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| 1. edges |
2. spaces | 3. perspective | 4. lights & shadows | 5. gestalt |
today's assignment | student gallery | |
| Introduction to your instructor. Hi, I'm Dr. Oliver, The Artist Formerly Known as "Seabolt." Although my Masters degree is in Art History and my Ph.D. in Art Appreciation and Aesthetics, I'm a "studio" artist (practicing artist) at heart. I'm so excited about teaching this class! This is--as far as I know--the first drawing class ever taught by the Humanities department at Southern Polytechnic, and I'm hoping that it's just the beginning of many more offerings in this area. I will be using this "Message Board" Web site to keep you informed of day-to-day activities and homework assignments. You'll also find links to information that will elaborate on the topics we read about in our textbook. I will also be using some of my own sketches to illustrate some of the exercises we do in the class. For a quick tour of some of my art work, click here to view my personal art gallery. |  |
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| Tuesday 8/24 |
Introduction to
class. Syllabus
will be presented on Tuesday, Aug. 31 and posted to Message Board.
Text: The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards (1999. NY: Tarcher/Putnam, ISBN 0-7477-424-1); Workbook: The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook by Betty Edwards (NY: Tarcher/Putnam, ISBN 1-58542-195-2) Places to buy
supplies:
(click for Web links, maps, etc.) |
Recommended
supplies
(by Thursday): 1 large newsprint pad (Biggie pad from Dick Blick @ $4.79; 1 sketch book, spiral bound, 11x14 or 9x12 Mechanical pencil with soft lead (2B, 4B) Eraser (Magic Eraser, Ruby Red, etc.) Felt tip pen 4 Conte crayons (square charcoal) Drawing board if desired |
| Thursday
8/26 |
Handout: assignment sheet with additional recommended supplies. In class we began our portfolios by doing Exercise #2, Pre-instruction drawing of your hand," from the workbook, p. 4. The first 3 exercises will be the first entries in our portfolios; they will serve as the "baseline" drawings--how we draw before instruction. | Exercises #1 and #3, ps. 2 and 6, should be completed at home and brought to class next Tuesday, Aug. 31st. In addition, for Tuesday read the Introduction and chapters 1 & 2 of the textbook. |
| Syllabus | Click here for a DOC file of the syllabus and here for a PDF file of the syllabus. Please read carefully. You'll find important information about attendance policy, grading policy, and office hours. Thanks! | Click here for the
abbreviated
syllabus
handed out in class.  |
| top |
1. THE PERCEPTION OF EDGES | |
| Tuesday 8/31 |
Reviewed
Pre-instruction
exercises 1, 2, & 3. Check off with instructor. Keep these either
in
workbook or in back of newsprint pad till we make portfolios.
Discussed
textbook Introduction and chapters 1 & 2. In class exercises: #4
&
#5 from workbook. Demonstration of using the plastic "picture plane"
used
in exercise #8.   |
Complete
exercises #4-#9
by Tuesday, Sept. 7th. Bring to class. Sketch book: Fill up 4 pages this week with pure contour drawings (see exercise #7). These will be checked off by instructor each week. Sign and date each page of your sketch book. Read more information about "grounds" used in painting media here. Read chapters 3 & 4 in your text book. |
| Thursday
9/2 |
Sketch on your own. Complete exercises 4-9, and complete 4 pages of pure contour drawings in your sketch book. Bring all to class on Tuesday, Sept. 7th. | See above. Have a great Labor Day! See you Tuesday! |
| Tuesday 9/7 |
In
class, discuss "grounds," review exercises completed over weekend and
complete
exercise #10, Transferring Hand drawing from picture plane to paper (p.
36, workbook).
