ordinary/extraordinary (first assignment, spring 2010)

Drawing III

For Thursday, January 28:
1) Have drawing supplies (for first assignment: Ordinary/Extraordinary) and books
2) Email me with your name, your blog’s title and url. Use “Drawing III” as subject line, depending upon which section you are in.
3) Bring source material first drawing assignment: Ordinary/Extraordinary.

For Tuesday, February 2:
1) Read Preface and Chapters 1 - 3 of Art Lessons
2) Post an introductory blog post: who are you? Why are you taking Drawing III? What is your concentration? How do you envision Drawing III helping you on your path to become a professional artist/designer? (Minimum two paragraphs and two images).
3) Post a summary of your reading from Art Lessons on your blog (minimum 2 paragraphs). What did you find interesting in this reading? What did you agree or disagree with? Who and what did you learn about or hear of for the first time? Relate something from the reading to an experience you have had. Feel free to add image/s.


First Drawing Assignment:

Ordinary/Extraordinary

Objective:
It is a common goal of artists to represent (literally re-present) the ordinary in such a way that they and their viewers find new beauty, interest, or knowledge in something that is usually overlooked. The ability to do this provides artists with never-ending subject matter and a skill for finding importance in what others dismiss.

The assignment is to take an everyday path (a route that is routine), to see the usual in a new way, to discover what was there all along.
1) Begin by taking 100 digital photos of things/spaces/environments that you pass by frequently. These photos can be taken at one point along the route, or at several points. We are not necessarily after a “timeline” in the final drawing.
2) Shoot with the elements/principles of design in mind (look for interesting compositions) but with some randomness built-in (for example, shoot 7 – 8 images looking through the viewfinder, than 2 – 3 not looking). Think of ways you can use your camera to help you see the usual in an unusual way: focus/depth-of-field/shutter speed/lighting.
3) Bring these images to class on Tuesday, printed out as black and white prints on regular paper—at least 4” x 6” for each photo. Print out the most interesting 10 – 15 images.
4) Bring scissors, tape, glue stick, glue, or acrylic medium, charcoal (vine and compressed), eraser/s, drawing paper (your choice, but good quality such as Stonehenge), newsprint or cheap drawing paper.
5) Good drawing paper should be at least 30” x 40”.
6) You will also need a drawing board large enough to accommodate the large paper. Fleet Farm will cut masonite for you.
7) Also bring laptop with digital files to class, along with camera.

Your assignment is to use the source images you took to create a drawing that re-presents the subject you photographed. Show it to us in a new way—this can be done through abstraction, through high detail, through particular ways of using value, through mark-making, through layering, through cropping/composition, etc.

Ultimately, the drawing should be rich with mark-making, help us see a subject in a new light, and its form and content should feel as if they are working together (your visual choices match the concept of the drawing).




We will work on this drawing in-class
Thursday, Jan. 28
Tues., Feb. 2
And
Thurs, Feb. 4

Outside of class time spent on this should be 9 – 12 hours.

DUE: Tuesday, Feb 9/CRITIQUE

Syllabus, Spring 2010

Drawing III • Spring 2010

Applied Arts 303

ART 301-002

Tuesday/Thursday • 2:30 – 5:30 pm

Final Exam:
Friday, May 14, 4:00 - 5:50 pm

Amy Fichter

Associate Professor
Applied Arts 306B

Office hours:
Fridays, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
& by appointment­­­­­
ext. 5335
fichtera@uwstout.edu

PreRequisites
Students must have completed Drawing I (ART 100) and Drawing II (ART 200) before participating in Drawing III (ART 300).

Course Description

In this course we will examine the nature of the drawing process and the nature of mark-making, and the language used by artists and viewers to decode or read drawings.

Over the course of the semester you will be asked to examine the process of making drawings rather than focusing on the final form.

At the same time, you are to take more responsibility for decision making in your work. In this class you will respond to project guidelines and think about your drawing as an extension of ideas. Students should use knowledge gained and apply it to the works that follow.

Each student will be required to make 6 major works. Each student is also required to work AT LEAST 3 (and up to 6) ­hours per week outside of class time.

Course Objectives
Through participation in Drawing III, you will:

• Advance and refine your drawing skills

• Explore a variety of drawing materials and scale

·  Build your knowledge base of artists who use drawing as a primary medium

·  Create a body of work based on your conceptual and visual concerns

·  Participate in the class exhibit in Gallery 209

• Communicate effectively about your drawing process through group and individual critiques and via blogging

Evaluations & Expectations
I expect you:

• Be in class. Class time will be reserved for critiques (group/individual) and for drawing. Any research for drawing needs to be done outside of class. Being absent or not working on drawings during class will count against your final grade.
• Finish all assigned drawings and projects.
• Create a final body of work based on your conceptual and visual concerns.
• Participate in the end-of-semester class exhibition (including installation and take-down).
• Blog assignments/weekly reflections.

