Headless Self-Portraits
Young, AP Art, Breadth Assignment 1
Which body part will serve as a metaphor for you?
This assignment asks the question, “Who am I?” While this is a cosmological question to which we all seek the answer, it is one that students in particular are frequently concerned with, Students are asked to think about themselves and what defines them at this point in their lives. If body parts could be used as a metaphor for themselves, which ones would they be? For most students, this is the first time a question of this nature has been asked.
Use a full sheet of drawing paper.
Young, AP Art, Breadth Assignment 1
Which body part will serve as a metaphor for you?
This assignment asks the question, “Who am I?” While this is a cosmological question to which we all seek the answer, it is one that students in particular are frequently concerned with, Students are asked to think about themselves and what defines them at this point in their lives. If body parts could be used as a metaphor for themselves, which ones would they be? For most students, this is the first time a question of this nature has been asked.
- Begin by filling a page of your sketchbook with an inventory of every possible body part you can think of – from legs to perspiration to, yes, even the soul.
- Expand this list by looking through anatomy books, fashion magazines, printouts, etc. and finding images of the human body.
- Choose a body part that you think will be the best metaphor for you?
- Begin to draw a self portrait that does not show your head but tells something significant about yourself through the depiction of another part of the body.
Use a full sheet of drawing paper.
- Use a drawing media of your choice.
- Pencil
- Charcoal
- Colored Pencil
- Pastels
- Oil Pastels
- Etc.
- Fill the entire space of the drawing paper.
- Don’t draw something tiny with a lot of white space around it.
- Allow your drawing to go off the edges of the paper.
- Finish the drawing.
- Make sure the drawing LOOKS complete and neatly done.
- Make sure the drawing LOOKS complete and neatly done.
Breadth Assignment 2
Extraordinary Collage Mixed Media Layers
Objective Students will select an object of interest using symbolism. Students will then create multiple original drawings to incorporate into their mixed media work. Students will research narrative/symbolic works and mixed media works. Students are to draw from life in their work and use the compositional skills they have learned.
Sketchbook Assignments Draw symbols that you can relate to.
Choose a single object of interest to you and start drawing that object from many different points of view. You must draw from life. Look at the object and draw it. Don’t just draw it from memory.
Websites
- Iowa Digital Library of Art http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISOFIELD1=materi&CISOROOT=/dp,/gradart,/uima&CISOBOX1=mixed+media
- Joseph Giunta http://www.jgiunta.com/html/index.html
- Aunia Kahn http://www.auniakahn.com/
- Valerie Armstrong http://valeriexarmstrong.com/-ANGEL-of-the-CARIBBEAN-Mixed-Media
- Ericka Schulz http://www.tempeststudios.net/papercollage.htm
Many famous artists have mixed their media while creating art. This is not a new technique. Pablo Picasso and Joseph Cornell both have produced a number of mixed media masterpieces, some dating as far back as 1881. There has been a contemporary resurgence in mixed media. This could be due to an interest in recycling that has found it’s way into art through found abject art.
Focus areas Composition (use of space)
Technique
Originality
Expression of drawing
Layers
Use of media
Craftsmanship
Materials Form Board as a base
Drawing of a single object that you did
A variety of drawing materials
Watercolor paint
Acrylic paint
Anything else you would like to add
Directions
- Create a series of drawings of a single object that has some meaning to you.
- Layer 1: Create layer one with a single field of color. What you use to create this color is up to you.
- Layer 2: Add a drawing or two onto the collage. How you add the drawings is up to you.
- Layer 3: Add a textural element to the collage
- Layer 4: More drawings
- Layer 5: Detail the collage. Use paint or pen to add surface detail to your collage.
- Pay close attention to making sure the collage board is completely covered and that your collage is well crafted.
- Minimum of 5 layers
- Size between 18X24 to 24X36
- One object/Drawing from Life – Symbolic
- Strong composition and Visual Movement
- Unified colors and theme
Breadth Assignment 3
Natural Object Study one object in its minute details to find what makes it different from all other things in the world.
Procedure 1. Find an interesting natural object, larger than a golf ball and smaller than a basketball. It should have intriguing shape made of several parts and lend itself to being studied.
Natural Object Study one object in its minute details to find what makes it different from all other things in the world.
Procedure 1. Find an interesting natural object, larger than a golf ball and smaller than a basketball. It should have intriguing shape made of several parts and lend itself to being studied.
