all the ones below it. If you click a layer in this window and drag it down, it will then sit underneath the layers listed above it.

4. If you want to draw boxes around your frames, use the line drawing tool. You can change the width of the lines to fit your needs. You can also add text using the "T" tool.

5. If you have any problems, you can save your image as a photoshop document and email it to me, explaining what you would like to do. I can then try to do it and send it back to you. If you send me a jpeg, I will not be able to manipulate the "layer" information and it will make things more difficult.

Let me know if you have any problems.

Brandon R's Blog Post

Love is the Devil.

One of the few fortunate things about growing up in Des Moines was a close proximity to the Des Moines Art Center. It has one of the best permanent collections of its size in the country (Including a very large John Singer Sargent portrait of Edouard and Marie-Loise Pailleron: for Meredith, if you haven’t been there). It was also fortunate that I had parents who were forward thinking enough to take me there regularly.

My earliest art recollection is looking at Francis Bacon’s Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X :

(see above)

I suppose that at six or seven years old, my fascination was a bit like the fascination a child has when he witnesses the scene of an auto accident. Over the subsequent years, I would suspect that I have spent a cumulative period of days looking at this painting. Over time, my curiosity turned from a morbid fascination to curiosity: particularly about its creator. While Francis Bacon is not my favorite artist, this remains my favorite painting. I grew up with it and feel like I know it pretty intimately. Francis Bacon, the person, is one of the most fascinating characters that I can think of in modern history.

Some of the curiosities that one might have about Bacon can be satisfied by watching the movie Love is the Devil: A Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon.
It is not a new movie and I have seen it several times – and again very recently. The movie was made in 1998 by John Maybury who was a protégée of Derek Jaarman (another genius whose influence is apparent in the film). It is based on the biography The Gilded Gutter Life of Francis Bacon by Daniel Farson who was a close friend of Bacon’s. I’ve read the book and would recommend it as well. The film features the period of Bacon’s life in the 1960’s and 70’s when when he was with his partner George Dyer- a prominent figure in many Bacon paintings. Bacon (portrayed brilliantly by Derek Jacobi) was a sexual masochist. George Dyer (played by a younger- for James Bond lovers- Daniel Craig) was an uneducated petty thief. They both had compound addictions. Needless to say, it was a complicated relationship. Bacon was known for his eccentricities and frequent viciousness. One could write a lot on any of those particularly aspects of the film. I find it all very engrossing. The film created quite an upset in the British art establishment when it was made because of its unseemly portrayals not too long after Bacon’s death.

For that reason, Bacon’s estate refused to allow any of Bacon’s art work to be used in the film. This is the cause of what I think to be the most interesting aspect of the film: the depictions of Bacon’s art. There are some impressions created by artists. But mostly, the film maker relied on cinematic devices to shoot the film in such a way as to make the audience feel like they were inside of a Bacon painting. He used distorted mirrors which also figured very heavily in Bacons work. There are a lot of references to the photos of Malcolm Muybridge. He uses some cinemascope techniques that feel like a triptych. The principal color palette is the colors of bone, blood, and flesh.

Here is a link to a preview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULIRq8wFzE4

Emily's Blog Post

When I was younger, I wanted to become a National Geographic photographer. I feel that National Geographic captures places around the world and lets viewers experience those places through a photograph. Each single photograph has a story and it lets you interpret it for yourself. I would have to say that my inspiration in my art and creativeness comes from nature and the places I have traveled.

One photographer for National Geographic that has always caught my attention with his work is Gordon Wiltsie. Wiltsie takes pictures of wild places and places full of adventure. Most of his portfolios consist of images from his expeditions. He enjoys taking images of mountains because he feels that they are one of the only things that are untouched by mankind. He attempts to capture an image that allows people to appreciate nature. Not only does Wiltsie take photos of scenery, but he captures images of people of the world. These photos let you see other people’s lives and how they live it. His photographs truly live up to the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

I love art that allows you to almost go on an adventure when you look at it. I like to be able to come up with my own meaning of what an artist is trying to convey in their pieces. I see photographs as a way to see the world even though you might not be able to ever go there. They let you experience a place that you haven’t seen before and each one shares something new. In a way this is what I try to convey in my art, something different, and something you haven’t seen before.

Here is the National Geographic Website: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography
Here is another website featuring Gordon Wiltsie’s: http://www.alpenimage.com/index.html

Don't Forget

to comment on your peers' blog posts!

