Silhouette

Due on Wednesday you need to have a silhouette drawn from life.

Silhouettes date all the way back to Ancient Greek Pottery, and were used to effectively record Greek culture and mythology. 

Silhouettes should be easily recognizable.  

This may be one of the most famous silhouette drawings in the world. Michael Jordan's silhouette logo has become a very successful commercial brand. Air Jordan is a flagship brand for Nike.

This is a silhouette portrait of Steve Jobs.

Silhouettes are used in modern photography and film.

Silhouettes became a very popular form of portraiture during the late 17century to the mid 19 century. They can give a great old world feel to your work. Designers associate clean well done silhouettes with classiness. Painters use it as a technique as a baseline for a painting, and concept artists master silhouettes as means of speeding up their work and mastering readability.

Silhouettes are still used heavily in graphic design...especially in logos.

Project Concept

Your project concept due Friday should include your possible career choice and your master artists for consideration. Please write at least a one sentence justification for each artist to why you think not only they would be good for you to study. but why they are considered masters.

Art Career

It's time. Time to get a job! You are going to select an art career and research it. By this Thursday, you should select a career and run it by Ferrell so you can work on what comes next...

You are going to write a paper that will cover in essay format the following...

1. Define what that career is
2. Elaborate on what an artist's job in that career entails
3. Describe the life and work of 3 master artists in that field (each artists should get at least their own paragraph)

• Name each artist and where they are from (time period...etc.)
• Describe their work and why they are considered special
• Give the reasons you selected each artist

4. Lastly, explain why you chose this career and how you feel it relates to your previous work

The bibliography will need to be in MLA format.

In addition, to the paper you will need to write a proposal that will have at least 5 projects to choose from. These projects will be based upon the research you do for your paper. These projects will be reviewed by Ferrell and refined to suit your needs. Keep in mind you will have to do these projects in a two week time frame. Ferrell will be your client and you will be the professional artist. 

Fear Factor

In order to gain success we have to push through our fears of failure. As an extended jumpstart we are to draw something we are afraid of. The reason is that as artists, we are creators, who are in control. Your fears can't  harm you if you are creating a controlled environment for them. You can even make them silly. 

The point is that students are being taught that many of the things we feared when we were small we no longer fear because we learned to gain control of those things in our lives. Such as, if you fear the dark, when you get older you simply turn on the light switch. The light switch we are using in our classes is our minds.

Mark Summers! Scratchboard Master.

SCRATCHBOARD HISTORY

Modern scratchboard originated in the 19th century in Britain and France. As printing methods developed, scratchboard became a popular medium for reproduction because it replaced wood, metal and linoleum engraving. 

It allowed for a fine line appearance that could be photographically reduced for reproduction without losing quality. It was most effective and expeditious for use in single-color book and newspaper printing. From the 1930′s to 1950′s, it was one of the preferred techniques for medical, scientific and product illustration. 

In more recent years, it has made a comeback as an appealing medium for editorial illustrators of magazines, ads and graphic novels.

This next picture is not Ferrell, but Henry the VIIth.

Process...Process...Process!  Start off with thumbnails. 

Value Studies!

Finish your tight line work.

Color study and Final.

Summer's is making Twain come to life...look at the balance between positive and negative space. Look how Summer is framing Twain with the background.

 This is Leonardo Da Vinci. Look how the lines follow form of the figure and the clothes. 

What is important is where there aren't many lines. Remember line is used to create form. Where there aren't lines it allows the eyes to breathe. Think about this... is a car smooth surface? Yes, of course it is, but this is scratchboard so most of the work in this piece of the Ferrari is removing the clay to create this large smooth area.

Also, when working on your projects make sure you do studies. Get to know your subject matter, and create studies that fit what you need to learn about your focus. What you need in order to be successful may not be what someone else does. In the action of creation it is about you and your relationships with your subject matter.

Summer did an illustration of how Lincoln could have survived Booth's assassination attempt. Notice there are color studies and value studies. He also researched to try to find reference as close his final concept.

The final...

Practice this in pen and ink...

Find inspiration!

We are looking for black and white illustrations that inspire us!  Here are a few that fueled my imagination when I was younger.

As you can see I really liked battle scenes and wizards. 

We are going to draw the black and white drawing of your choice by starting with pencil. 

Then progressing to inking it. 

Whatever your inspiration may be, we need to select something that will keep us focused and interested.

Don't Reinvent the Wheel!

Most innovations are an evolution of great ideas. They aren't some sort of mystical inspiration that strikes the creator out of the blue. When you are developing an idea you need to be aware of how the concept of an idea developed. 

You need to be aware when you design that every idea came from somewhere else. If you were to experience something for the first time without any context for it, it would be alien to you. 

The other problem without knowing other solutions to the same problem you may make easily avoidable mistakes. There is a reason that wheels are shaped the way they are. They work! You can make a better wheel and their is originality in that, but something to radical may actually be counter- productive. 

So inform yourself. Look up what others in the industry who were successful doing the same task you have to accomplish. Don't copy them, but study and learn from them so you can improve on their solution. 

Remember your redo projects are due September 1st.

The Redo Project

(Ferrell's Slash... the one on the right is currently a work in progress.)

You are to pick a project you have done in your past 3 years that needs to be redone, or you really enjoyed so much you would like another attempt at it. This project is to reflect your gained skills and knowledge over the years that you may have lacked in your first attempt.

Once a project is picked you need to write up a contract upon which we will both agree upon. This write up should reflect your different approach, media, and what you hope your outcome to be.

Welcome students to Braden River Art's Blog!

In this blog you will be able to link to class assignments, find explanations of projects, gain access to reference materials, and advanced classes will be able to post assignments. I'm hoping this will further into reflect the professional world and to make your learning environment even better. 

Make sure you download and print a syllabus from…

https://app.oncoursesystems.com/school/webpage/11166054/

Also, please check out our gallery site at

www.brhsart.com