Week 1

Contour lines define the outermost edge of a form

"To draw does not simply mean to reproduce contours;

the drawing does not simply consist in the idea: the
drawing is even the expression, the interior form, the
plan, the model. Look what remains after that! The
drawing is three fourths and a half of what constitutes
painting." -Ingres

HOW IT FUNCTIONS
Contour lines are used in every style and
medium of art in one way or another. They can
be loose and expressive or rigid and structured.
They can describe human figures, structures,
nature, objects, or any other tangible thing you
can think of. The concept and tradition of
contour line drawing is so diverse and
adaptable - from ancient Egypt to modern
technical drawing - that it is easily manipulated
to fit the artist's needs.

VOCABULARY
Line variance - adjustments to line weight,
thickness, darkness, and/or visibility within a composition
Negative space - The empty/secondary space that surrounds/exists
within and defines a form compositionally
Positive space - The space occupied by a form compositionally
Above: EGON SHIELE
His figure drawings are CREEPY

WHY ARTISTS CHOOSE CONTOUR

While drawing has historically been thought
of as secondary to painting in importance, a
recent trend shows many contemporary
artists embracing contour line drawing for
its multi-dimensionality. The earliest and
simplest visual skills we learn involve shape
recognition - SO contour line drawing
speaks to our primal urges.
These simplified forms give just enough info to the viewer - allowing the
artist more freedom with concept.

Strictly contour drawings have a very graphic feeling - like comics,

cartoons, advertisements, diagrams, or blueprints
Above: KARA WALKER
Her work deals with RACISM using Victorian silhouette portraiture

BLIND CONTOUR DRAWING

Blind contour drawing is a valuable exercise in
teaching artist how to see. The artist must
allow the hand to mimic the path of the eyes
rather than glancing back and forth from
subject to drawing. This creates a trust
between the artist's sense of sight and touch.

To add to the challenge - and create emphasis

on line variance - the artist is not allowed to
pick up the drawing tool throughout the
drawing process. This forces the artist to
create strategy in how to begin and end and
how to transition from one space to the next.

Many famous artists - most notably Picasso, Gauguin, Matisse - have

used this technique stylistically to depict the purest form of expression.

Above: TOULOUSE LAUTREC

He created print ads, drawings, and paintings of Paris' nightlife

ACTIVITIES
1. Draw your hand using the blind contour
technique
2. Draw your neighbor using blind contour -
take turns
*Do this enough that you gain some comfort
3. Using a mirror and a nice sheet of
watercolor paper draw a blind contour self-
portrait. Color using watercolor (see Egon
Shiele)
4. Try activities 1 and 2 drawing as you
normally would
*Do you notice a different approach after doing
blind contour?
5. Still life study using only contour lines - no tone
*How can you describe weight, texture, and space with only line work?
line variance

Above: EXAMPLES OF STUDENT WORK

Week 2

Tone defines the effect of light on a mass within space

"On an instrument you start from one tone. In painting you start from
several."
-Gauguin

HOW IT FUNCTIONS
Tone is used to articulate form and depth most like
how the eye sees these light relationships. Highly
rendered tone - such as the examples shown -
creates photorealistic images. The impact of tone
depends on the contrast between the lights and
darks. High contrast creates dramatic, theatrical
mood - see Caravaggio - while softer tonal
differences create a sense which is airy and angelic
. Tone can be used in depicting anything you see -
figures, objects, landscapes, etc.

Above: LEONARDO DA VINCI

He used a technique knows a sfumato to lay in tones

VOCABULARY
Sfumato - A tonal technique used by masters such as Da Vinci and Titian,
sfumato creates a drawing/painting consisting of medium range tones -
often used as a precursor to a large painting.
Chiaroscuro - A tonal technique used by masters such as Caravaggio and
Gentileschi, chiaroscuro creates a drawing/painting with high contrast
lights and darks. Great for creating drama and theatricality in large,
heroic paintings.
Photorealism - An artistic style which attempts to capture the moment
just as a camera would.
Subtractive drawing - Starting with a dark toned paper and bringing out
the lights of a form.

