Mr. Briscoe's Class: 1/11-1/15

Hello Class,
This blog is used as a way for you to stay up-to-date on what is going on in my class. If you've missed school or if you have questions about an assignment or project this site is intended to help you. The title of your class will always appear within the content of the posting. Look under your class for instruction regarding that weeks lessons and assignment.

Have a great semester!

Foundations of Drawing:

This week we introduced you to two basic elements of art: line and value. We discussed how line, more specifically the stroke of a line, is used as the basic structure for a drawing. Stroke refers to the weight of the line that gives variance (or difference) to the structure of a drawing. Differences of stroke can give a drawing a sense of texture, expression or the illusion of three-dimensions if used correctly.

Value is the relationship between light and dark. Many students think of shading when they think of value but shading is just one way of showing the relationship between light and dark. Using a basic understanding of value one can create a sense of depth in their drawings. For instance, lighter areas tend to pop off the page or come to the forefront of the drawing. Darker areas tend to recede and move into the back ground.

Our current project employs both your basic understanding of line and value to create a drawing on the front of your semester portfolio. This project is worth 75 points.

Portfolio Drawing Rubric: 75 pts
1. Student demonstrated basic knowledge of line, stroke & value - 15 pts
2. Student did 5 or more drawings/designs on their portfolio - 10 pts
3. Student used a high degree of detail - 10 pts
4. Effort - Student took time to develop their idea and completed the project - 20 pts
5. Craftsmanship - Student was neat, clean & complete in their project - 20 pts

Foundations of Design:

We started the class this week discussing four major ideas: line, value, repetition and color.

The element of art known as line is simply defined as a continuous mark on a surface. We discussed how differences of stroke (or difference of the weight of a line) can be used to give a drawing a sense of texture, expression or the illusion of three-dimensions when used correctly. The line is the basic structure for most drawings and will be addressed throughout the semester.

We also discussed value. Value is and element of art that refers to the relative lightness and darkness of an area. We discussed how value relationships between black and white as well as in light and dark colors can create a sense of depth on the page; lighter values creating the illusion of nearness, darker values the illusion of distance or recession.

Color is also very important to design. There are many theories about color and many different concepts to discuss. Our focus this week was on the differences between warm and cool colors. We discussed how warm colors (ex: red, yellow, orange) tell our minds that an image is close or in the foreground. Cool colors (ex: blue, purple and some greens) tend to have the opposite effect, telling our mind that a image is in the background or farther away. In our project we are focusing on this contrast between warm and cool colors. I want to see you use warm and cool colors as a way of pulling objects to the front of your design and pusing other objects or space into the background.

Lastly we are using all of these elements and applying them to the principle of repetition. Repetition is simply the recurrence of elements within a piece. In your project you've been asked to take your elements (line, values, color) and repeat them in order to creat a sense of pattern.

We are currently designing the covers of our semester portfolios. The rubric for this project is below:

Portfolio Design Rubric: 75 pts
1. Student demonstrated basic knowledge of line, color, repetition & value.
2. Student used 5 or more patterns - 10 pts
3. Student used high degree of detail - 10 pts
4. Effort - Student took time to develop their idea and completed the project - 20 pts
5. Craftsmanship - Student was neat, clean & complete in their project - 20 pts

Lee's Summit Fine Arts Challenge

The LSW Art Department would like to thank every student who participated in the work submission for the Lee's Summit Fine Art Challenge. We had over 140 works submitted and the juror, Jim Smith (MCC-Longview Fine Arts Dept. Head) had a very hard time deciding what to include. Approximately half of those works submitted made it into the exhibition and we want to congratulate those students.

We also want to thank our partners at Longview Cultural Arts Center for giving our talented students an opportunity to show in such a wonderful space. We greatly appreciate Jim Smith for his participation as well as Dan Reneau, Director and Curator of the Longview Cultural Arts Gallery, for spear-heading the organization of this event.

YOU'RE INVITED TO THE EXHIBITION!
We would also like to invite you, your family and your community to join us January 22 for the Opening Reception & Awards Ceremony. There will be food, drinks and lots of conversation about art. There will also be prizes awarded for those works that were exceptional.

First Place - $100
Second Place - $50
Third Place - $25

Exhibition Opening: January 22nd, 5-8 pm
Awards Presentation at 6 pm

Directions to Longview Community College
Longview Campus Map

If you have any other questions please get in touch with Brandon Briscoe - brandon.briscoe@leesummit.k12.mo.us

Mr. Briscoe - Winding Down the Semester

Foundations of Drawing:

As our semester comes to a close every student should be turning in missing assignments in order to receive a partial grade. If you have questions about what you are missing, be sure to visit with me in class.

As a reminder of what we've done the last week:

- We finished our "4 portraits" drawing - 65 pts.
- We did an introductory worksheet called "Working with the Grid". This was a drawing of a baseball player that we increase in size by using the guidelines of a grid.
- We did a second worksheet "Working with the Grid 2" that was similar to the first but incorporated value.
- We've started our large scale, in-depth grid drawing using the images that we brought from home. The last day to work on these in class will be Friday the 10th.

