But you knew that already, didn't you?
E-mail 'em to me:
john@johnleedraws.com
or
jlee@mca.edu
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Project 5: Memory
Make a list of 18 childhood memories: (6) from ages 1-6; (6) from ages 6-12; and (6) from ages 12-18. Try to come up with specific events, not general situations (so, not simply “Fishing with Grampa,” but “the time I went fishing with Grampa, and I fell out of the boat.”).
From this list, select the three memories that seem the most compelling and personal. Take some time and write about each memory. Consider: Why is this event significant enough that you have bothered to remember it? What led to this event? What were you feeling at the time? What do you think other people were feeling? How would you react differently to this situation if faced with it today? What kind of specifics and concrete imagery can you remember? Chronologically, how did this event transpire?
Type up and edit each memory. Print off 4 copies of each piece (12 total). In class on Monday, break into small groups, give one copy of each memory to each member in your group, and read your memories to one another. Note your peers’ reactions and associations with the stories you tell.
Edit your peers’ stories. Specifically: note what isn’t clear narratively, what kind of specifics could use more detail, what is effective and what is too vague. Highlight as much concrete imagery as possible.
Using the feedback you received from your group, choose one of these as the memory you want to work with for this project.
Prepare 15 thumbnails of your memory. Do not look at any photographs during this time. Create the compositions based solely on your memory. Consider the Molly Bang principles: structure your compositions to heighten the emotions conveyed in your stories. From these thumbnails, prepare (3) 7” x 9.5” refined sketches. These presentation sketches should be refinements of the thumbnails, advancing your understanding of the composition, and clearly communicating your content.
In class, prepare a 7” x 9.5” painted study of the best of the three compositions. Only after this sketch is completed can you look at any photo-reference for this piece. Shoot or construct your own reference as much as possible.
Based on your painted study, develop the full-size composition, and lightly transfer it to your painting surface. The final illustration will be 11”x15”, and will be executed in either black watercolor wash or black and white gouache. Take care to ensure that your final is clean and isn’t warping.
Materials
A sheet of good paper: watercolor paper or Bristol Board
Tracing paper
Black tube watercolor paint/Black and white gouache
Plastic mixing tray
Water container
Round watercolor brushes
Mop brush
11.9 - Assigned: Develop Memory List
11.14 - Memory stories due, peer editing. Begin thumbnails.
11.16 - Review thumbs, refined sketches due at end of class.
11.21 - Half-sized painted sketch due. Illustrator Paper DUE.
11.23 - Turkey Day Break!
11.30 – Illustrator Presentations DUE
12.5 - Memory DUE.
12.7, 12.12. – Illustration presentations, Last Day of Class.
From this list, select the three memories that seem the most compelling and personal. Take some time and write about each memory. Consider: Why is this event significant enough that you have bothered to remember it? What led to this event? What were you feeling at the time? What do you think other people were feeling? How would you react differently to this situation if faced with it today? What kind of specifics and concrete imagery can you remember? Chronologically, how did this event transpire?
Type up and edit each memory. Print off 4 copies of each piece (12 total). In class on Monday, break into small groups, give one copy of each memory to each member in your group, and read your memories to one another. Note your peers’ reactions and associations with the stories you tell.
Edit your peers’ stories. Specifically: note what isn’t clear narratively, what kind of specifics could use more detail, what is effective and what is too vague. Highlight as much concrete imagery as possible.
Using the feedback you received from your group, choose one of these as the memory you want to work with for this project.
Prepare 15 thumbnails of your memory. Do not look at any photographs during this time. Create the compositions based solely on your memory. Consider the Molly Bang principles: structure your compositions to heighten the emotions conveyed in your stories. From these thumbnails, prepare (3) 7” x 9.5” refined sketches. These presentation sketches should be refinements of the thumbnails, advancing your understanding of the composition, and clearly communicating your content.
In class, prepare a 7” x 9.5” painted study of the best of the three compositions. Only after this sketch is completed can you look at any photo-reference for this piece. Shoot or construct your own reference as much as possible.
Based on your painted study, develop the full-size composition, and lightly transfer it to your painting surface. The final illustration will be 11”x15”, and will be executed in either black watercolor wash or black and white gouache. Take care to ensure that your final is clean and isn’t warping.
Materials
A sheet of good paper: watercolor paper or Bristol Board
Tracing paper
Black tube watercolor paint/Black and white gouache
Plastic mixing tray
Water container
Round watercolor brushes
Mop brush
11.9 - Assigned: Develop Memory List
11.14 - Memory stories due, peer editing. Begin thumbnails.
11.16 - Review thumbs, refined sketches due at end of class.
11.21 - Half-sized painted sketch due. Illustrator Paper DUE.