WHY ARTISTS CHOOSE TONE

Historically, tone dates back most prevalently to the
Italian Renaissance - starting with religious paintings
by artist such as Cimabue and Giotto and continue
through to High Renaissance artists such as Da
Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, and other would-be
Ninja Turtles. As an age of great enlightenment in all
fields, the Renaissance demanded art become a
science - focused on the portrayal of the world
around us through perspective, color theory, the
alchemy of paint, etc. The artist of the time wanted
to create images with which people could easily
relate and understand - most frequently religious scenes - and so they
needed a style more like the everyday and less like the cartoons of
before. Today's artists can't use tone without referencing this technical
history, but these connections can often benefit the artist's concept.
Above: PETER PAUL RUBENS
He used chiaroscuro to accentuate his lightest lights - drama

SOFT TONAL DRAWING

While tone can be created in any number of
ways, we will be focusing this week on soft,
blended tones in black and white. The key to
creating successful tone in this way are the
transitions between the darks and lights, and the
effect of reflected light. An object will be
effected by not only the primary light source but also the light reflected
off its surroundings.
Above: VIJA CELMINS
She creates hyper-realistic
drawings with attention to detail
Tone can be most easily created with charcoal.
The loose properties of the material allow it to be
pushed around and manipulated on the page with
greater ease than pencil. Charcoal is an excellent material for working
subtractive - that is, evenly toning your work surface then using your
eraser as the drawing tool. This is an excellent exercise for recognizing
tonal differences and forcing your brain to work backwards - it is in fact
less work too since your mid-tone are already complete. Subtractive
drawing is how chiaroscuro begins.
Above: KÄTHE KOLLWITZ
Her work dealing with the Holocaust
uses subtractive and sketch-like technique

ACTIVITIES
1. Create a tonal scale with pencil - white to black
2. Draw the still life with pencil/charcoal -
traditional drawing
3. Draw the still life with charcoal - subtractive
drawing
*How does this technique effect your drawing
approach?
4. Draw the model with pencil/charcoal -
traditional drawing
5. Draw the model with charcoal - subtractive
drawing
6. Reproduce a Black and White photo ad - pencil
7. Tonal drawing of your choice - pencil/charcoal
*What interests your about your subject? Why is tone important?
8. Critique, Recap and Quiz over Tone and Contour

Above: CARAVAGGIO
While no drawings of his have been found, He was a master of painted light

Above: EXAMPLES OF STUDENT WORK

Week 3
 Mark-making is a collection of strokes used to convey mass, tone,
and/or texture

"An illustrational form tells you through the intelligence

immediately what the form is about, whereas a non-
illustrational form works first upon sensation and then
slowly leaks back into the fact"
-Bacon

HOW IT FUNCTIONS
When we combine the principles of contour and
tone from weeks 1 and 2 with techniques of
mark-making, we have the skills necessary to
make a truly inspired drawing. Where contour is
an expressive stroke (s) to suggest the outline of
a form and tone is changes in darks to suggest
the shape and volume of a form, mark-making
allows us to do both. Expressive contour lines or
dots or other pattern-like marks used to suggest
the outline and the shape and the volume and
the weight and the texture, etc. Tone is no
longer limited to photorealism or simple transitions. The mark is the
artist's most sincere voice.

Above: ALBERTO GIACOMETTI

Known for his sculpture, his drawings were of equally distorted figures

VOCABULARY
Cross-hatching - A collection of parallel linear
marks laying perpendicular atop one another -
see dollar illustrations
Stippling - A collection of dot marks which
create tone by how close they are laid to one
another

WHY ARTISTS CHOOSE MARK-MAKING

Historically the appeal of mark-making as
legitimate art goes back to the invention of the
printing press and etching - both of which
allowed artist to mass reproduce paintings in a
way which could be distributed around the world
to all classes of people. Where quick marks
were once thought useful only in artists' private sketchbooks, it gradually
become common as a means of expression within the art itself. Even
Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel is made of small cross-hatching - it just
looks highly rendered because it is so high up.
Above: MAX BECKMANN
He made prints that utilized mark-making