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For Thursday, complete exercise #11, Drawing your hand holding an object (workbook, p. 39). In addition, complete 3 pages of contour drawings in your sketchbook. On the 4th page (sketchbook), draw at least 6 rectangles approximately 1"x6" and fill the box with grays that fade to white on one end and deepen to black on the other. (See illustration at left.) |
| Thursday 9/9 |
In class, worked on creating a darker "ground" using vine charcoal. In-class drawing: an object on a ground. | At home for next class on Tuesday, complete exercise #12, "Drawing a flower," (p. 43, workbook). Sketchbook: next 2 pages: draw objects on ground using picture plane/viewer. Bring to class on Tuesday an orange, tangerine, grapefruit, or banana to use for exercise #13, Drawing an orange. We'll do this in class. |
| Tuesday 9/14 |
In class, completed exercise #13, Drawing an orange (workbook, p. 46). | Download your portfolio checklist; make sure that you've drawn, signed, and dated all the assignments. For Thursday, complete exercise #14, Drawing leaves using negative spaces (workbook, p. 49). Read chapter 3 in The New Drawing on the right side of the brain. |
| Here
are some examples of famous artworks by Matisse(left, "Dance" by
Matisse;
right, "Drowning Girl," by Lichtenstein); notice that both draw edges,
much like we've been doing for the last two weeks. Click on thumbnail
image
to enlarge.
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| top | 2. THE PERCEPTION OF SPACES |  Click drawing to view larger image of tree
drawn using negative shapes. |
| Thursday 9/16 |
In
class we did the negative shape exercise with the picture of the
chair.
Then we began a similar exercise using a xeroxed handout--a picture of
a mug with letter openers and pencils in it. In this exercise, we used
the same instructions as for the chair. However, we worked with the
picture
of the mug/pencil holder turned upside-down. This exercise will be
completed
at home. |
Finish (or do) the negative shape exercise of the mug with letter openers and pencils in it. Complete the exercise using the same instructions as for the exercise we did in class using the drawing of the chair. However, in the mug/pencil holder exercise, work with the xerox upside down! Read chapters 4 & 5 in your textbook. Sketchbook: fill 3 pages with negative shape drawings (draw the negative shapes around 3 different objects). Go to http://www.angelfire.com/wi/2brains/test.html, print out the test, and take it to see which side of your brain is dominant. Bring the results to class on Tuesday. |
| Tuesday 9/21 |
Discussed Brain hemisphere dominance test
results. It's not too surprising that only one student scored "mostly
right brained," 5 scored "slightly more right-brained than left," and
the rest scored "mostly left brained." Perhaps this is just a
confirmation that quite a bit of what we do at Southern Poly is
left-brained activity. In class, we worked on exercise #17, Negative-space drawing of a sports activity," p. 59, using the drawing of basketball players on p. 60. (Finish these at home.) Then we went outside to draw the negative shapes around trees! What a great day to be outside! Please note! Our classwork and homework for Thursday is online; we will NOT meet in K160. Both exercises #16 and #18 require items you have at home or in your apartment (kitchen objects and chairs), so you'll work at home on Thursday. Finish these exercises as well as #17, which we started in class today. Bring to class next Tuesday. The rest of your homework is listed in the "Assignment" column to the right.  |
(1) An exercise in lateral
or right-brain thinking: The history of the pencil. This
all began with a simple question in drawing class about pencil lead:
"If
"H" means "hard," what does "B" mean?" Fortunately we have at least one
curious student (I'm sure there are several more who were working on
it)
who found the answer. For the answer and more questions, click here.
