Art I A Elements of Art UNIT 2 (of 5): Shape, Form & Perspective (16 hours = 1 credit) Independent Study Materials Needed: Homework packet Paper Ruler Black Fine Point Marker Pencil Eraser Colored media of your choice (paint not required) Turn in for this packet: Worksheet Related Artist: Piet Mondrian Worksheet Four correctly shaded forms: sphere, cube, cone, rectangle Drawing Shapes Gone Wild, non-objective form design 50 sketches Timed Gesture Drawings (4 pages) Worksheet One Point Perspective Drawing One Point Perspective Name Art Drawing Cityscape VAPA (Visual and Performing Arts) Standards: 1. Artistic Perception Processing, analyzing, and responding to sensory information using language skills unique to the arts 2. Creative Expression Creating, performing and participating in the arts 3. Historical and Cultural Context Understanding historical contributions and cultural dimensions of the arts 4. Aesthetic Valuing Responding to, analyzing and making judgments about works of art 5. Connections, Relations, Applications Connecting and applying what is learned in each art form to learning in other art forms, subject areas and careers
Related Artist: Piet Mondrian List three resources you used to fill in information below: 1. 2. 3. Born (Location and Date): Died: Biography: Known for: Artistic Movement they were a part of: Famous Works: Which of the above works are the most interesting to you? Why? What do you think of Mondrian s use of shape to stylize the image? Why did he do this? What about this Artist and/or their work can you apply to your artwork?
SHAPE FORM & PERSPECTIVE Shape and form define objects in space. Shapes have two dimensions -height and width- and are usually defined by lines. Forms exist in three dimensions, with height, width, and depth. Examples: Shape has only height and width. Shape is usually, though not always, defined by line, which can provide its contour. In this image, rectangles and ovals dominate the composition. They describe the architectural details for an illusionist ceiling fresco. Form has depth as well as width and height. Three-dimensional form is the basis of sculpture, furniture, and decorative arts. Three-dimensional forms can be seen from more than one side, such as this sculpture of a rearing horse. Geometric shapes and forms include mathematical, named shapes such as squares, rectangles, circles, cubes, spheres, and cones. Geometric shapes and forms are often man-made. However, many natural forms also have geometric shapes. This cabinet is decorated with designs of geometric shapes. Organic shapes and forms are typically irregular or asymmetrical. Organic shapes are often found in nature, but man-made shapes can also imitate organic forms. This wreath uses organic forms to simulate leaves and berries.
Form Form is the three-dimensionality of an object. Shape is only two-dimensional; form is three-dimensional. You can hold a form; walk around a form and in some cases walk inside a form. In drawing or painting using value can imply form. Shading a circle in a certain manner can turn it into a sphere. Four Shaded Types of Form Sphere Square Cone Rectangle Draw and correctly shade the four basic forms in the space below.
Shapes Gone Wild The point of this drill is to make you begin to see shapes more clearly and familiarize you with form. No matter how good you are at drawing/art, this is a great drill to do. Lesson: Non-Objective Design from Fine Art Objectives: The student will be able to create a nonobjective design from a section of selected fine art image. The composition will use the Principles of Design and will be enlarged to 8.5" x 11" composition - altering as desired and exploring color relationships. Develop skills in composition - develop focal point. Develop skills in using a variety of drawing media. Materials needed: Reproductions, viewfinders with rectangle opening*, 9 x 12 Drawing Paper. pencils, black markers, water based markers, Watercolor Paints, Sable Brushes, Colored Pencils (*Trace the outline of a 3x5 card onto a sheet of paper. Cut out the rectangle. THIS is your viewfinder.) 1. Select a favorite artist's work. 2. Using the viewfinder, travel around the piece and frame a composition. The composition should be complex with some detailed and some ambiguous areas. Trace your 3x5 card onto an 8.5x11 (or larger) piece of white paper. The rectangle can be placed anywhere on the paper at any angle that is NOT square to the edges of your paper. 3. Draw a line drawing of WHAT YOU HAVE FRAMED in that rectangle. 4. THEN, Draw an enlarged version of the SAME composition in the background. Do not draw through the rectangle. Add shapes to background - making composition more interesting. 5. Add depth by creating contrast. This can be accomplished by filling in areas with textures like cross hatching, hatching, stippling or solid lines. You can also use dark markers and contrasting colors. Sections can be outlined and/or lines can be enhanced with thin to thick weighted lines.