CROSS-HATCHING & STIPPLING

DRAWINGS
The name of this week's technique really
says it all - mark-making. Is it possible to
create a drawing without making marks? NO.
And so the artist should have intention in the
style, direction, and quantity of marks used
to create the desired effect. Certain marks
are better for creating certain textures.
Cross-hatching for example is best used for
hair, fur, grass, wood grain, fibrous
materials, etc., but is also versatile enough to
be used for flesh or reflective surfaces like
glass - see picture to the left. Likewise,
Stippling is ideal for porous surfaces like flesh and reflective surfaces like
metals. Mark-making can be achieved with any medium, but is best
served with pencils, pens, and markers.

Above: REMBRANDT VAN RIJN

The MASTER of technically skilled drawing

ACTIVITIES
1. Mark-making experiment sheet
2. Outdoor sketching exercise
*How do you use different mark-making to
convey different textures and spatial
relationships?
3. Translate outdoor sketches into large scale
drawing
4. Draw my dog, Duke
*How do you capture an animal in motion?
5. Draw your favorite animal

Above: Albrecht Durer

He is known for his detailed (cluttered) etchings
 Above: EXAMPLES OF STUDENT WORK

Weeks 5 - 9

Animation is a series of still images ("frames") played

in sequence at such a speed that the images appear to
move

"Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can

conceive. This facility makes it the most versatile and
explicit means of communication yet devised for quick
mass appreciation. " -Walt Disney

HOW IT FUNCTIONS
Animation is an art form that most -
if not all - people are familiar with as
entertainment but few appreciate for
its true artistic potential. In stringing
together a large collection of images
the artist is able to bring life ideas in
a whole new way. Messages that
can become clouded in concept and
art history become that much easier to
comprehend to an audience raised in
front of televisions and movies

VOCABULARY
Frame - A still image from an animation or film -
generally 1/24th or 1/30th of a second
Frame rate - How long each frame is shown within the progression
Kinestasis - An animation technique using a series of photos of artwork to
create the illusion of motion
Storyboard - A visual play-by-play of the animation or film's story line

WHY ARTISTS CHOOSE ANIMATION

Animation does not have the rich art historical
background of our previous topics because it
only dates back about 100 years. The most
essential part of how animation functions is its
mimicry of real life through motion and its ability
to directly follow a narrative format. Unlike a
still image or object which relies on the viewers
ability to internally compose and fill in the
surrounding narrative information, mood, etc.,
animations are able to give the audience everything an artist could want.

Above: WILLIAM KENTRIDGE

His work deals with the complex social/
political structure of race in South Africa

WILLIAM KENTRIDGE ANIMATIONS

History of the Main Complaint ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1sPLXMg1BQ )
Automatic Writing ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmvK7A84dlk )

Above: TERRY GILLIAM

He is known for his comedic stop-motion interludes with Monty Python
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1BKtrG7qxQ

OUR PROJECT - THE BIG ONE

Our primary objective will be to use some or all of the drawing
principles we have learned over the first 4 weeks to create the
best animation you can. We will be using William Kentridge as
our guide, since his style combines many of the things we have
talked about and allows us to work at a fast speed while still
getting a lot of footage. This means animations should be done in
charcoal or colored oil pastel unless otherwise cleared by me.

We will be using the school's camcorders and computer lab to

create these animations. The name of the program being used to
capture the images is iStopmotion. We will use iMovie to edit and
add any sounds that you want to in postproduction.

You may choose to work in groups of up to 3 people, but each

member of the group will still be expected to do the work load
he/she would do individually. Each student is responsible for at
least 1 minute of footage - at 24 frames per second that comes to
. . . 1,440 drawings! Keep in mind that some of your time can be
filled with still images or with zoom effects.

We will be watching these movies as a class in 4 WEEKS

Between now and then you should

-Brainstorm
-Storyboard
-Execute
-Edit

INTRODUCTION
We are going to begin by getting familiar with the animating
software. Think of a small animation you can do to practice - such
as a ball bouncing.