Christmas Time/ Merry Christmas!

So we're out on Christmas break, and we've just touched upon color.  If you have colored pencils or crayons or chalk pastels feel free to use them in your sketchbook (however, chalk pastels tend to smear easily, so unless you have spray fixative I'd suggest not using them).
Each week I'd still like you to do a self portrait.  I'd also like you to focus on more than just the head and face.  Also include the neck, shoulders, and anything else that fits onto your paper.  Your body should be continued until it goes off the page.  Include whatever you're wearing.
I addition to your self portrait, draw an interesting Christmas object.  They tend to be frilly, colorful and sparkly; just perfect for presenting a challenge.  Draw them using any color medium you can find, and don't be satisfied with the color straight from a single stick.  Find a way to mix color!  Good luck!

Week 8 Homework

This week is basically the same as last week's homework, but now that you have the value scales under your belt, both exercises should be a bit more familiar.  Remember that drawing in full value means that it isn't about line anymore (even though you are still using line).  Instead, you are looking at the lights and darks and simply filling in shapes.  Don't forget that the negative space has a value to it as well.  If something is lit up by a light source, then the background is guaranteed to be much darker than the paper!  When you fill in an area with value, do it carefully, and not sloppily.  Make your drawings beautifully crafted . . .

Self-Portraits: draw near a strong light source ( a lamp or a window) OR you can take a picture of yourself in strong light and draw from the picture.  Using photography is okay this week!  :-)

Still-life: you are to choose an interesting object (different than the one from last week), put it near a strong light source, and make an observational drawing of that object.  Make it at least life sized and fill your paper.

Week 7 Homework: Value

Part 1
Choose an interesting object and make a full value drawing of it in pencil.  Value basically means light and shadow.  Place the interesting object that you chose next to a strong light source (a lamp), so there are strong lights and strong darks.  Shade the object and the background so that you can tell the direction that the light is coming from. The lightest areas should be the white of your paper, and the darkest areas should be as dark as you can get with your pencil, with a nice range of grays as well.

Part 2
Make a self portrait in full value.  This means you should set up a strong light source near your mirror (or move the mirror to a light source) and draw yourself as the lights and shadows fall across you.  Make sure the background is also shaded in!

Homework for Week 6

So I forgot to post the homework for this week.  Sorry about that . . .
This week I introduced the concept of cross-contour line drawing. If you'll recall, contour line drawing refers to drawing though outline, and cross-contour refers to making lines that go across the face of the planes that the contours outline.  Cross-contour uses line to describe volume (not just shape) and shading.
You are to make your self portrait for this week using cross-contour line drawing.  Do your best to describe both volume and light and shadow using line.  Good luck!

Week 5 Homework

Self Portrait
So up until now we've been concentrating on to do the job of making the drawing.  This week I want you to address Light and Shadow.  Set yourself up looking at a mirror just like before, but now I want you make sure a light source--like a lamp or a window--is nearby to create areas of shadow and areas of light.  Using pencil, shade in the shadows and the negative space, and leave the illuminated areas the white (or near white) of the paper.

Object in Perspective
You are to choose a rectilinear object in your house (or one with lots of vertical and horizontal lines) and draw it in linear perspective.  Choose where your eye level is, decide where the vanishing points would lie, and draw that object in two point perspective with as much detail as possible.  If it helps, use a straight edge and make sure your verticals stay vertical!  Fill a page in your sketchbook with this drawing.

Week 4 Homework

Self Portrait
You are to make a self portrait from a mirror, and pay particular attention to the typical proportions of the face.  No matter who you are or what you look like, from the front--head on--your eyes are half way between the top of your head and the bottom of your chin.  Your head is 5 eyes wide from the front (but once your head turns, it's not anymore), and there's an eye width between your eyes.  Also remember how your ears are the same length as your nose.

So certainly draw what you see, but know that what you see WILL follow these rules.

Invented Birdhouse
You are also to design a birdhouse and draw it in linear perspective.  Choose one or two point perspective (remember vanishing points, eye levels, and straight lines), and draw your birdhouse as well as you can using perspective.  It must look as if it's possible to actually build!  Good luck.