11.23 - Turkey Day Break!
11.30 – Illustrator Presentations DUE
12.5 - Memory DUE.
12.7, 12.12. – Illustration presentations, Last Day of Class.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Some period dress
Found by Luke! Thanks Luke!
Keep researching and piecing together accurate reference for Monday.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Sinbad the Sailor
For the next assignment, you will illustrate a story from the One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. This story will be executed in scratchboard. The size is 10”x15”, either landscape or portrait, and should be measured out in the middle of a larger sheet of scratchboard—do not work at the edge of your board.
List 3 events in the story of Sinbad that would be interesting to depict. Write a stream of consciousness statement of each, summarizing what is happening at the moment you wish to illustrate. Try to understand the back-story and motivation of each of the players involved, even if this means you need to invent this information. What is Sinbad feeling at that moment? What are the other people feeling? Why are they doing what they’re doing? How would you feel if placed in that situation/Has there ever been a time when you have encountered something analogous to this event, however tenuous the connection? Even though you are illustrating a pre-existing story, it can and should be informed by your personal experience, and even become a vehicle to tell your own story.
After writing the 3 statements, begin drawing thumbnails of the chosen moments. Prepare at least 15 thumbnails for each moment. Consider the overall emotional tone of each moment, and how you can communicate that with the composition, as you did with the Card Suit project. Consider the emotional state of the characters, and how that will inform their body language, as you did with the Pantomime project.
Research the history of the Arabian Nights, and Sir Richard Burton’s translation, in particular. Because they result from an oral tradition that circulated for centuries, there is timelessness to the stories. But, in order to illustrate them properly, you must root them in a specific time an place, so that you know what people will be dressed in, and what their environments will look like. Based on your research, determine a place and time for your depiction of the voyages of Sinbad. Research the culture that Sinbad comes from (is he Muslim, or Sikh? Arab or Persian? Or something else entirely?). Write a 500-word summary of your research and conclusions, and email these to me at john@johnleedraws.com. Collect as much visual reference as you can for your chosen period. Collect at least 5 images of period-appropriate male clothing, 5 of female clothing (costume history books are a great resource), 5 of buildings, 5 landscapes of that part of the world, and images of ships, animals, weapons, furniture, and whatever else you might need for your illustration.
Take your 3 most successful thumbnails (these may or may not be from the same moment), and draw a 7.5”x11” compositional study for each. Your 35+ thumbnails, 500-word research summary, visual references, and 3 comps are due 10/19. Remember that complete and on-time research and sketches are a significant part of your final product grade.
Based on feedback in class, do a full-size, refined, 10” x 15” pencil sketch in preparation for transfer to your scratchboard.
During the next class, we will have a figure in costume for posed reference. Bring materials for drawing the figure, the larger the better. Also bring cameras if you choose. I will bring mine for use as well..
10/12- Mid-Term. Pantomime critiqued and turned in. In-class: Scratchboard studies.
10/19- Illustrator Research due. Story sketches and research due. In-class: figure drawing with costume
10/26- Full-sized pencil sketch
11.9- Finals due, critique
Materials:
Large and small sheets of scratchboard
Scratching tools
Tracing paper
White chalk for transfer
Ink
List 3 events in the story of Sinbad that would be interesting to depict. Write a stream of consciousness statement of each, summarizing what is happening at the moment you wish to illustrate. Try to understand the back-story and motivation of each of the players involved, even if this means you need to invent this information. What is Sinbad feeling at that moment? What are the other people feeling? Why are they doing what they’re doing? How would you feel if placed in that situation/Has there ever been a time when you have encountered something analogous to this event, however tenuous the connection? Even though you are illustrating a pre-existing story, it can and should be informed by your personal experience, and even become a vehicle to tell your own story.
After writing the 3 statements, begin drawing thumbnails of the chosen moments. Prepare at least 15 thumbnails for each moment. Consider the overall emotional tone of each moment, and how you can communicate that with the composition, as you did with the Card Suit project. Consider the emotional state of the characters, and how that will inform their body language, as you did with the Pantomime project.
Research the history of the Arabian Nights, and Sir Richard Burton’s translation, in particular. Because they result from an oral tradition that circulated for centuries, there is timelessness to the stories. But, in order to illustrate them properly, you must root them in a specific time an place, so that you know what people will be dressed in, and what their environments will look like. Based on your research, determine a place and time for your depiction of the voyages of Sinbad. Research the culture that Sinbad comes from (is he Muslim, or Sikh? Arab or Persian? Or something else entirely?). Write a 500-word summary of your research and conclusions, and email these to me at john@johnleedraws.com. Collect as much visual reference as you can for your chosen period. Collect at least 5 images of period-appropriate male clothing, 5 of female clothing (costume history books are a great resource), 5 of buildings, 5 landscapes of that part of the world, and images of ships, animals, weapons, furniture, and whatever else you might need for your illustration.