Final:
We will be conducting our final on Tuesday, Dec. 15th. We will do quick review on Monday. I will be posting more about our last week of school later this week. Keep your eyes peeled.

Tip:
Remember to study and know the differences between Representational, Abstract and Non-Objective art.

Mr. Briscoe's Class: 11/16-11/24

Foundations of Drawing

Brief Recap:
We recently finished our section on perspective drawing. Our last big project dealt with two-point perspective and resulted in a drawing of thirty boxes executed in a "city block-esque" layout.

Friday the 14th we discussed three new concepst: Representationalism, Abstraction and Non-Objective art. We had a handout and a class discussion about some art history and how artists choose different styles to work within as a function of how they might best express their personal ideas and thoughts. These concepts will be on the test so be prepared to know the following definitions.

Representationalism-Any artwork based on people, places or things that looks very much like what one sees. A visually accurate depiction.
Abstraction-Any artwork based on people, places, things that represents the essence of what one sees. A conceptual depiction.
Non-Objective-Any artwork without recognizable natural objects. A depiction sourced in the artist's imagination.

Monday through Wednesday we worked on a packet that was a tutorial on how to draw the human face. This was a very important excercise that taught us the basic framework for representing facial features with accuracy. This packet is worth 50 points and should be submitted to me ASAP.

Thursday through Tuesday the 24th: As we head into Thanksgiving break we will be finishing up the last of four classroom drawings. We have spend the last four class periods dedicated to drawing a different student with a focus on facial proportion (size of head, nose, mouth, eyes and proper placement). If you have missed class during this time you are expected to do these drawings at home of friends or family members. Final due date on this portrait assignment is December 1st.

Have a great Thanksgiving break!
- Mr. Briscoe

Mr. Briscoe's Class: 11/8 - 11/12

Foundations of Drawing

Monday we introduced a two point perspective project and worked in class through Thursday. Below is an explanation of the project.

30 Shapes – Two Point Perspective Drawing - #9
Using your knowledge of Two Point Perspective do a drawing of 30 shapes receding towards two vanishing points. The effect should be like thirty boxes lined up like sky-skrapers.

PROJECT GUIDELINES:
1) 30 boxes in two point perspective.
2) MUST HAVE: two vanishing points and horizon line.
3) Boxes must be draw from up from your original vanishing lines. This will give the appearance of the boxes receding in a group/line towards the vanishing point - effect should be like a city block
4) Shapes should overlap but cannot connect/touch. This means there should be a gap between each box drawn.

RUBRIC:
Student understands and can apply Two Pt. Perspective – 15 pts
Student used high degree of detail and filled page well – 10 pts
Effort – Good use of class time – 15 pts.
Craftsmanship – Neat, Clean, Complete – 15 pts

Remember:
def. Two Point Perspective – Perspective in which all parallel lines converge at two points on the horizon.

Thank you,
Mr. Briscoe

Give me an e-mail if you have any questions:
brandon.briscoe@leesummit.k12.mo.us

Great Show at Kemper Gallery in Crossroads

I suggest that everyone take the time to visit the Keltie Ferris Solo Exhibit: Man Eaters at the Kemper Gallery at 33 W. 19th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64108. It is a fantastic show to have in Kansas City, don't miss the chance to stop by and see these beautiful works.

"Keltie Ferris is a postdigital painter, employing formalist strategies and materials—oil, acrylic, sprayed paint, and oil pastel—to create enigmatic and visually seductive abstractions. Her quick, gestural marks, hard-edged forms, and diaphanous passages of sprayed oil paint demonstrate rigorous investigations of spatial illusion, color, and surface texture. Motley textures, marks, and palettes hover and collide into one another, creating complex compositions of competing strata of visual information. While recalling the works of Joan Mitchell, Sigmar Polke, Ross Bleckner, or Albert Oehlen, Ferris’s methodically structured paintings uniquely evoke the digital networks and urban topographies of the twenty-first century. And, with titles such as Lady Stardust (David Bowie’s 1972 hit), our minds are punctuated with a broad range of associations from identity politics to pop-culture icons."

Mr. Briscoe's Class: 11/2 - 11/6

Foundations of Drawing
Monday through Wednesday we continued working on our One Point Perspective Project. Wednesday was our last full work day. The complete project is due Wednesday, Nov. 13th. If you are unaware of the project guidelines please look at last weeks post.


Thursday we introduced Two Point Perspective. Two Point Perspective utilizes two vanishing points to create a different type of three diminsionality. Two Point Perspective requires that two separate sets of lines converge at one point to give the illusion of shapes receding in two directions. See example below:

We also did a practice worksheet that is worth 20 points. Here is a great online tutorial to show you how to use Two-Point Perspective properly.

Friday we continued working on the Two Point Perspective worksheet and introduced Three-Pt.Perspective (third vanishing point) to the mix. When students finished they had time to continue working on their One Pt. Perspective Project (due Wed. 13th

As always, e-mail me with any questions: brandon.briscoe@leesummit.k12.mo.us