Visual Arts

Students have recently completed both the Master's Study Project & done a two week unit on drawing the human figure.

The Master's Study was a study of a Renaissance Masterpiece and a deconstruction of composition as a way of informing students of how to analyze form and space. Students did a series of three drawings culminating in a final drawing that was an exact forgery of the original. Students learned how to see in terms of proportion, scale, angles and value contrasts.

Students have just completed a three day figure drawing. The focus was the use of visual measurement as a way of creating a gestural drawing of the human figure. From the gesture, students were asked to employ techniques learned throughout the semester in order to create a more realistic image.

Our last unit will deal primarily with portraiture and drawing the human face.

We will have a final the last week of the semester over all of the concepts we have discussed all year. Review guides will be provided.

pics of still life

Still Life Drawing - Briscoe 10/16

Students are currently working on drawing a still life made of styrofoam. Light is projected onto the forms in order to create a greater sense of value. Students are using visual measurement, gestural drawings and value techniques to create a complete drawing.

1. Student demonstrated knowledge of placement and proportion of objects. Student demonstrated overlapping and used visual measurement to create a sense of depth. 15pts

2. Student use high degree of detail & filled composition.   15 points

3. Student demonstrated knowledge of flat & graded value (craft/technique).15 pts

4. Effort – Student took time to develop idea & complete project. Good use of class time.15 points

5. Craftsmanship – Neat, Clean, Complete. 15 points

Project Example - One Pt. Perspective

Mr. Briscoe's Visual Arts - 8/29

We have recently been talking about the relationships between the structural nature of line and the sense of depth and realism provided by the application of value.

Students are currently working on a drawing that focuses on the use of line to create simple forms. Forms are simply 3-D objects/people or the illusion of three dimensional objects/people created on a 2-D surface. Students are drawing forms with the appearance that they are moving back or receding in space. The forms; cylinders, cones, cubes and spheres, should change in size the "farther away" from the viewer. In other words, objects that are close are larger than objects farther away which are smaller.

Students are then asked to shade the forms according to a light source artbitrarily set in the foreground. Graded value and flat value are employed as the students cause they shade their line drawings. Outlines should recede into the shading leaving a more realistic image.

Briscoe Visual Arts - Review 8/24

Hello Class,

The last few days we have discussed line as a structural component to creating three dimensional imagery. We started with basic forms, practicing how to create quick drawings intended to inform greater detail. We discussed symmetry and proportion. We also began discussing visual measuring and how we can use our pencil (outstretched) to measure objects in order to create accurate proportions and angles on the surface of our page.

Before we on Friday we briefly discussed value. Value is the relationship between light and dark. We discussed both flat and graded value and how they are employed. Flat values are applied to flat surfaces where graded value is used for contours, areas where the surface of the object has curvature or shifts.

Value - Graded vs. Flat on Prezi

So far this semester I have seen a lot of talent. Keep it up!

-Mr. B

Categories of Art

This week we began discussing the stylistic differences between historical "Stages of Abstraction". The intention of the following paragraphs is to give you an extremely broad context for certain departures from realistic renderings over the last several centuries. Abstraction is nothing new and is in fact as old as mankind. It has a rich history full of inexhaustible intentions. Please note that I am only attempting to briefly explain the reasons for monumental shifts over the last 500 years that effected western society specifically. This is not intended to explain abstraction or its philosophy but simply to give reasons for stylistic changes within art, specifically painting and sculpture.





In the western world, in centuries prior to the 1400's, art was primarily made as a reflection of spiritual or social constructs made in response to political structures and authoritarian commission. Imagery at times was propagandistic, mythological or decorative in nature and generally portrayed types of abstracted human and animalistic figures.





It wasn't until the European Renaissance that the ideal of representationalism became the focus of artists. The Renaissance was a time of innovation in technology and sciences. During this period their was a turning away from religion (not in theme but in personal practice) and a greater focus on social self-interest and the progress of the sciences. Across the board artists had a desire to depict real-life with a sense of awe for the biology of the human form as well as nature & architectures mathematical properties.






















Paolo Vernese, The Wedding of Cana




Representationalim is the deptiction of the natural world the way it is seen. In other words, when artists make artwork, they make it with the intention of capturing it accurately.




Several hundred years later (forgive the broad neglect of chronology and progress), with the invention of the camera, artists found reasons to make artwork that focused less on specificity of depiction and more on the "essence of reality". Artist began departing from the literal representation and began abstracting (departure from whats seen and the employment of human devices) the natural world around them. Abstraction is art that may refer to reality but strives to represent thoughts, ideas and emotions through the alteration of reality.




Another reason for this evolution was the affordability of painting supplies and the artists freedom from the "commission" work. Artists could make more personal work because they were no longer tied to the demands of other individuals. Artists began experimenting with the placement of forms, color, medium as a reflection of personal thought as well as the excitement of experimentation.








Many artists in the early 20th Century were talented at representationalism but chose or grew into abstraction as a more creative way of expressing ideas. Pablo Picasso is a well-known 20th Century artist that worked in both representationalism and abstraction. See some of his progression and diversity below. Notice how the early work was more representational but over time he abstracted the human form by depicting it with geometric shapes, pattern and eccentric color.




































Many contemporaries of Picasso and other abstract artists were not satisfied by using basic abstraction to depict the essence of reality. Artists throughout the last 120 years have departed completely from realism by working in pure abstraction or non-objective styles. Non-objectivism is based on artist pure imagination and creative impulses and has no overt visual connections to reality. Many artists have and continue to use pure abstraction (non-objectivism) as a way of creating work. See some examples below.




It is important to note that each stylistic movement continues to be explored within the context of a contemporary dialog. Artists are constantly recontextualizing, re-working, deconstructing and re-theorizing previous ideas and methods.







Kandinsky, Comp 8









Willem De Koonig















Jackson Pollock working on one of his floor paintings.







Jackson Pollock, #8






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ASSIGNMENT: After reading the post, find three images that reflect each of the three stylistic differences (not necessarily from the eras discussed). In the comments section, post a link to each of the three images along with the name of the artist, work and time period.


Images can be found by using a search engine or going to museum websites. Below is a list of a few museums that have sites with lots of images.


http://www.moma.org/


http://www.guggenheim.org/


http://www.tate.org.uk/


http://www.googleartproject.com/

FOR JAMONE

One & Two Pt. Perspective - Foundations of Drawing - Mr. Briscoe

Rubrics:
Foundations of Drawing & Visual Arts
One Pt. Perspective - Due Tuesday March 20th
1. Student demonstrated basic knowledge of one point perspective - 15
2. Student demonstrated high degree of complexity and filled composition - 15
3. Student used overlapping to create depth - 5
4. Effort - Good use of class time, complete project, focused. - 15
5. Craftsmanship - Neat, clean, complete. - 15

Foundations of Drawing - Ribbon Project

Ribbons & Value Project
After you’ve practiced drawing ribbons on your worksheet you can begin this project.

Draw 20 ribbons that show three-dimensionality by overlapping, twisting and turning them. Place a light source in the drawing and shade accordingly. Remember to include shifts in dark to light value as the ribbon is exposed to the light.

Please do this project in graphite pencil.

EXAMPLE:

Tutorial: Watercolor Washes

Watercolor Techniques on Prezi