- You may want to gather two of these items so you can take one apart and leave one whole.
- Examples of objects you could choose are: pine cones, fruit that can be studied from the inside and outside, crab shells, a skull, large seed pods, or an ear of corn with its husk.
- Make several sketches of the whole object.
- Make several sketches of intricate details of the object.
- Do these until you start to understand the unique characteristics of the object; 10-15 sketches should do the trick.
- Change the lighting on your object so you can see the shadows falling and highlighting different textures and shapes in the object.
- Dissect your object in a systematic and deliberate way. At each stage of dissection make a drawing that records the new visual information you have gained by making changes to your object, Keep a visual log of what you are doing to the object,
- Only once you have fully gained a complete understanding of the “anatomy” of your object should you begin your final drawing.
- Make detailed observations of the smallest parts in larger scale.
- Diagram the object from different angles and points of view so that you fully describe the construction of the object.
- Create a visual flow through the entire page by analyzing shapes and building natural connections from one part of the object to another.
- Try to visually represent the dissection and discovery of the object as if you were critically describing it to someone from another planet.
- Your composition must include one precise image of the entire object, and may include others from different angles.
- It must also include five or six detail images of various parts of the object. To add interest, vary the size of the images – the image of the smallest detail could be the largest image on the page.
- Do not make all your images that same size or scale.
- All of your images should be placed so that they fill the space of your entire page in a dynamic and interesting way.
- There should be no text on your page. The images themselves will tell the viewer everything they need to know.
Breadth Assignment 5
Foreshortening
Foreshortening Problem:
Create an art piece that uses foreshortening as a key component in the composition. Think about distortion and perspective in the space. Use color to enhance the feeling of the subject matter coming out of the picture plane.
fore•short•en: 1. To shorten the lines of (an object) in a drawing or other representation so as to produce an illusion of projection or extension in space
Goals:
Choose a challenging point of view from which to create your piece. Familiarize yourself with the correct way to see in order to draw to overcome inhibitions of such a challenging approach while observing a foreshortened figure.
Limits:
Must be in color. Work large enough to create a feeling of depth.
Define the following terms in your workbook: (Include a visual reference.)
Chroma
Chromatic Value
Pigments
Hue
Value
Intensity
Primary Color
Secondary Color
Intermediate Color
Tertiary Color
Artists to Examine: (Choose one to research and write about in your workbook, show examples of their work and give your opinion about their style and work.)
Marc Chagall
Jan Van Eyck
Giovanni Bellini
Deborah Butterfield
Mary Frank
Nancy Graves
Rogier Van Der Weyden
Andre Derain
Camille Pissaro
Suggestions: Arrange a group of objects, one of which has a greater length and projection towards the observer. Magnify the length of this object so that it seems to reach the limit of, or beyond, the format. The other objects will occupy their normal spatial position. Utilize depth of field when observing your subject. Use color combinations that enhance the object around which you’re concentrating. Think about the subject placement.
See examples; do not copy!
Foreshortening
Foreshortening Problem:
Create an art piece that uses foreshortening as a key component in the composition. Think about distortion and perspective in the space. Use color to enhance the feeling of the subject matter coming out of the picture plane.
fore•short•en: 1. To shorten the lines of (an object) in a drawing or other representation so as to produce an illusion of projection or extension in space
Goals:
Choose a challenging point of view from which to create your piece. Familiarize yourself with the correct way to see in order to draw to overcome inhibitions of such a challenging approach while observing a foreshortened figure.
Limits:
Must be in color. Work large enough to create a feeling of depth.
Define the following terms in your workbook: (Include a visual reference.)
Chroma
Chromatic Value
Pigments
Hue
Value
Intensity
Primary Color
Secondary Color
Intermediate Color
Tertiary Color
Artists to Examine: (Choose one to research and write about in your workbook, show examples of their work and give your opinion about their style and work.)
Marc Chagall
Jan Van Eyck
Giovanni Bellini
Deborah Butterfield
Mary Frank
Nancy Graves
Rogier Van Der Weyden
Andre Derain
Camille Pissaro
Suggestions: Arrange a group of objects, one of which has a greater length and projection towards the observer. Magnify the length of this object so that it seems to reach the limit of, or beyond, the format. The other objects will occupy their normal spatial position. Utilize depth of field when observing your subject. Use color combinations that enhance the object around which you’re concentrating. Think about the subject placement.
See examples; do not copy!