Follow the links, answer the questions, and see where your search takes
you. (2) Circles as positive and negative shapes. In your sketchbook, draw 2 pages of objects whose form resembles a circle or sphere (for example, a basketball). Then draw 2 more pages of objects that have negative circular-shaped holes in them. For example, both a donut and a tire have "negative" or circular-shaped holes in them; in fact, the forms of both also resemble a circle or sphere. (3) Workbook exercises. Finish #17, and do #16, Drawing a household object, p. 56, and #18, Negative-space drawing of an actual chair, p. 62. |
| Thursday 9/23 |
We're
going to meet "online" today. See assignment for Tuesday, 9/21, for
classwork and homework to be completed by Tuesday, Sept. 28. |
 Click thumbnail to view fullsize cartoon. |
| Tuesday 9/28 |
In class: Exercise #19: Copying a Master drawing. Finish
this drawing at home. |
Read exercise #20: Sighting an open
doorway (p. 70-74). Try to follow the directions; be ready to complete
the exercise in class on Thursday. Read the material below on the
brain. Try out the Color/Word puzzle; it's not easy, is it? |
 Click on image to view characteristics of
the left brain. Click on image to view characteristics of
the right brain. Click on image to view The Brain Gallery,
interpretations of their brains by ARTS 3000-Visual Thinking
students. |
 Click to on the thumbnail image to the left to view fullsize image.Try to read the poster, saying the colors of the word rather than what the word says. It's not easy, is it? "This is a left to right conflict. The right side of your brain tries to say the color while the left insists on reading the word" (http://www.indianchild.com/color_illusions.htm). "Your right brain tries to say the color, but your left brain insists on reading the word" (http://shockeys.com/fun/color.htm). |
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| top | 3. THE PERCEPTION OF PERSPECTIVE | |
| Thursday 9/30 |
In class exercise #20, Sighting an open
door. Discussion of perspective. See animated illustration of 1-point
perspective (Powerpoint) and of 2-point
perspective (Powerpoint). Press right arrow
key to view animation.
 |
Do exercise #21, Sighting a room corner.
In sketchbook, 4 pages, sight and draw the front of 2 houses or
buildings and then draw those same 2 houses or buildings from the
corner view. Be sure to fill up the page with the drawing. 
 |
Class Gallery:
artists at work! Click on thumbnail to view full size photo. 
 |
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| Tuesday 10/5 |
In class we completed exercise #23, Sighting a still life of books on a table. | Homework for Thursday: In your workbook complete exercise #22, The knee/foot drawing. |
| Thursday 10/7 |
In class we completed exercise #25,
Sighting relationships in a figure drawing. The drawings below are by
Bryan Burgess; click on thumbnails to view fullsize images. Note his
use of darks and lights to achieve a realistic look. Try to incorporate
this technique into your drawings.
 |
For homework, in preparation for #24, A still life with
ellipses, set up a still life with fruits or vegetables, glasses,
plates, and other things that will have ellipses. Before you
complete exercise #24 in the workbook, draw 2 full page (fill up the
sketch book page) contour drawings of the still life, being careful to
put as much detail as possible into the drawings. Then using gradients,
shade one of the drawings as realistically as possible. Now, complete
exercise #24 (p. 84). |
| |
Perspective
resources:
|
Chuck Close, artist. Click here for an introduction to Chuck Close, a famous contemporary artist who uses grids to create monumental paintings and portraits.   For more information on Close, visit http://slate.msn.com/id/2921/#ContinueArticle. |
| Perspective
machines: Click on thumbnails to see fullsize image; click on Internet Explorer icon to go to site where image was found;   
   |
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| Tuesday 10/12 return to top |
 In class: still life: paper plate,
cup, lime, decorative pumpkin, and apple; drew 1 quick contour drawing,
then 1 drawing on ground of still life. |
For
Thursday, read chapters 8 & 9 in Drawing on the right side of
the brain. In sketchbook, draw 2 full page drawings (this means
fill up the whole page) of a still life with lots of ellipses. A still
life with plates, glasses, cups, and/or fruits and vegetables will have
plenty of ellipses. Draw the glasses, cups, plates, etc., as if they
are transparent--that is,
draw the complete ellipse as if you could see through the glass, plate,
or cup. Need
help drawing ellipses? This might help you with your assignment. See
"Tips and techniques: Drawing ellipses" on Mike Sibley Fine Arts
Web site. |
| Thursday 10/14 return to top |
In class, exercise #26: proportions of the
head in
profile, p. 93. NOTICE: I will take up sketchbooks on Tuesday for
a mid-semester check. Be sure to bring your sketchbook on that day.