Adam's Blog Post

My artistic inspiration has always seem to come from the things that are directly around me. Everywhere I go I find myself framing certain areas wishing I had a camera handy. Whether it be grand industrial architecture or moss growing on a tree, I always seem to find something I would like to have a picture of. I suppose growing up in small-town Iowa has a lot to do with the things I see as inspiration. Spending much of my time outdoors I’m sure helped me have an eye for the little things in nature that most people ignore. I like to get close to objects that I find intriguing and often times this results in macro photos focusing on objects that people don’t often see the beauty in.
Another main source of inspiration to me also happens to be my most prominent hobby which is automobiles. It all started when my older brother turned 16 and began purchasing auto-related magazines. I always found the customization aspect the most interesting. There are so many different things you can do to the same model of car to make it totally unique from everyone else. While some might argue that concept vehicles are the most “artistic” of vehicles, I have just never found them very interesting. It may sound like an odd concept when thinking of autos and art, but I have always felt that function over form produces some of the best designs out there. Although someday I do dream of being able to build some of my “dream cars”, I think I would be content photographing them.
One of my favorite automotive photographers, Son Mustafa: http://www.hasback.com/helloeveryone.htm

Nate's Blog Post

The Mars Volta is a musical group who always inspires me to be creative. Their music is an amalgamation of a number of disparate musical elements from musique concrete (using recorded sounds as raw material), prog rock, afro-cuban, salsa and punk. Lead vocalist and lyric-writer, Cedric Bixlar Zavala composes verses in English, Spanish as well as Latin, often times blending two or more words together to form new ones. The group is lead by the maestro Omar Rodriguez-Lopez who has produced or co-produced all of the band’s albums. He’s known for his love of experimentation; as a producer he doesn’t allow the other band members to hear each other’s part while recording. I really like that idea because typically music is a very collaborative process and Omar denies them that so they’re forced to create in isolation which makes for interesting results. The Mars Volta is always going against the grain when it comes to trends. Their songs are extremely long; as opposed to the standard three minute radio song, the track Cassandra Gemini from their second album Frances the Mute is over thirty-two minutes long. Their music is extremely self-indulgent; some tracks will stop abruptly and go in to six minutes of “noise”.

Much of the meaning behind their music is left ambiguous and open to interpretation. That resonates particularly strongly with me because I enjoy art work that challenges the viewer/listener to generate a completely subjective response to what their experiencing which is usually entirely new and something which no one could have predicted. In this way meaning becomes infinite.

P.S. if you’re in to sound design, intermedia, performance art, conceptual art and installations you might like the band The Knife. Check out their live performance in Gothenburg, Sweden on Youtube, especially the songs; We Share Our Mother’s Health, Heartbeats, and Silent Shout.

Some other things that inspire me:

Tricky (Musican/artist/actor) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV1G8v0j28I&feature=related

One Day as a Lion (band: Zac De La Rocha, Jon Theodore) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mKtt7F0rPU

The Knife (Swedish brother/sister duo) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7seDfyXGOw&feature=related

TV on the Radio (band)

Takashi Miike (Director) Graveyard of Honor, The Audition, Ichi The Killer, Full Metal Yakuza etc.

David Lynch (Director) Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Twin Peaks etc.

Robert Standish (Contemporary photorealist painter)

Jacob's Blog Post

Whenever anyone stops by to see what I’m working at and asks what it is, it’s always kind of a difficult question. I suppose the closest name to what I draw are “monsters” but I don’t think that’s much of an answer…it’s just difficult to call them anything else; things that almost look animal or almost look human, but with slight (or occasionally not so slight) additions or removals from the figure: speakers wired inside of a mouth, eyes replaced with lenses, Jesus with a goat head and tubes plugged into his body, a face with no features but a single horn coming from the forehead, etc. All of these are initially recognizable things with recognizable emotional feelings attached to them (confusion, isolation, fear, etc.) but with these changes it brings a whole new dimension with the thing. I guess that’s why it took so long for me to find any sort of other artist to look on for inspiration, which is what made me so thrilled when I found Gerald Scarfe‘s illustration work on Pink Floyd’s album “The Wall“.
Though his work is more abstract than mine generally is, the subject matter itself and how it is presented is what caught my attention. Gerald Scarfe’s drawings and animations regarding the album/film focus on the same issues I attempt to capture, but he managed to create figures that not only showed the human features and emotions displayed, but the more inhuman and downright terrible facets of the subjects as well. The thing is even though only a fraction of what he’s done is what actually influenced what I’ve done, it was/is easily the most prominent of all the artists I’ve looked at for any sort of inspiration or influence.
Here’s some of his work: http://www.geraldscarfe.com/gallery.asp?work=Pink%20Floyd&f=4&ID=335

Homework and Proportion

Sorry about today. I will be back in action on Thursday, and we have a model coming, so it should be great. Before Thursday, please check out this weirdo chart I've posted. It's the entire body broken down in units of heads. The human body is 8 heads high and two heads wide. But check out all the other crazy ways your body makes sense!