Take your 3 most successful thumbnails (these may or may not be from the same moment), and draw a 7.5”x11” compositional study for each. Your 35+ thumbnails, 500-word research summary, visual references, and 3 comps are due 10/19. Remember that complete and on-time research and sketches are a significant part of your final product grade.
Based on feedback in class, do a full-size, refined, 10” x 15” pencil sketch in preparation for transfer to your scratchboard.
During the next class, we will have a figure in costume for posed reference. Bring materials for drawing the figure, the larger the better. Also bring cameras if you choose. I will bring mine for use as well..
10/12- Mid-Term. Pantomime critiqued and turned in. In-class: Scratchboard studies.
10/19- Illustrator Research due. Story sketches and research due. In-class: figure drawing with costume
10/26- Full-sized pencil sketch
11.9- Finals due, critique
Materials:
Large and small sheets of scratchboard
Scratching tools
Tracing paper
White chalk for transfer
Ink
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Scratchboard
Remember to bring scratchboard to class next Monday, 10.10. We'll be experimenting with it on a still life.
Pantomime
In class, on 9/28, watch the selected materials from Martha Graham's A Dancer's World. Look for expressive body language, and sketch in your notebook. How much information can be expressed with nothing more than the human figure?
Select 4 of the emotions listed below:
Acceptance; Ambivalence; Apathy; Anxiety; Compassion; Confusion; Curiosity; Despair; Disgust; Doubt; Ecstasy; Envy; Embarrassment; Forgiveness; Frustration; Guilt; Gratitude; Grief; Hope; Horror; Homesickness; Loneliness; Love; Pity; Pride; Regret; Remorse; Shame; Suffering.
Your assignment is to convey these emotions solely through body language. This will require the assistance of one friend, peer, family member, class crush, or paid persons to act as a model for you. Working with your model, develop body language that clearly conveys your chosen emotional states. Refer to your in-class sketching for ideas. The poses you develop may or may not be wholly naturalistic; they may be exaggerated. You may costume your model however you wish, but the model must remain in the same outfit for all 4 emotions—no changing costumes to reflect the emotion being depicted. Draw your model from life. You may take photo-reference, as well, but only as secondary resource to your live-model drawings.
From these sketches, develop 4 images, each 7"x10", of the human figure, expressing your chosen emotions. You may use either litho crayon or ink on white paper. Choose either quality drawing paper or smooth Bristol board depending on your choice of media. The drawings should contain the figure only: no props, no background. Mount the four drawings 2 x 2 on mat board with 1” in between each drawing, and with a 2” border. Label the four emotions depicted on the back of your mat board.
The four drawings are due for critique on Wednesday, 10.12.
Dimensions of Final:
(4) 7” x 10” drawings.
Mounted on matte board with 1” in between drawings and a 2” border on each side (final mat size will be 19” x 25”)
Flapped, with an image tag on the back, as well as the corresponding emotions.
Materials:
• Smooth Bristol board or quality drawing paper (like Rives BFK)
• Tracing paper, heavier stock paper for flap
• Litho Crayon or Ink, with brushes and nib pen.
Select 4 of the emotions listed below:
Acceptance; Ambivalence; Apathy; Anxiety; Compassion; Confusion; Curiosity; Despair; Disgust; Doubt; Ecstasy; Envy; Embarrassment; Forgiveness; Frustration; Guilt; Gratitude; Grief; Hope; Horror; Homesickness; Loneliness; Love; Pity; Pride; Regret; Remorse; Shame; Suffering.
Your assignment is to convey these emotions solely through body language. This will require the assistance of one friend, peer, family member, class crush, or paid persons to act as a model for you. Working with your model, develop body language that clearly conveys your chosen emotional states. Refer to your in-class sketching for ideas. The poses you develop may or may not be wholly naturalistic; they may be exaggerated. You may costume your model however you wish, but the model must remain in the same outfit for all 4 emotions—no changing costumes to reflect the emotion being depicted. Draw your model from life. You may take photo-reference, as well, but only as secondary resource to your live-model drawings.
From these sketches, develop 4 images, each 7"x10", of the human figure, expressing your chosen emotions. You may use either litho crayon or ink on white paper. Choose either quality drawing paper or smooth Bristol board depending on your choice of media. The drawings should contain the figure only: no props, no background. Mount the four drawings 2 x 2 on mat board with 1” in between each drawing, and with a 2” border. Label the four emotions depicted on the back of your mat board.
The four drawings are due for critique on Wednesday, 10.12.
Dimensions of Final:
(4) 7” x 10” drawings.
