Painting I Art 231 Instructor: Robert Straight Office: 204 Taylor Hall Office Hours: by appointment Tuesday 11:30-12:30 Email: Painter@udel.edu Course Description An exploration of beginning oil painting methods and material through both traditional and conceptual painting ideas, providing the student with a foundation for discovering their unique potential for self-expression. Goals and Objectives: 1. Understand color theory and its utilization as related to painting. A. Before proceeding to a more expanded palette, students will Experiment with color mixing by using only six hues plus white. B. Ultimately, students will be able to analyze observed colors for relative qualities of hue, value, intensity and temperature and be able to duplicate these observations in paint. 2. Develop sound studio work habits by gaining knowledge of materials and tools as a foundation for their effective use. A. Be acquainted with various types of bristle brushes, their shapes, sizes and uses. Learn to clean and care for your brushes. B. Understand the differences between similar colors of paint for example Cadmium yellow light & Hansa yellow light. 3. Experience the two fundamental approaches to oil painting; direct and indirect techniques. A. Be familiar with glazing and scumbling B. Develop an appreciation for the physical qualities of paint by contrasting impasto surfaces with passages of washes and the range of possibilities between these two extremes. 4. Become aware of some of the various directions that modern and contemporary painters have pursued. A. Learn to use art history as a resource for the development of a personal direction. B. Discover the importance of other artists as influences for young painters. C. Realize that there are concepts and reasons why artists paint in certain ways using particular subject matter. D. Develop concepts and ideas that are relevant to the painting medium. 1
Grading: Here s a cautionary note about grades. The more an individual is motivated by grades, the more that person is apt to become conservative in their approach to the creative process. This leads to playing it safe and is counter productive to producing exciting visual work. On the other hand the more a student is motivated by the experiences of doing the work, the greater the opportunity for growth and change. Learning may at times mean making mistakes and failures but the end result is usually beneficial. 1. Because the course is designed in a manner that asks that you build upon the discoveries you make with each painting, the significance of individual paintings is somewhat unimportant. Grades will be assigned to individual paintings, but your final grade will not necessarily consist of a strict average of these grades. Students will be kept apprised of their progress through critique sessions and mid-semester reviews. The final grade will primarily reflect the quality that is achieved in the paintings at the conclusion of the semester. 2. In addition to the quality that is eventually reached, there are other factors that will enter into the final grade decision. A. Effort put forth. This doesn t necessarily translate into the number of hours spent on individual paintings, although that can be part of it. What is more important to success is the evidence that you have done the necessary looking at other painters and hav e explored various ways of painting in an effort to find your own voice. Ideas are expendable, and your first several are not always going to be your best. A true involvement in your work is just as important as the final outcome of a painting. B. Preparedness for class meetings. Be prepared to work mentally (conceptual ideas) and physically (supplies). C. Singularity of solution. Do your paintings reflect some unique thinking or do they seem as though could have been made by any other student in the class? D. Amount of personal growth. Are you only repeating things you know or are you taking some chances to push your work to a more sophisticated level. E. Your participation in critiques and studio discussions. Learning to speak about your work and to analyze and voice your opinions about your peers work is an important part of the learning process. Critiques are a give and take experience, you have to do both. F. Evidence that you have done the necessary outside research. G. Punctuality in arriving for class, remaining until the end and working throughout the meeting. H. Attendance: This is one requirement that can nullify a good portion of that the quality of your work earns you grade-wise. We only meet two days a week and it is vital that you attend every class meeting. Three unexcused absences mean an automatic F in the course. (Consult your student handbook for further definition of an excused absence ). Grading Rubric Art 231 2