Make sure that your entries are signed and dated. See list above for
assignments. Handouts for Tuesday's homework:
and  |
For homework, draw from handout, in
sketchbook, at least as large as handout: Mona Lisa #1: flat patterns. Make blacks as dark as possible, let paper
show through for whites. Use handout, Mona Lisa #2:
chiaroscuro ("light-dark"). Duplicate, in sketchbook, at least as
large as the handout. Replicate the shading from light to dark. |
| Tuesday 10/19 return to top |
In class, exercise #27, Copying a master
drawing of a profile portrait, p. 96. Took up sketchbooks from half of
the class; will return on Thursday. On Thursday, I'll take up the rest
of the sketchbooks. Check out the Mona Lisa drawings below! Click
to enlarge.
 by Bryan Burgess | by Enenwan Akpan-Ikot | by Inez Lloyd | by Dr. Rossbacher |
For homework, exercise #28, Drawing a
profile portrait, p. 100. Click on thumbnail of Alex Pineda's
drawing to see the full size image. |
| Thursday 10/21 return to top |
In class, exercise #29, Still life with
American flag, p. 103. (We used the flag drawing on p. 104 instead of a
real flag.) Returned sketchbooks and took up the remaining books.
Will return them on Tuesday. With our homework assignment we begin a
new unit: the perception of lights and shadows. Here's where we'll put
our gradients to use; we'll use them to model shapes and turn them into
3-dimensional form. Click on Dr. Rossbacher's gradient below to see
several examples of gradients.  |
For homework, exercise #30, Drawing an egg
or several eggs lighted from above, p. 106. Then in sketchbook, draw 2
pages (fill the pages up) of fruits, vegetables, or other round
objects, using the same technique as for the egg exercise. Click on the thumbnail of Evan
Bittner's cup to see the full size drawing; notice how he has used
gradients to give form to his cup.  |
| top | 4.
THE PERCEPTION OF LIGHTS AND SHADOWS |
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| Tuesday 10/26 return to top |
In class we drew eggs, concentrating on
realistic shadows and shading. This gradual shading from light to dark,
so that edges (lines) disappear is called chiaroscuro and
results in a softness to the drawing. See illustration and definition
below:  Chiaroscuro - "A word borrowed from Italian ("light and shade" or "dark") referring to the modeling of volume by depicting light and shade by contrasting them boldly. This is one means of strengthening an illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface, and was an important topic among artists of the Renaissance. (pr. kee-ahr'oh-scyoo"roh)." (image and definition quoted from http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/c/chiaroscuro.html). Another site worth visiting is Art Studio chalkboard. |
Homework: read chapter 9 in Drawing on the right side of the brain.
Draw in sketchbook handout of a Leonardo daVinci self-portrait in an
oval.  For more help drawing portraits, especially profiles, click on this image to visit this website:  |
| return to top | STUDENT
GALLERY Click
on thumbnail to view larger image. |
|
 
 Evan Bittner | Bryan Burgess | Candace Jenkins | Dr. Rossbacher | Enenwan Akpan-Ikot |
 Egg on my face! Oops! A face on my egg...(more coming soon) |
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| Thursday 10/28 return to top |
In class: workbook exercise #31, Charlie
Chaplin in light and shadow, p. 109.   
Dr. Rossbacher | Travis Melton | Kathy Creech |
Homework for next Tuesday: in sketchbook,
2 pages: draw someone's profile portrait. On the 1st page: line drawing
of the edges of the profile, showing all your measurements and how you
locate the eyes, ears, mouth, etc. Use all the tips shown you in your
workbook and in your text book. Work on this until you have drawn the
profile as accurately as possible. On the 2nd page, draw the profile on
a ground and then apply shading to create lights and shadows.
Make this as realistic as possible. Read chapter 10 in your text book. |
| Tuesday Nov. 2 return to top |
In class, exercise #32 in workbook and
began exercise #33. |
Finish exercise #33 in workbook and then
using the directions for exercise #33, draw a full-face portrait of
someone (a real person). Insert shading and shadows; make sure that
your tones range from black through grays all the way to white. Use the
WHOLE page. |
| Thursday Nov. 4 return to top |
In class, using student profile photos, complete a profile self-portrait using areas of white, light gray, medium gray, and black. | At home, do exercise #34 and draw a full-face portrait of yourself. BE SURE TO INSERT SHADING AND SHADOWS; making sure that your tones range from black to white, WITH GRADIENTS of grays. |
| top | 5.