Mounted on matte board with 1” in between drawings and a 2” border on each side (final mat size will be 19” x 25”)
Flapped, with an image tag on the back, as well as the corresponding emotions.
Materials:
• Smooth Bristol board or quality drawing paper (like Rives BFK)
• Tracing paper, heavier stock paper for flap
• Litho Crayon or Ink, with brushes and nib pen.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Improbable Event
For this illustration, depict an event that could occur, but is so incredibly improbable that it hasn’t and never will. This is not a fantasy piece, which would allow you to depict the impossible. It’s just really, really improbable.
To begin developing your ideas, make a list of ten objects you like, five objects you hate, and five objects you think are interesting. Then, list ten environments you like, five you hate, and five you find interesting. Finally, list ten activities you like, five you hate, and five you find interesting. Now, start matching up objects, locations, and actions. See if any of them make an interesting and improbable combination (for instance, “sailboat,” “stairwell,” and “surgery.”). Develop your ideas further in a series 40 thumbnail sketches. Consider the Molly Bang Principles of Composition when composing your thumbnails.
When you have completed the thumbnails, choose the piece you would most like to do, and collect photo reference for all the elements you will need to accurately draw your image. Do not collect reference until you have finished all of your thumbnails, as photographs have a tendency to overrule your own pictorial ideas. Collect multiple images of each object you need reference for. This may include images tangentially related to the objects/locations/activities you begin with. For the above example, one might collect pictures of sailboats, sail rigging, buoys, nautical flags, lighthouses, stairways, newel posts, rugs, interior decorating, surgeons, surgical implements, and roller skates.
The final piece will be executed in ink, using optical grays. “Optical Gray” refers to the use of hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, and scribbling to create apparent value tines, but without mixing or watering the ink to create actual washes of gray. It is recommended that you collect a wide variety of mark-making tools, including nibs, brushes, and even sharpened sticks or cotton swabs.
9.15 Still Life with Monster critiqued. In-class: Ink demo
9.19 In-Class: Ink still life
9.21 Improbable Event research and sketches due.
9.26 Full-sized pencil sketch of Improbable Event due. In-Class: begin ink finish of Improbable Event.
9.28 In-Class: Work day
10.5 Improbable Event due, critiqued.
Dimensions of Final:
- 11” x 15”
- Mounted on matte board, with a 2” border on each side (matte board will be 15” x 19”)
- Flapped, with an image tag on the back
Materials:
A sheet of Bristol Board
Tracing paper, heavier stock paper for flap
Ink
Nib pens
Assortment of brushes: watercolor, sables, bamboo, etc.
Anything else you want to dip in ink and make marks with!
To begin developing your ideas, make a list of ten objects you like, five objects you hate, and five objects you think are interesting. Then, list ten environments you like, five you hate, and five you find interesting. Finally, list ten activities you like, five you hate, and five you find interesting. Now, start matching up objects, locations, and actions. See if any of them make an interesting and improbable combination (for instance, “sailboat,” “stairwell,” and “surgery.”). Develop your ideas further in a series 40 thumbnail sketches. Consider the Molly Bang Principles of Composition when composing your thumbnails.
When you have completed the thumbnails, choose the piece you would most like to do, and collect photo reference for all the elements you will need to accurately draw your image. Do not collect reference until you have finished all of your thumbnails, as photographs have a tendency to overrule your own pictorial ideas. Collect multiple images of each object you need reference for. This may include images tangentially related to the objects/locations/activities you begin with. For the above example, one might collect pictures of sailboats, sail rigging, buoys, nautical flags, lighthouses, stairways, newel posts, rugs, interior decorating, surgeons, surgical implements, and roller skates.
The final piece will be executed in ink, using optical grays. “Optical Gray” refers to the use of hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, and scribbling to create apparent value tines, but without mixing or watering the ink to create actual washes of gray. It is recommended that you collect a wide variety of mark-making tools, including nibs, brushes, and even sharpened sticks or cotton swabs.
9.15 Still Life with Monster critiqued. In-class: Ink demo
9.19 In-Class: Ink still life
9.21 Improbable Event research and sketches due.
9.26 Full-sized pencil sketch of Improbable Event due. In-Class: begin ink finish of Improbable Event.
9.28 In-Class: Work day
10.5 Improbable Event due, critiqued.
Dimensions of Final:
- 11” x 15”
- Mounted on matte board, with a 2” border on each side (matte board will be 15” x 19”)
- Flapped, with an image tag on the back
Materials:
A sheet of Bristol Board
Tracing paper, heavier stock paper for flap
Ink
Nib pens
Assortment of brushes: watercolor, sables, bamboo, etc.
Anything else you want to dip in ink and make marks with!
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