6. Color: You may use up to 4 colors plus black and white. Colors can be analogous (cool and warm), complementary (colors directly across from each other on the color wheel), split complementary, or monochromatic. It is your choice. 7. Begin to color in the rectangle. Techniques used can be realistically smooth or they can be textured like the Impressionists. Include shading using a darker analogous color or its complement. 8. When the rectangle is complete, begin work on the background. YOUR GOAL IS TO CREATE THE BACKGROUND AS IF THE RECTANGLE WAS FLOATING ABOVE IT. Think carefully how you will do this. Will it be because of color, shadows, textures, or contrast?
How to Practice Gesture Drawing The term "gesture drawing" means somewhat different things to different people, but the defining characteristics are that the drawing is done quickly and that its purpose is to capture the essence of subject, rather than to present a realistic rendering of details. Gesture drawing is often thought of as a pedagogical tool--it is hard to imagine an art school that does not have at least one classroom packed with students trying to capture 30-second timed poses--but it also has many practical purposes. The speed and style of gesture drawing allow the artist to effectively capture motion and to sketch out the general character of something in motion, indispensable qualities if you want to draw an animal in your nature journal or if you want to make a quick sketch of a runner. More than anything, gesture drawing requires practice, but a few tips can't hurt either. Steps 1 Choose a subject. In most art curricula, gesture drawing is associated with figure drawing, that is drawing the human figure, usually from model's poses. The subject of your gesture drawing, however, can be just about anything, just as long as you have something the essence of which you can try to capture. In the beginning, it's probably a good idea to sketch held poses or stationary objects, but you should also try experimenting with drawing things or people that are moving. This is termed "action drawing." The line between action drawing and gesture drawing is thin. They are both based on quick, fluid drawing, but action drawing focuses on the action of the subject, while gesture drawing tries to capture the subject's essence. Sometimes these seem to be the same thing. 2 Observe your subject. The single most important part of gesture drawing, perhaps of any kind of art, is observing your subject carefully. This doesn't mean just glancing at the subject, but really paying attention to nothing else. Use your eyes as lenses through which to channel the image directly onto the paper. Keep your eyes on your subject. You will, of course, want to glance down at your paper to get your bearings once in a while, but these should be quick glances, nothing else. Some forms of drawing require careful attention to your pencil and what you are drawing on the paper. In gesture drawing, you should keep your eyes on your subject as much as possible. Try to resist the temptation to look down at your drawing 3
Find the line of the subject. It may be said that every subject has a certain line that defines it's essence at any given point. That may sound a little deep, but really all you want to do when you first start drawing is observe your subject and think about what it's doing, how it looks, and what the simplest representation of it would be. Imagine that you can draw only one line to capture your subject, and then draw that line. For a human figure, for example, this line may be the axis of the model's body. It would be curved (or not) in such a way as to reflect the person's posture and motion. Sometimes you may find that two lines are more appropriate than one. Focus on tension. Living things will, at any given point, have one part or group of parts that are most active or that seem to hold the most energy. If you're waving, for example, your hand and arm is probably most active, while if your arms are crossed and you are still, the area where your arms are folded across your chest may seem to hold the most energy, even though you're not moving. Basically, pay attention to what distinguishes your subject from any other subject you could have drawn (or what distinguishes your subject at that time from what it would be at any other time). If you only get one thing "right" in your drawing, it should be this. If you don't have time to finish the rest of the drawing, that's fine. 4 Draw in contour lines. When drawing the human body, contour lines may be drawn to represent the limbs, torso, and even the head. In a way, these are just outlines, but they don't even really have to be outlines. A stick figure is a body drawn with very simple, single contour lines, and because only single lines are used, it's a twodimensional representation. Because you are trying to capture the essence of the subject very quickly, you don't have time to draw its individual parts in any real detail. Drawing in contour lines simply shows that these parts do exist, and the lines give some idea of what those parts are doing. 5 Draw mass. It can be difficult for any artist to represent mass, to show the heft that a subject has. One technique that is sometimes used in gesture drawings is to represent mass by making circular motions. This is similar to using shading, except that it is very quick and inexact. You can, of course, make darker or lighter circles to show more or less mass, but generally you just want to show that there's something there. Be selective about where you indicate