Week 3 Homework

Sorry for waiting this long to post it!  

Week 3 Homework

Self Portrait

Be sure to make it as observational as possible!

Space

You are to make two pictures using as many strategies for creating space as possible.  You may use any imagery you’d like to use, but be sure to make the picture about the space in it and not the narrative of the objects.

Some of the strategies include overlapping, transparency, diminution of size/scale, aerial perspective/texture, linear perspective, dimension/cast shadows, etc.  Good luck!

Week 2 Homework

Week 2 Homework

Westerly Studio Art; Mr. Stevenson

The Self-Portrait

As always, you will have to spend 45 to 60 minutes making a self-portrait drawing.  This, therefore, is the first of many (but just think about one at a time). 

Your self-portrait must be in your sketch book, it must be from a mirror, and you may use any drawing medium you’d like.

See the image below for a reminder of the proportion of the face.

Negative Space Drawing

Also, you are to set up a kitchen or dining room chair and make a drawing of it in the same manner we did in class.  Use the measuring strategies (distance and angles) we used in class to be sure that shape of the chair (and the shape of the negative space around it) is accurate, and then neatly fill in the negative space with an even tone.  Erase all lines in the positive space and be sure that the edges where the positive meets the negative are sharp.  Your chair should FILL your sketchbook page!
Below are a couple of handouts from my college classes that address the issues that we talked about in class.  They may be helpful to you.

Note: if you have another object in mind that you think would work well with this project instead of a chair, feel free to use it.  It should have plenty of negative spaces throughout it.

Belated Syllabus

Here's the syllabus that was handed out during the Westerly Open House two weeks ago:

Studio Art Syllabus @ Westerly Learning Center

Jr. High & High School

Kyle Stevenson

Course Blog: www.professorkylestevensonwesterly.blogspot.com

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Course Description

Throughout the year the student will explore a variety of artistic approaches and techniques.  The emphasis will be on the foundational principles that bind seemingly disparate artistic traditions together.  The mastering of these principles will provide a point of departure for the student to continue his/her own artistic inquiries beyond the classroom and school year. 

Course Structure

The first third of the school year (September through November) will emphasize drawing and artistic processes that involve drawing issues.  Observation, perspective, light and shadow, and linear structure are among the foundational principles introduced in this first phase of the course that are found in almost all visual arts disciplines.

The middle third of the school year (December through February) will emphasize painting.  Painting deals with all the issues that drawing does, but also adds some to the mix, like color and surface.  Using acrylic painting media, these will be explored along with abstraction and non-objectivity.  Skills such as canvas stretching and panel preparation will also be introduced.

The final third of the school year (March through May) will emphasize sculpture and 3-D arts processes.  Simple casting, papier mache, and mask making, among other media, will be explored.

Materials To Be Purchased By Students(all other materials will be provided)

·         Zip-up portfolio large enough to carry a 16x20 drawing pad

·         8.5 x 11 hard bound sketchbook (homework will be assigned to be done in sketchbook)

·         Assorted pencils/erasers as needed for weekly assignments in above sketchbook

·         Smock—apron/large t-shirt/jump suit (art can get messy)

Week 1 Homework

Week 1 Homework

Westerly Studio Art; Mr. Stevenson

Blog: www.professorkylestevensonwesterly.blogspot.com

*After this week your “handouts” will be given via the above blog.*

The Self-Portrait

Every week for the duration of the school year, you will have to spend 45 to 60 minutes making a self-portrait drawing.  This, therefore, is the first of many (but just think about one at a time).  

Your self-portrait must be in your sketch book, it must be from a mirror, and you may use any drawing medium you’d like.

3 Object Drawings

In addition to your self-portrait, you must choose a complicated object (e.g.: a shoe, a shell, a hat, etc.) and make three separate drawings of it, rotating it between drawings so that each is from a different point of view.  All three drawings must be about the same size and eye level.  Each drawing should take 20-30 minutes.