For the next two weeks for homework you will be working on a one page comic. On Thursday I'll bring some comics that I like, and if you have any you'd like to show the class, please bring them. For Thursday I'd also like you to consider what story you might want to tell in your comic. In the past, the comics that have worked the best told a simple story that translated well visually. We will discuss your ideas on Thursday. For next Tuesday I'd like you to have a sketch of your comic.

No Class!

I'm sick. Class is canceled today (Tuesday). Look out for a post later today with stuff for you to learn.

New Blog Project Schedule

The date refers to the Monday that the post will be posted (ie the day that posts need to be emailed to me)

September 28:
Jacob
Nicole

October 5:
Nate
Adam

October 12:
Brandon R
Emily

October 19:
Gus
Teresa

October 26:
Tra Thanh
Chris

November 2:
Niko
Jared

November 9:
Katy
Hannah

November 16:
Brandon B
Lily

November 30:
Erica

Nicole's Blog Entry

Ever since I began to draw and immerse myself in the art world, I have always been really into simplicity. In film, music, the internet and all different types of art, I can always see the interest in something as simple as a portrait. In my personal work, I have done numerous self portraits and portraits of friends and family. One of my favorite photographers, Gage Young, has inspired me with my own artwork, whether it be drawing or photography.

Gage does a lot of work with some of my favorite band’s promo pictures as well as many portraits. He has also done many with the homeless. These photos are amazing! They are the simplest compositions, but he does such a great job capturing the personalities of each person. These images help me to strive for that same thing in my own work. If you can get that emotional element in there, the piece is even better.

Here’s a link to one of these photos!...if you have time, check out some of his other work!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gageyoungphotography/3194572051/in/set-72157600168260408/

Instructions for Posting Comments

I think there's some confusion on how to post comments. The best (or maybe only) way to do it seems to be to click on the link under the post you want to comment on that says: (#) Comments. You can then read the comments posted by others and post your own. Let me know if that is not working.

Homework

Between now and next Tuesday, September 29th, please spend six hours quickly sketching people. Go to a coffee shop or the library or anywhere else where people sit relatively still, and make quick (no more than one minute) gesture drawings. Focus on capturing the basics elements of the pose. You can use whatever drawing material you like (I would suggest pencil or marker) and it would probably be easiest to use a sketchbook.

Blog Project Example

Hey guys,

Below is my own contribution to the blog project. Please read it and comment on it, like you will with those of your peers.

Remember when you're writing your own that the goals are to:

a) Consider why you like the things you like and offer some sort of critical analysis of a creative work that you enjoy.
b) Think about how the things you like influence you and how they contribute to (or might in the future contribute to) your own personal work.
c) Learn from what influences other students. Consider this a collection for you to draw from yourself. The things that your peers like and draw inspiration from may also influence you.

Keep in mind that I do not expect your entry to contain so much about your own work. I understand that you are still figuring yourselves out. I hope this project will help you begin to vocalize and define your own identity as a critical thinker, but I do not expect your influences to be so concrete and direct.

Alright, enough blabbing.
Example Blog Entry:

In my personal work as a painter, I am influenced by a wide variety of creative output. My work is primarily concerned with pop culture, especially film and television, the internet, comics, and design. I have always been an avid music fan (I have a radio show on KRUI, Wednesdays 12-1, if you’re interested in getting more me in your life), and I have recently given myself the task of putting what I most love about my favorite music into my own paintings. I have drawn particularly from one of my favorite albums of all time: "Black Sheep Boy", by Okkervil River.

The album is a bit of a concept album, with most songs written from the fictitious standpoint of a half sheep, half boy. It is overwrought, self-indulgent, and at times awkwardly and intensely personal. But the creation of a distanced persona somehow

"Black Sheep Boy" has directly contributed to two themes in my painting:
1. The distance between the creator (me) and the persona created by the art. For the past eight months or so, I have been working strictly with self-portraiture, and in that time I have been dealing with the idea that although the person I paint is myself, it is more accurately described as me performing my own identity, in the way that the lead singer of Okkervil River performs the identity of the Black Sheep Boy. I have been thinking of myself as a character that I am acting out, and this distinction has allowed me the distance necessary to be able to perform more emotion than I normally would.
2. Painting as a means of directly communicating intense, yet specific, human emotions. "Black Sheep Boy" is most striking, for me, in its emotional intensity. The lack of emotional filter between the Black Sheep Boy and the audience can at times make the album awkward and painful to listen to. This sort of direct connection between the viewer and the viewed is one that I am striving to achieve in my own paintings. Painting is in many ways an inefficient and inaccurate form of communication, so this second goal has proven difficult.

(In the next day or so I will post some images)

Don't Forget

We're meeting today on the steps of the Old Capitol, not at Studio Arts. Bring your newsprint, charcoal, erasers, and a hard surface to draw on.