mass, though. All of a human body has mass, for example, but you probably wouldn't want your entire drawing to be a bunch of circles. Use this technique to show muscles, a belly, buttocks, or anyplace that has noticeably more mass than the rest of the subject. You can also use lines (similar to shading) instead of circles or in conjunction with them. 6 Keep your hand moving. The entire time you are drawing a gesture drawing, your hand should be in motion. The idea is that you let the image transfer directly from your eyes to your hand without thinking about it. Stop your hand, and you'll suddenly be separated from the action of drawing. You'll start thinking. Hold your pencil loosely and keep your motions fluid. Artists sometimes use gesture drawing as a warm-up to other kinds of drawing because it gets the muscles of your arm and hand loosened up. It does this because you try to just let yourself go. Relax and let your hand and arm move freely. You're not trying to color within the lines. Limit the time you spend on each portion of the drawing. Not only should you not stop drawing, but you should also not keep drawing in any one place for too long. For practice, try to limit yourself to five or six seconds on any one area. Try to capture that part of the subject as well as you can in that time, and then move on. You could jump from working on the foot to working on the hand to drawing the head. Draw wherever your eyes go, and don't worry about trying to use a logical order or making sure that everything's connected perfectly. Don't edit yourself. It is always a temptation to try to "fix" your work or try to think through your next move. Don't give in to this temptation. If you never stop drawing, and if you keep your eyes off your paper as much as possible, you shouldn't have a problem with this. 7 Set a time limit. When gesture drawing is taught in classes, a model will usually switch poses every 30 seconds to two minutes. This is good practice to push yourself to draw more quickly and, more importantly, to quickly ascertain the essence of your subject. It also has some practical applications, because if you ever try to draw a butterfly in the real world, you never know just how much time you'll have to do so before it flies away and is lost forever. Think of gesture drawing in this way. You are trying
to draw a person or thing and represent its very soul in a fleeting moment. Wait a minute, wait a second, or even blink an eye, and everything may have changed Example of 10 second gesture drawings We highly recommend you watch this video before you begin work on the timed gesture drawings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrgnmar2pai
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One Point Perspective Perspective is a technique for representing three-dimensional space on a flat surface. Many artists around the world have employed various techniques for portraying depth. However, it wasn t until the Renaissance that artists invented a mathematical system to show depth logically and consistently. The system of linear perspective gave artists a powerful new tool for creating realistic art. Watch this video for a short, but excellent explanation of 1, 2 & 3 point perspective. https://youtu.be/rolhybuf7cs
One Point Perspective Worksheet Using pencil and a straight edge, finish the one point perspective for the shapes on this page. Be sure the forms vary in depth. Pay attention to overlap. Erase any excess guide lines you drew to make your forms.
One Point Perspective Name Art Using a pencil in this space below, create your own name in one point perspective. (Minimum four letters, use two names if necessary.) Once you ve decided on the depth of your name, outline your letters with a fine tip black marker. Add appropriate color & shading to create your final piece.
City Scape Drawing Create a drawing that makes it appear that you are looking down the middle of an interesting big city street. (Think New York or San Francisco.) Consider who might be living on the street & what their daily life might be like shops, cars, windows, awnings, marquis, trees, etc. Use techniques you have developed in the previous lessons. The link below has a tutorial for drawing a city scape: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oryhzrz8g_y. (The artist in the video does not use a ruler. Please. Use a ruler.) Here are some examples you can use as inspiration: Now, create your own city scape using a 9 x 12 sheet of drawing paper. Use a pencil to make your drawing. Then, starting with items in the foreground working to items in the background, go over the lines you want to make permanent with a fine tip black marker. Erase any excess pencil marks.