Color wheel Black & White study Complimentary Study Full Color Study Map Painting Sports Painting Final Painting Semesters 10 projects outside of class 2 points 2 points 2 points 6 points 6 points 8 points 8 points 10 points participation in critiques (2 points for each crit) total 8 points Final CD Portfolio Completing Course evaluation 54-60 points =A 53-47 points = B 46-40 points = C 39-33 points = D Total 5 points 3 points 60 points General Guidelines and Procedures: 1. Class meetings are for painting, critiques, and lectures. It is not the time to buy supplies, excessive talking, or doing research work that should have been completed outside of class. 2. You are responsible for thoroughly cleaning up after yourself at the end of each class. This means depositing all trash, putting away supplies, and disposing of all solvents properly. Any acts of vandalism towards the building or its furnishings will be severely dwelt with. Other classes use this studio and only you can be responsible for your materials and supplies. 3. The more you conduct yourself as a serious, aspiring professional, the more successful you will be. Part of having professional work habits requires you to complete your out of class work in the studio. It is open for your use 24 hours a day. 4. Please, only I pods or walkmans in the studio. Not everyone enjoys your taste in music. 5. Critiques are extremely important. You must have your paintings completed on time for the crits. We will not look at incomplete work; however you may decide to revise your work after a critique. 6. Keeping a sketchbook/journal is extremely useful. Making notes about your process of painting, jotting down ideas, etc. can be very useful not only in this course but future courses. 7. Students are encouraged to check out one book a week from the library pertaining to relevant interests or topics in the class. Being familiar with recent art history and 3
contemporary artists is one of the objectives of the course. Notes about your observations should be made in your sketchbook. Sketchbooks may be checked periodically.. 8. There may be field trips during the semester. You re encouraged to go on these trips and to attend visiting artists lectures. Supply List Art 231 *Odorless Mineral spirits (1 pint or more) *Plexiglas palette 18 x 24 with white foamcore or white paper and cardboard taped to the back. *1 palette knife 2 non-glass containers with tight fitting lid, about a quart size (coffee can) 4
1 small can tuna fish or cat food size with a lid *1 razor blade scraper *Stiff, natural bristle oil painting brushes, 3 each of the following shapes and sizes: Rounds #1 and #2, Flats: #2 and #4, Brights: #4 and #6 *3 Canvas Boards, 18 x 24 10 Canvas Boards, stretched canvases or other supports 8 x 10 or 10 x 10 1 stretched canvas 24 x 30 3 stretched canvas 30 x 36 compass for drawing circles quart of acrylic gesso 2 house painting brush 1 container of Windsor & Newton Liquin or *1 container of Damar Varnish *1 container of Linseed Oil A pint size container with a lid 1 roll of 1 wide masking tape 2 sheets of 100 grit sandpaper You may need other materials later in the semester Paints: We will use a limited range of oil colors in the beginning of the semester so that you can become familiar with the character, property and function of each before expanding the palette later in the semester. Windsor and Newton Winton colors are reasonably priced and are of moderate quality. Utrecht brand oil paints are a better quality and are also reasonably priced. You can order Utrecht paints online and have them sent to you. This is a list of the colors we will start with; please purchase 150 or 200 ml tubes; Alizarin Crimson Cadmium Red Light Cadmium Yellow Light Ultramarine Blue Viridian Titanium White Mars or ivory Black Additional colors that may be useful Cadmium Orange Yellow Ochre Burnt Sienna Violet (qunacridone violet,manganese violet, or magenta) Cerulean Blue Permanent Green Art 231, Painting I Color Studies Project I On a canvas board make an 18 color wheel, with 4 concentric inner rings. The innermost ring will be divided into the 3 primary colors. The second ring will be composed of both primary and the 3 secondary colors 5
The third ring will have primary, secondary and tertiary colors The fourth ring will be colors made by mixing compliments of all the colors created in the third ring The fifth ring will contain colors made from tints of the previous ring The goal of this exercise is the understanding of mixing oil paint and the quantity of paint that is necessary to cover a given area. Following the above exercise we will be doing a 18 x 24 painting in black and white. Then we ll create a 18 x 24 painting using black and white plus one primary color and it s compliment. Full Color Painting Project 2 Working from the still life we will complete a full color painting 20 x 24 (or larger) Ongoing Outside Project (Homework for the semester) Each week during the semester you will create a self-portrait. We ll do a total of 