Project:
Create a radially symmetrical design that integrates abstract design elements as well as shapes/forms from the real, observable world (natural or man-made). The things you include should be related in theme (i.e. nature in the Burlington environment, machinery, etc.).
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Focus on all the things you would normally focus on in a finished design. PRESENTATION COUNTS.
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Radial symmetry emanates from the center of the circle, with a reiteration of shape and arrangement in its various sections. Think of a kaleidoscope, but more organized.
Concentrate on the formal (design) aspects of the piece. Include pattern and/or repetition of motif. Use Art Nouveau and Art Deco as guides to your style (See references below.).

Due: One week

Parameters:
Circular, 9"” diameter
Color using watercolors, color pencils, and/or oil pastels.
Stylized -- Include pattern and ornamentation

Grading Criteria:
Visual Impact -- Design/Composition
Integration of representational elements in an abstract design
Technical Quality/Craftsmanship/Refinement
Work Habits


Style References:
Look these styles up to figure out how to incorporate stylistic elements into representational art:

• Art Nouveau
• Art Deco

Art Nouveau

• Artistic style that originated in 1895.
• Inspired by the artist Alphonse Mucha.
• Found throughout the architecture, painting, sculpture, and other forms of Art Nouveau design.
• "Sudden violent curves generated by the crack of a whip”
• The term "whiplash" is frequently applied to the characteristic curves employed by Art Nouveau artists.
• Decorative "whiplash" motifs, formed by dynamic, undulating, and flowing lines in a syncopated rhythm.

Art Deco
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Art Deco (/ˌɑrt ˈdɛkoʊ/), or Deco, is an influential visual arts design style which first appeared in France during the 1920s, flourished internationally during the 30s and 40s, then waned in the post-World War II era.[1] It is an eclectic style that combines traditional craft motifs with Machine Age imagery and materials. The style is often characterized by rich colors, bold geometric shapes, and lavish ornamentation.
Deco emerged from the Interwar period when rapid industrialization was transforming culture. One of its major attributes is an embrace of technology. This distinguishes Deco from the organic motifs favored by its predecessor Art Nouveau.
Historian Bevis Hillier defined Art Deco as "an assertively modern style...[that] ran to symmetry rather than asymmetry, and to the rectilinear rather than the curvilinear; it responded to the demands of the machine and of new material...[and] the requirements of mass production."[2]
During its heyday Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress.
                                                                                (All of the above is from Wikipedia.)
Some of the images below are examples of Art Deco from the time period, while others are more recent works inspired by Art Deco.

Student Exemplars

These drawings and paintings were created by former BHS students.

Project:
Using oil pastels, "paint" a still life comprised of two cereal boxes or other packages. Include the table surface, wall, and cast shadows in your drawing.

Set up a cereal boxes on a table top. Light the set up with a single light source, so that there are clear changes in darkness on each of the sides of the box.

This is to be done from direct observation, not from a photograph.


Objectives:

• Improve observational accuracy
• Build a strong composition
• Mix specific colors with accuracy - Blend oil pastel colors
• Establish 3D form through chiaroscuro and color changes
• Improve your ability to create a rich range of tonal value
• Become skillful with the oil pastel "painting"

Materials:

• Boxes (two package designs)
• Sketchbook
• Pencil
• Oil pastels

Grading Criteria:

• Composition
• Accuracy of line, shape, and color
• Three-Dimensional Form through Chiaroscuro - Shifts of tonal value and color
• "Completeness" - Craftsmanship

Below are some contemporary painters to look and to learn from. Remember to concentrate on the changes in color even within the same surfaces/planes. Also remember that every change in direction (every plane) will have a shift in value and in color temperature. Typically, shadows will be cooler in color (bluer) and where the light hits will be warmer (more yellow, orange, or red), but not always.

Dik Liu
https://www.dikliu.com/food
https://www.dikliu.com/trolls 

Wayne Thibaud


To Start:

1. Set up your cereal boxes on a table top. Light the still life with a single light source, so that there are clear changes in darkness on each of the sides of the box.
2. Draw thumbnails and/or rough drafts of the composition, in pencil, blocking out the basic arrangement of lights and darks.
3. On a piece of sketchbook paper, use pencil to lightly draft the outlines of your major shapes.
4. "Paint" with oil pastels.

Project:
A large scale charcoal drawing of a single, everyday object.

Objectives:

• Proportion! Proportion! Proportion!
• Use a full range of tonal value to establish structure and form
• Imbue an everyday object with importance.

Media:

• Large craft paper
• Willow charcoal
• Compressed charcoal
• (Eventually) Chalk

Tips: 
View the works of these contemporary artists:

• Wayne Thiebaud
• Jim Dine

Grading Criteria:

• Accuracy of proportion
• Accuracy of line
• Accuracy of tonal value: 
  • Full range of tonal value from white to deep black, and full, varied range of grays; 
  • Rendered subtle transitions and nuances; carefully drawn tonal shifts/gradations
• Form / Three-Dimensionality - every part of the object should have light, middle, and dark sides
• Design of the page (Composition): Filling the page; working on the area around the object to make it look like part of the drawing
• Detail
• Personal Investment:  Challenging yourself in your choice of object; staying focused on your drawing, 

Due:
Three Days

Project Description:
Draw a still life comprised of 3 - 5 boxes or wooden blocks. This is to be a full value pencil drawing from direct observation (life, not a photograph).

