For your first homework assignment, I would like you to practice drawing, in preparation for how we will be using it in class.
1) Arrange a small still life at home, consisting of a minimum of five glass objects (bottles, different kinds of glasses, bowls, cups...). Create a dynamic arrangement, in which the space between the objects is just as interesting as the objects themselves. The surface they are on should be flat and plain. If possible, light the arrangement with a single light source.
2) Using a pencil, and in your sketchbook, create a series of four thumbnail compositions (as discussed in class) measuring no more than three inches in height or width. Two of the thumbnails should be vertical compositions, and two of the thumbnails should be horizontal compositions. At this stage, ignore what is in the background, but do include the surface that the objects are on, so that they are not floating in space. Fill the composition space, rather than having the objects "floating."
3) Choose one of the four thumbnail compositions that strikes you as dynamic and that makes good use of space, and working from your still life, re-draw it in pencil as a fully realized contour drawing on a sheet of your 11 x 14 inch bristol board. Leave about a half an inch clean border around the image from the edge of the board. Review what a contour drawing is, as discussed in class. When using your pencil, do not press too hard.
4) Take one clear photograph of your still life, framing it exactly as you have drawn it. Make a clear (non-pixellated) color print of that photograph on a sheet of 8.5 x 11 inch paper.
DUE: Bring your sketchbook with thumbnails, your drawing on Bristol Board and your printed photograph into class. We will be using these materials in the first in-class project on Tuesday, September 20th.
Below, are some images by the painter Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964), depicting a series of still life arrangements. Some very simple and straightforward. Some with greater compositional complexity.