10 paintings and we ll look at your latest painting every week. All paintings will be 8 x 10 or 10 x 10 and may be on any surface, canvas boards, stretched canvas,cardboard, wood, etc. Part of the experience is to try out various surfaces and styles of painting. Because the scale of the paintings will be quite small do not include any background in the paintings and concentrate only on your face. Art 231, Painting I Project 3 Charts, Maps, and Diagrams Information that is conveyed visually in a two-dimensional format is the subject of this painting assignment. Any source, other than photographs, that transforms threedimensional information into a two dimensional code may be used. The painting can be on canvas or wood. The color you use may be symbolic or an identification of specific elements. The information you use doesn t need to duplicate your source material exactly, the source is for reference only. For example a topographic map 6
will show the heights of mountains as a series of contour lines, however you may decide to use these lines to indicate individual shapes that you invent. Likewise you do not need to duplicate the color of your reference material. Here are few examples to research before you start this project: Blue prints of buildings Road maps Navigational Charts Geographical maps Topographical maps Chemical diagrams Chemical element symbols Astrological and Astronomy diagrams Biological Charts and microscopic views Sonograms X-Rays MRI s Micro Chips String Theory Illustrations The Theory of Everything Illustrations DNA Samples Weather maps Artists that are related to this assignment: Terry Winters Udosak Krisanamis Ingrid Calame James Siena Miguel Angel Rios (wall installations) Yvonne Jacquette Alfred Jensen Joanne Greenbaum Fred Tomaselli Steven Charles Jasper Johns Matthew Ritchie Nancy Graves (paintings) Julie Mehretu Peter Halley You may use a combination of sources in your painting which will be at least 24 x 36. Art 231, Painting I Project 4 Text, Script & Words in Painting Use any combination of words, text, or script in your painting. You may use text from other languages and it is not necessary for the painting to be readable. You may wish to use letterforms or words simply as abstract devices to create your pictorial image. The fonts you use can indicate style or personality. For inspiration look at early examples of penmanship, Islamic calligraphy, Chinese and Japanese calligraphy and any other non-western sources you may find. 7
Think about your medium, and the support for your painting. Paintings must be at least 30 ix 36 inches but they do not need to be on a single support, nor do they have to be rectangular. Artists that may prove inspirational for this project are: Nicholas R. Schutsky Graham Gilmore Squeak Carnwath Larry Rivers Aaron Parazette Suzanne McClelland Jenny Holtzer Christopher Wool Bruce Pearson Andy Warhol Richard Prince Jack Pearson Jasper Johns Ed Ruscha Rodchenko Robert Indiana Cy Twombly Varvara Stepanova Al Held (early work) Art 231, Painting I Project 5 Sports Painting Choose two black and white images from a sport event. A vast number of images can be found on the Internet. Print these images and if you wish make more than one copy of each. Create a collage by weaving, slicing or tearing your images. The completed collage should be in the same proportions as the canvas you ll be painting. This collage will be the model and structure for your painting. 8
Be prepared in the critique to talk about why you choose these images, how you decided to link the parts of the photos and what your expectations are for your painting. The painting will be at least a 30 x 36 stretched canvas. You will be able to determine how you will use color in the painting. Because the collage is black and white you will be free to make your own color choices. Here are a few artists that you should examine whose works are related to this project. James Rosenquist Robert Rauschenberg Ingrid Calame Fred Tomaselli Art 231, Painting I Project 6 Choose one of the following for your final painting. 1. Self-portrait without showing your face. 2. A painting that suggests a reoccurring cycle. For example; the seasons, days of the week, phases of the moon, etc. 3. A painting that is the result of a disaster. For example a storm, flood, fire, or a tornado, etc. 4. 3 views of a single object of your choice 9
5. The entire front page of a current newspaper or journal. Choose two of the following artists painting techniques to use in your painting. 1. Chuck Close 2. Helen Frankenthaler 3. Alison Schulnik 4. Lucian Freud 5. Luc Tuymans 6. Elizabeth Peyton Paintings will be 30 x 36 Photographs may be used as a reference, only if you take the picture. Please do research beyond the Internet and avoid simply coping an image. Be prepared to talk about your idea and why you selected the subject and artists for your painting in the critique. 10