Materials: 

• Sketchbook (for thumbnail sketches
• Viewfinder
• White drawing paper (12 x 16")
• Graphite (drawing pencil set and/or ebony pencil)
• 3 - 5 blocks
• Mini-easel or small drawing board
• Optional: lamp for strong light source

Graded on:

•  Strength of Composition
• Observational Accuracy:
  • Placement / spatial relationship of shapes
  • Proportion
  • Direction of lines
  • Value -- Full range of value and strong contrast
• Overall Quality / Craftsmanship - fine mark-making to strengthen sense of form

Steps:

1. Set up 3 - 5 blocks on a piece of tagboard
2. Work out compositions by making 2 - 3 thumbnail sketches in sketchbook.
3. On a 12 x 16" paper, establish proper placement and proportion using a light pencil line. Use an HB or 2B pencil for this stage.
4. After you've double-checked your proportions, placement, and direction of all lines, begin rendering tonal values to match what you see in real life. Use your full pencil set and/or an ebony pencil.

Due Date:
One week

​Project:
An artistic, sculptural carving of a pumpkin

Objectives:

• Explore three-dimensional art-making
• Analyze the structure of a human head.
• Exercise your creative thinking

Materials:

• Pencil
• Sketchbook (for generating ideas)
• Two pumpkins (The first is for practice.)
• Knives and other sculpting/carving tools

Grading Criteria:

• Inventiveness
• Ambition
• Quality

To Start:

• Study the structure of the human head
• View the following website:
  • http://villafanestudios.com
  • View the videos below and on the Villafane website

VIDEO: 

Alternative: Still Life Drawing with Pumpkin

As an alternative to sculpting a pumpkin, you may instead make a full color observational drawing of a pumpkin as the main subject in a scene, considering the entire picture plane as a composition.

Medium: Color Pencil or Oil Pastel

Size: 11 x 14" (sketchbook size) or larger

Objectives:

• Form (Illusion of three dimensions)
• Texture
• Composition
• Refinement

Drawing by Irina G.

Geometric abstraction is a form of abstract art based on the use of geometric forms sometimes, though not always, placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-objective (non-representational) compositions. Although the genre was popularized by avant-garde​ artists in the early twentieth century, similar motifs have been used in art since ancient times. (Wikipedia)

Read and View:
Geometric Abstraction - essay and images, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Project:
Create a geometrically abstract artwork employing the full color palette of the master landscape painter you studied for your mix-to-match grid (If you'd like, you can swap palettes with a classmate.). Use as many of the colors from that master painting as possible.

This should be a refined, finished work of art. Consider the best materials to use (It may be a combination of media.) and work on fine craftsmanship.

Review the principles of design before beginning.

The rules of this design challenge:

1. Use only geometric shapes, including perfect circles (You may trace from templates - jar lids, etc.), triangles, perfect squares, and rectangles. You may also use trapezoids.
2. Overlap many of the shapes.
3. Use the entire picture plane. Some shapes should go off the paper edge.
4. Wherever there are overlaps, there should be color changes.
5. The design must be balanced.
6. The design must be dynamic (Diagonals = Energy/Movement!)
7. The design must have an emphasis / focal point.

Before beginning, look at the work of these artists:

• Kazimir Malevich
• Wassily Kandinsky
• Jai Kwan Kim
• Fernand Leger
• Paul Klee

Media: 
You may use paint, pastel, oil pastel, color pencil, or collage (with color tissues, construction paper, and any of the other materials listed).

Create a color painting/design that represents a specific tree (birch, maple, willow, etc.).

Design the entire picture plane, giving consideration to the principles of design.

This is a full color design using your choice of color medium (or combination of media). 

You will paint at least one landscape in watercolor during class (of the BHS grounds), and create a second color landscape for homework (of your own yard, neighborhood, or nearby park) using watercolor or the color medium of your choice.

Due: One week

Medium: Watercolor on watercolor paper

Objectives:

• Learn to control the watercolor medium to mix a wide range of specific colors.
• Develop skill with watercolor to paint both larger areas and small details.
• Create depth using atmospheric perspective through color shifts -- More vibrant, and usually warmer, as the objects are closer to you; less saturated, less intense, and cooler as they move away.
• Learn to paint gradations/transitions of color
• ​Experiment with the medium

Steps: 

1. Use a viewfinder to establish placement and accurate proportions.

2. Draw thumbnail sketches with tonal value to establish placement of lights and darks in the composition.

3. With a light pencil line (HB or 2B pencil), draw your composition on watercolor paper. Be careful. Be accurate. Add some details in light pencil.

4. Paint with watercolor, capturing accurate hues and values of the actual observed scene. Be conscious of color shifts due to ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE. Try to maintain the delicacy of the medium. Start with more transparent color. 

5. Modifications and details can later be added with slightly more opaque colors.

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6. Once you've completed the watercolor painting, experiment with gouache, another water-based medium.

7. Use gouache to add pattern, texture, and stylistic effects to your watercolor painting. Anything goes, but work thoughtfully to make a strong finished piece.
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Student work below: