Class Twenty One

Illustration Project, Part III

Today’s lesson we will look at ideas to achieve a point of focus within the large masses. In the case of this passage, that will probably be an element of the furniture. But I don’t want you to think that it has to be exclusively the furniture. I can imagine a composition where I have the view point of a bird, hovering over Thoreau’s clearing and looking down upon his experiment. This view would connect this small activity by one person and relate it to a cosmic whole. This would relate to the concept of transcendentalism.So please let your imagination ponder.

But for this lesson, I will treat the furniture as my point of focus and briefly mention other possible elements that might add an emotional context to my image, inviting the viewer to actively participate.

Assignment: Study Sheet of Furniture and Other Objects

Go back to your thumbnail sheet and select which pieces of furniture that you will use. Draw them in perspective [look at the perspective sheet I have included on the Blog about putting a box, that has the dimensions of your piece of furniture, in perspective. Then draw that piece of furniture in the box. Erase guide lines]. If your table has an ellipse, divide into quadrants to get the symmetry and sweep of the curves. Think about secondary objects- books, birds, plants, kitchen ware etc. Do some watercolor studies so that the furniture elements do not feel alien to the large mass of foliage, ground plane, forest study already completed. Remember, there should be a growing unity between these separate studies that places all the elements within a specific time and place.

Materials:
  • 11×14 multi- media pad
  • pencils
  • microns (you may use this to add some details. Do not over-use as watercolor is our primary technique for this project)
  • Watercolor washes (simple shapes and masses)

Due: Tuesday, April 6 at 11:59 AM; Monday, April 5 before 11:59 AM. Please hand in on time to avoid getting behind.

Secondly, watch the video, Making a Livelier Drawing, and answer the questions in the Assignment section. Due: Tuesday, April 6 at 11:59 AM; Monday, April 5 before 11:59 AM.

Building different types of furniture based on a box. Put the box in perspective then, draw the object using the box as a guideline. Map ellipses in 1-pt. perspective. Use symmetry in the quadrants to correct the curves of the ellipse.

Reference Material

You may use a chair that you already have. You can use it as a base on which to build a design for a chair that fits the time period. I took a chair in my studio and adapted the legs and eliminated the arms to create my own version of a period chair.