Drawing and the Creative Process

Week Ten Topic

Craig Brasco — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:44:44 +0000

Class,please note that this discussion counts for 10 points, instead of the normal 5 points, towards your Discussion Topic Asynchronous grade. This is because it’s the last week and there is no drawing assignment for Asynchronous work.

Please answer the following questions:

• What do you feel was the most beneficial aspect of this course for you?

• What do you feel was the least beneficial aspect of this course for you?

• Tell me what you feel are your strengths and weaknesses concerning drawing at the end of this course.

Thanks for your time and I had a great time this quarter with all of you. Keep drawing!!!

Week Nine Topic

Craig Brasco — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:38:21 +0000

Class, for this week please answer the following questions:

• Have you ever drawn from a live nude figure? What benefit do you think there is to gain from drawing from life?
• Have you ever tried to draw a figure from memory before? Have you ever envisioned a character from a story, a game or your own imagination and tried to draw it?

Then in your sketchbooks, draw the figures you see in these photographs to the best of your ability:

VERY IMPORTANT: You MUST have all Asynchronous assignments completed by next Tuesday, May 27th. You must turn in your Asynchronous Sketchbooks by the end of class on that day. Failure to do so will mean you get no credit for your drawing work from Week 4 – 9.

Make sure you label each drawing in your sketchbook according to the week the work was assigned. Example: Label the Week 5 assignment “Week 5”.

Also, make sure you’ve replied to all posts on this blog by the same date. Failure to do so will mean that you get no credit for Week 4 -10.

Remember, all Asynchronous work counts up to 10 points towards your final class average.

Week Seven & Week Eight Topics

Craig Brasco — Mon, 12 May 2008 14:32:21 +0000

Class,

Sorry about last week. Consider Week 7 a freebie. So there’s no work for that week. Everyone will get a free 10 points for that week. However, there will be work for Week 8 (this week). See below.

Please read and then answer the following questions:

What do you think are the most difficult aspects about drawing someone’s face/doing a portrait?

Have you ever tried drawing someone’s face from memory? Whether you have or have not, what knowledge of drawing that you’ve gained thus far do you think would help you to draw something like a portrait from memory?

In your skecthbook, use the handout given to you in class this week.

Draw the following:

1. Every illustration on pages 172, 173, 174.

2. One of the illustrations on page 175.

3. For 5 points extra credit, draw any two finished portrait illustrations from pages 177-181.

Please have this assignment completed next week as it will help you greatly when drawing from a live model.

Week Six Topic

Craig Brasco — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:42:37 +0000

For this week, please answer the following questions with a reply to this post:

• How do you respond to a piece of art that you like?

• How do you respond to a piece of art that you dislike?

• Do you feel you can express your opinion or critique correctly with the right terminology?

• Do you find it difficult to communicate with other artists?

In your skecthbook, draw a still life, in graphite of some clothing, like a coat, some shirts, a pair of jeans, etc. on a chair. Light the subject with your spot lamp and get the best contrast of light and dark possible. Spend two hours drawing this still life in your available sketchbook and put as much time into rendering all the values you can see in the still life.

Week Five Topic

Craig Brasco — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:56:33 +0000

There is no written assignment for this week. Please use that time to study for your Midterm exam.

In your skecthbook, use either 1 or 2-Point perspective (based on the handout) and draw a conceptual urban scene (bulidings, streets, etc.). Use only your own contour style to complete the drawing. Try not to use a ruler for the entire drawing but apply everyting you know about perspective to your work. Again, avoid shading and value and just stick to line and contours. Work in a landscape format in your available sketchbook and use the entire page.

Week Four Topic

Craig Brasco — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:21:08 +0000

Please read pages 63-66, the section entitled “Chiaroscuro” in the required textbook and answer the following questions:
1. After reading the the textbook, how would you explain to someone the difference between line and value in a drawing or painting?
2. After reading the the textbook, how would you define chiaroscuro?

In your skecthbook, set up a small still life at home (maybe three objects of your choice). Use your spot lamp and give the still life a stark, strong lighting setup. Then do two value studies of the still life. Avoid using line altogether and just use value and area. This is very similar to the negative space idea and exercise. Use an upper left light source. That is, place the spot lamp on the left side (from your view) of the still life and from a fair distance above (a foot or so) the still life. Vary your viewpoint to make the second drawing unique.

Week Three Topic

Craig Brasco — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:24:29 +0000

Please read pages 116-118 (actually the end of the last sentence from 117 is on 118 ) and also page 197, the section that is titled Foreshortening that ends on page 198, in the required textbook and answer the following questions:
1. After reading the the textbook, how would you define foreshortening?
2. What is your opinion of using basic three dimensional shapes as the basis of drawing any three dimensional object? Do you think this is a sensible technique to use? Why or why not?

Then read pages 152 – 154, the section concerning Positive and Negative Space. Finally, in your sketchbook, do Drawing Exercise 7.2 – Negative Space however you don’t have to draw the “pile” of items described as the subject (unless you can!). Simply find one or two chairs or other types of furniture that exhibit many negative spaces and shapes (see Figure 7.8 as an example on page 153). You also need to consider cropping/composing the drawing in an interesting fashion. Do some thumbnails first to figure that out before you do a drawing. Also, you don’t need to use a piece of Conte chalk. Instead use the darkest pencil you have preferably a 7-9B or an Ebony pencil. Other than those points, follow the exercise directions exactly.

Week Two Topic

Craig Brasco — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:11:29 +0000

Class, For this week:

Please read pages 35-44 in the required textbook and answer the following questions: 1. After reading the the textbook, how would you define gesture drawing? 2. What is your opinion of gesture drawing techniques? Have you ever drawn this way before?

In your skecthbook, do the drawing exercise on page 44 of your textbook : “Drawing Exercise 3.4 – Cross-Contour Drawing”. Please read the directions of this exercise very carefully and do what is says to do. Note that the examples are human figures, but the exercise asks for a simpler subject. Follow those suggestions, but feel free to pick your own subject to draw.

Week One Topic

Craig Brasco — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:10:08 +0000

For this week please answer each the following questions:

Did you draw much as a child?
Other than a lack of time, why don’t you draw as much as you did then (if you did draw at all)?
Did someone discourage you? If so why? What did they say?
What is it you what to do as a career?
How do you see yourself using drawing in your career?

Finally, in your sketchbook, do 8 contour line drawings of hands. Use your own hands as the subject or simply ask a friend to pose for you. Draw 8 different poses/aspects. Spend at least two hours on this assignment and use at least two full pages in your sketchbook.

Welcome Class!

Craig Brasco — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:13:43 +0000

Welcome to the blog site for DES107 – Drawing and the Creative Process!
As stated in the syllabus, please register here using your first initial plus your last name as your username and register to be a member of this blog. You will always use that username for this blog for the remainder of the term. Of course, if you’ve already registered on wordpress.com, then use that username.
Once you have registered, please reply to this post with a simple “Hello, I’m registered.” reply.