Attendance
It’s important that you are in class—the class happens because all of you are here working together.
Let me know via e-mail if you can’t make it to class.
Rely on your classmates to show you drawings and notes you may have missed.
After 3 absences, your grade may be lowered.
After 7 absences, you may fail the class.

Grading Policy
• Your grade will be based primarily on your final e-portfolio in which you showcase your learning over the semester and best examples from the class. This e-portfolio will include all relevant drawings (ideation as well as final pieces) and blog reflections. This portfolio will consist of a blog summary with a link to a flickr or photobucket account that includes a larger set of images from the semester.

• A mid-term e-portfolio will be graded to give you an idea of your standing in the class at that point, but may be overridden by the quality of your final portfolio. In other words, the two grades will not be “averaged” for your final grade.

• Your grade will also be affected by such “subjective” qualities as these:
1. Are you present?
2. In mind as well as body?
3. Open to suggestions?
4. Helpful in class discussions?
5. Awake during lecture time?

It is part of my job—my responsibility—to give you a grade that lets you and other art “authorities” (other professors, employers, grad schools, gallery owners, etc.) know how your final portfolio and overall attitude during class measure up to given standards.

One useful way to think about grades is to consider them guides as to how other art professionals (besides me) would view your portfolio. How would a design firm see your work? A graduate school acceptance committee? Other professors in the Art & Design department? Gallery owners?

If I imagine I am an employer of designers, an A would mean you could start right away, a B would mean you might get hired if you get some more experience and refine your portfolio, a C would mean you are not ready for the job.

Likewise, if you are considering graduate school, an A would mean your work is of the quality that would get you accepted into a grad program, a B would indicate that you might get accepted if you worked on your portfolio some more, a C would mean you are not ready to apply for graduate studies (in Drawing/Life Drawing, anyway).

Save and document all your drawings from the semester.

Materials
Materials will vary by individual. The following materials represent possible choices for drawing surfaces/substrates and drawing media.

Each student will need some kind of digital camera for gathering source images.

Traditional and Non-traditional Drawing Surfaces & Substrates

Drawing papers (sheets or rolls)

Watercolor papers

Printmaking papers

Commercially tinted papers

Illustration boards

Prepared paper surfaces (gesso, blackboard spray, etc.)

Photographs and photocopies

Frosted mylar and acetate sheets

Vellum

Canvas and other fabrics

Glass and Plexiglas

Acrylic medium sheets (handmade)

Metal

Raw and prepared wood

Wall surfaces and found surfaces

Traditional and Non-traditional Drawing Media

Graphite pencils

Graphite sticks

Graphite powder

Silverpoint

Charcoal pencils

Carbon pencils

Vine charcoal

Compressed charcoal

Powdered charcoal

Conte crayon

Colored pencil

Colored pencil sticks

Chalk pastels

Chalk pastel pencils

Oil pastels

Ink

Ink wash

Ink pens

Watercolor

China markers

Litho pencils

Litho crayons

Acrylics/acrylic washes

Gouache

Mixed Media

Oil paint washes

Wax

Coffee and tea washes

Dirt, mud, and clay

Smoke and/or soot

Photocopy toner

Rust

Body fluids

Additional Materials for Drawing and Related Processes

Erasers—Pink Pearl, kneaded, plastic, and tube erasers

Sandpaper

Steel wool

Odorless solvents

Mineral spirits

Colorless blender

Metal sppon

Bone folder

Burnishing tools

Cotton fabric

Cotton balls

Drafting/masking tape

Scissors/x-acto knife

Gloves/safety glasses

Digital inkjet glossy photo paper

Acrylic gloss medium

Text

Art Lessons: Meditations on the Creative Life by Deborah J. Haynes

Available at Instructional Resource Services

Art Education Artifacts
The course objectives of this course meet:
• Wisconsin Standard 1: The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches.
• UW Stout School of Education Domain 1a: Demonstrating knowledge of content and pedagogy.
• Wisconsin Standard 9: The teacher is a reflective practitioner.
Portfolio Artifact: best work as determined by student and professor
• Art education students will be required to reflect in writing on this artifact.
• Art education students will be required to upload papers and digital images of their studio works into their e-portfolios.