Class One

Warm-Up Exercises

Every week, I will ask you to do a small sketch of fruit or a simple set of objects from your home. You will set these up on your table with a light to one side that will illuminate your objects and present the objects in partial shadow and partial light.

  • You will sketch these objects in several ways and use various materials that are in your kit depending on what we are studying.
  • These sketches will go in your small 5.5 x 7 sketchbook of grey tone paper. I may also ask you to do some on your 11 x 14 multi-media pad if we are using watercolors.

The object is to generate creative ideas and present them in several media. It is also, to look at the “Big” picture in order to construct strong images.

  • This will also give you a chance to experiment. You hopefully will find a set of materials that will aid your ability to present creative ideas to others. This is a necessary skill to have as a graphics major who wishes to work in the field.
  • This is independent work. Although, I will give you an idea to work with, it is up to you to create the set up that will work with our objectives for that week.
  • You will then Upload these sketches weekly.

Watch these videos on Sketching Notans

Here are some videos that demonstrate what I am looking for. Notice that these drawings are small. This allows the eye to take in everything at once and see the composition as a whole unit. These studies should take less than 10 minutes each.

What is Notan: https://youtu.be/rE5l7_eZaOY
Notan Studies: https://youtu.be/PQa3N8KGWfE
Here is a simple 2 value Notan sketch. This is what I am looking for and it should take 5-10 minutes to complete.
This is a simple Notan sketch of a still life. The drama of the dark drape in the background highlights the light of the flower and piece of fruit.
This is a simple landscape Notan. Look how the cast shadows add compositional interest. These diagonals repeated add drama to this image. Notice the marker technique.