Homework!

For Tuesday, September 15th, please complete two drawings. For these drawings I would like you to set up a still life. For the first drawing, remove at least half the objects in the still life and draw the remaining scene. For the second drawing, put the objects back and draw the entire still life. While doing these drawings, please focus on the way the objects relate to each other. What's in front of what? What's in the foreground? What's in the background? How can you make your viewer understand the depth of the still life? How does adding the additional objects change the ones that you had drawn in the previous drawing?

The Blog Project

A large component of being an artist is understanding the context in which we make work, and one of my goals for this course is to familiarize you with the greater art community. In order to help with this endeavor, each of you will write one blog entry commenting/critiquing something that is informing your art/aesthetic. For example, if you are really into fashion, you could write a blog post about your favorite designer's spring line. Or, if you've been inspired by a band or album, you could write a review of that. More traditional fine art reviews are also welcome. If you saw a show or had a museum experience that you'd like to write about, that would be great. I would like you to draw connections between whatever it is you're writing about and your own experience as an art maker.

Starting soon, two of you will post each week (see schedule, done in reverse alphabetical order, below). If you are scheduled to post the week of September 21st, you will email me your blog post by that Sunday (in this case the 20th). I will then post it to the blog. Everyone in the class is required to then comment on the post, and those comments will need to be made by class that Thursday.

The blog posts themselves do not need to be lengthy research endeavors. Aim for a few paragraphs and some links/pictures. Comments on the posts of others also do not need to be particularly involved. A few words, a link that relates to the post, or even a comment on a previous comment is all that's necessary. You will be assigned a regular amount of homework during the blog project, so this is not intended to take a ton of time.

If you have any trouble thinking of something to write about, let me know, and we'll talk about it. If you want me to proofread your post, I would be more than happy to.

Schedule:
September 14th:
Me (I'll start us off so you have an example)

Semptember 21:
Jacob
Nicole

September 28:
Nate
Adam

October 5:
Brandon R
Emily

October 12:
Gus
Teresa

October 19:
Tra Thanh
Chris

October 26:
Niko
Jared

November 2:
Katy
Hannah

Novemebr 9:
Brandon B
Lily

November 16:
Erica

Things To Check Out!

Here are some links you guys should take a look at:

The Drawing Center's website
http://www.drawingcenter.org/
The Drawing Center is a museum/workspace in New York that shows primarily works on paper. Pretty rad!

MoMA's drawing collection
http://www.moma.org/explore/collection/drawings
Check out the links to the online exhibitions, especially the Dieter Roth link

The British Museum's drawing collection
http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/prints_and_drawings.aspx
Really good collection of Renaissance and Baroque works on paper

White Cube
http://www.whitecube.com/
Really successful contemporary gallery in London. Check out the artists they represent

Gagosian
http://www.gagosian.com/
Gallery associated with one of the most influential contemporary art collectors

Homework

Hey guys,

For Tuesday, September 8th, please do another 6 hours of self-portraits from observation. Keep in mind the things we talked about individually and use the tips I gave you. If you are having trouble, feel free to email me. Use charcoal, newsprint, and a mirror.

Sorry for the confusion, but we will be meeting on Thursday at the usual place and time (studio arts, 1:30)

Materials List

This is in your syllabus, but just in case, here's the materials list for the semester:

1 pad of newsprint – 18” x 24”

1 pad of thick (at least 80 lbs) drawing paper – 18” x 24”

3 sheets of medium-toned paper

1 sketchbook

2 boxes of Char-kole

4 sticks of brown or red conte

2 sticks of white conte

Variety of charcoal pencils (6B, 4B, HB, 2H)

Variety of graphite pencils (6B, 4B, HB)

1 tub of black ink

1 bamboo brush (#6 or 8)

3 small lidded containers (can be baby food jars or small tupperware, for example)

4 kneaded erasers

1 white plastic eraser

1 roll of masking tape

1 shammy clothe

Pencil sharpener

All materials can be purchased at Dick Blick (201 S. Clinton).

Homework

For Thursday, August 27, please bring a pad of newsprint, box of char-kole, and kneaded eraser to class.

For Tuesday, September 1st, please complete at least 3 self-portraits. Use char-kole sticks and newsprint, and do them from life (ie a mirror and not a photograph). Keep track of the order in which you did the drawings. While working on them, concentrate on the material of the char-kole and try to utilize what it seems to do well. Make sure you spend at least 6 hours on your drawings.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Basic Drawing blog! In the future I will post assignments, things to check out, and other useful information. You will also be asked to contribute to the blog. Hopefully, this will become a useful resource for you as well as a tool to stimulate conversation and new ideas.

I look forward to getting to know all of you over the course of the semester!