THE PERCEPTION OF THE GESTALT |
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| Tuesday Nov. 9 return to top |
 BRING
YOUR PAINTBRUSH THURSDAY!Since no one remembered to bring paintbrushes, we couldn't do exercise # 35 in class, so we did exercise #36 instead, drawing the urban lancscape on p. 130. |
For homework, do exercise #36 again, this
time drawing an urban landscape from an area around your home or SPSU
in your sketchbook. Follow the directions for exercise #36. |
| Thursday Nov. 11 return to top |
In class, worked on exercise #35, using
brushes with ink. Then we began exercise #37. |
Finish exercise #37 and then do exercise
#38 in workbook. Read chapter 10 in your textbook. |
| Tuesday Nov. 16 return to top |
In class we did exercise #40 in the
workbook, A four-by-four drawing, p. 143. Everyone in class took home a
1/2 sheet of newsprint with a large ink blot on it to use for exercise
#39. For those who missed class, you can place a few drops of ink on a
page in your sketchbook. Let the ink run in several directions till
there's a large ink spot; then let it dry before beginning the
exercise. With this exercise we finish our workbook. I will take up the workbooks in the next week or so to check off the rest of the exercises, so be sure to bring your workbooks to class. |
For homework, do exercise #39, An
imaginary drawing based on Leonardo da Vinci's advice, p. 140. We have
changed the directions slightly. Students in class were given a 1/2
sheet of newsprint with a large ink blot on it. On this sheet, try to
see images suggested by the ink blot. With pen or charcoal, add lines,
cross-hatching, and lights and shadows to create a drawing of imaginary
forms. |
| Thursday Nov. 18 return to top |
In class we drew a continuous line drawing
of the Atrium Building on the SPSU campus. Then we began an in-depth
drawing of the same building, this time using light and shadows to
create as much detail as possible. Click on thumbnail of photo to view
full-size image:  |
Finish the drawing of the Atrium Building
for Tuesday. |
| Tuesday Nov. 23 return to top |
In class, drawing of SPSU photos (choose 2
each). Draw full-size in sketchbook, using lights & shadows;
include all details. If you
don't finish in class, finish and bring back next Tuesday. If you
haven't completed all your workbook and sketchbook assignments, do it
over the holiday weekend! Click on thumbnails to see full-size
images.     Happy Thanksgiving!  |
Bring to class 2 sheets of white poster
board (22"x28"). We'll use these to mat (frame) our drawings to hang in
the end-of-semester art show.    |
| Tuesday Nov.30 return to top |
Everyone brought 2 sheets of 22x28" poster
board to mat artwork to hang in clothesline art show. |
Complete any unfinished work in sketchbook and workbook. Read chapter 10. |
| Thursday Dec. 2 return to top |
We hung the art show! Southern Polytechnic's President and the Dean of Arts & Sciences join us as we drew chalk drawings on the Atrium Building's sidewalks to advertise our show. | Enjoy the show! |
| Tuesday Dec. 7 return to top |
 Expose yourself to art: click on clothesline to go to the Intro to Drawing Clothesline exhibit! Homework: Fill out the short evaluation form that will be your ticket to the art show party in the Atrium Thursday, Dec. 9th. |
|
| FANTASTIC
SIDEWALK ART...TAKE A LOOK! Click on numbers to
view images |
1 | 2
| 3 | 4 | 5
| 6 |
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| Thursday Dec. 9 return to top |
This is it--the End-of-Art-Show Party and
the end of a great semester! Y'all have done great work, and I couldn't
have asked for better students! Thanks for making the semester so
enjoyable! |
Don't forget to take your drawings home! |
