Homework 1:
https://u.osu.edu/preseren-4/
Homework 2:
The Secret of Drawing 1 Response
Homework 3:
Homework 4:
sketchbook check in:
Homework 5:
Artists I found to be interesting:
- Van Gough
- Quentin Blake
- Jim Shaw
- Ellen Gallagher
- Mark Bradford
- Charlotte Salomon
- William Kentridge
Short list and response to artists’ work on interest
William Kentridge: William Kentridge focuses much of his work on apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. He has a very unique art style where he uses very dark charcoal drawings but often transforms his drawings into short animated works. I took an interest in Kentridge’s work when I saw how he can bring art to life though his animated works. This is something I’ve never seen before and I was really amazed by it.
Quentin Blake: Quentin Blake is an illustrator of children’s books who is known for his very unique art style. He uses a youthful cartoon-like style that manages to stand out among the thousands of other artists who prefer a more simple cartoon-like style. I took an interest in Blake’s work because I found it amazing how he managed to capture my eye and burned into my memory the style of Quentin Blake so I couldn’t forget it.
Charlotte Salomon: Charlotte Salomon lived an incredibly difficult life, as numerous family members committed suicide and she was eventually killed in a Nazi concentration camp. However, through her hardships she created fantastic art pieces that spoke of the experiences she went through. I took an interest in Salomon’s work because it seemed so packed full of emotion, as if she wanted the world to know who exactly Charlotte Salomon was and what her life had been like.
Homework 6:
- Before learning about perspective in this lesson I never realized that many drawings utilize multiple vanishing points rather than just one.
- It is crucial to make lines straight and precise when drawing with perspective.
- In order to accurately draw furniture in perspective, it is necessary to use simple shapes that are easy to draw in perspective as the parameters for the actual furniture.
- The horizon line should always be at eye-level.
- Larger objects should almost always be drawn with perspective, while smaller objects can sometimes get away with being drawn without it.
- No matter what kind of angular perspective you are drawing in, a cube cannot have any angles less than 90 degrees.
- A perspective drawing will never look quite right if parallel lines fail to converge exactly at one point.
Homework 7
Quentin Blake is a book illustrator who is known for his distinctive style that brings cartoons to life. He was born in the suburbs of London in 1932 and has been drawing ever since he was a child. He has been publishing his drawings since he was 16 years old and still in school, and he has continued to draw for Punch, The Spectator, and other magazines for many years since. His drawings are famously upbeat, using warm colors and drawing characters with a smile. He has even been criticized for these joyful drawings. Regardless, he sticks with the joyful style he enjoys drawing most.
Blake’s dynamic pent strokes tend to create odd, unruly characters, almost always seen in concert with children, rendering them in a sprightly manner.He has illustrated nearly 300 books, including classic books such as Candide and A Christmas Carol. As he is an illustrator for books, he needs to collaborate with writers to create finished products. He is known for his collaborations with writers such as Russell Hoban, Joan Aiken, Michael Rosen, John Yeoman, and most famously, Roald Dahl.
The books that his illustrations are featured in have won many awards, including the Whitbread Award, the Kate Greenaway Medal, The Emil/Kurt Maschler Award, and the international Bologna Ragazzi Prize. Blake himself has even won the 2002 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, which is the highest international recognition given to creators of children’s books.
Bibliography
Biography. (2020, June 05). Retrieved February 19, 2021, from https://www.quentinblake.com/meet-qb/biography
Profile: Quentin Blake. (2012, December 29). Retrieved February 19, 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-20849907
Sir Quentin Blake. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2021, from https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/quentin-blake
Homework 8:
After looking back on my module 3 work, I feel as if I struggled with perspective with the early drawings, but was able to improve and produce pieces that I am happy about as we progressed through the module. I felt that one thing that I always had trouble with in perspective was including every single detail I saw in what I was trying to draw. Especially in outdoor perspective, where there are so many details in every building, I always felt like I could have done more. However, I still was always satisfied with my drawings and think I was able to successfully capture the perspective I was aiming for.
Homework 9:
Sketchbook weeks 5-8: Dog is prompt 4, chair is prompt 10, leaf is prompt 22, warriors fighting dragon is prompt 25
Homework 10:
GE Assignment drawing in progress: Based off of the artwork of Quentin Blake
Homework 11:
Modules 4 and 5 have been very different from anything that we have done before in the class, but I really enjoyed working on them. I found it challenging deciding on a topic for the works in these modules since we had so much more freedom, but I think that this allowed for much more interesting works to be produced. Even though I had troubles coming up with topics, once I decided on something, I found that I really enjoyed making it. I was happy with the pieces I created for these modules and thought that the abstract nature of them was really great. I do think that I could have improved upon some of the earlier works from module 4, as at that point I wasn’t too sure how to draw things that were abstract, and I had some troubles. However, as time went on, I began to understand what was being asked of me and overcame the challenges, which was very rewarding. Overall, these modules were more challenging than the previous ones, but I enjoyed them the most and hope we continue to do similar things going forward!
Homework 12:
This episode of The Secret of Drawing was super interesting and I loved how it touched upon an aspect of art that I never really considered. It focused on how there are both aspects of our conscious and unconscious mind present in drawings. I thought it was particularly interesting how our unconscious mind can leak into drawings without the artist being completely aware of it. This can make the drawing so much more personal and give us a look into the feelings of the artist.
One artist whose works stood out to me was Albrect Durer. He had an incredible talent for taking drawings of that appeared to be typical or of everyday objects and using his craft to turn them into something special. I really enjoyed this as it showed how the material you are basing your drawings off of doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. All that matters is how you approach that material to make the best work that you can. Additionally, I found Pablo Picasso’s piece in this documentary to be very interesting. Picasso tried to combine old ways of drawings with new ways of drawings. He thought this was particularly troublesome not because of his lack of talent, but because he would need to relearn the creativity of a child. I liked this because it showed how a man as renowned as Picasso didn’t only focus on improving his ability to draw, but also his mindset. In order to create something special, he needed to think in a unique way and challenge himself to draw out his inner creativity. Finally, the work on John Tchelenko was interesting. He tracked eye movements and found that trained artists actually move their eyes much less than untrained artists. I thought this was interesting as it showed how important it is to take in what you are drawing and put it all on paper, rather than trying to do both things at once.