Breadth

Range of Approaches

Breadth #1 - Contour Line Still Life

Create a contour line drawing of a still life from observation.

Project Requirements:
- Graphite and Charcoal on Drawing Paper
- 18"x22"
- Emphasis on a variety of line weights (thick, thin, dark, light, etc.) as well as compositional choices such as cropping, placement, emphasis, balance, etc.
- Utilize clean, consistent, and intentional mark-making with minimal erasing.
- Contour line only. No Value!

Breadth #2 - Mapping

Links and Artists:

Choose a location that is important to you, such as your home, a favorite vacation spot, somewhere linked to your family or heritage, etc. Using Google Maps, investigate the layout of the streets around your chosen location. Experiment with different zoom levels and cropping. What shapes and lines stand out to you?

Project Requirements:
- Watercolor, Ink, Acrylic, Collage on Choice of Surface (Watercolor Paper Recommended).
- Min. 11"x14", Max. 18"x24"
- Create a richly layered abstract work utilizing your preferred composition and chosen media from your experimentation.
- Focus on creative composition and mark-making.
- Keep the piece largely non-representational. Small hints of abstracted images and forms that contribute to the meaning of the piece will be accepted, but fully representational ideas will not be allowed.
Sketchbook Requirements:
- Create a series of at least 4 thumbnail sketches of your chosen layouts. Each thumbnail should show a significant difference in composition, altering either location, zooming, cropping, or a combination of the three.
- Fill a minimum of one full page with media experimentation using the required media for the project. Use a variety of combinations and layers, and have fun. Suggestion: Print out small sections of map using Google Maps, then collage and paint on top. This technique (collaged map with mixed media) may be utilized in the final product, if desired.

Breadth #3 - Macro

Links:

Select a visually intriguing object that is approximately 4 inches or less in scale.
Take a series of 12 photographs of your chosen object in a variety of environments. Take it on an adventure and document its journey! Experiment with cropping, point of view, and depth of field (focus).
Select the photograph with the most aesthetically pleasing composition and enlarge it onto your canvas panel. Your canvas panel can be gessoed or collaged to prepare the surface if you would like, and holds a variety of media well. Acrylic paint is recommended for this project, though other media may be used as well.
Render your chosen composition in a consistent style using your choice of media.
Project Requirements:
- Choice of Media (Acrylic Paint Recommended) on Canvas Panel
- 16" x 20"
- Create a richly layered work utilizing your preferred composition and the chosen media from your experimentation.
- Focus on creative composition and mark-making. The piece should be largely realistic in style.
Sketchbook Requirements:
- Create a series of at least 4 thumbnail sketches of your chosen compositions. Each thumbnail should show a significant difference in composition, altering either location, zooming, cropping, or a combination of the three.
- Fill a minimum of one full page with media experimentation using the required media for the project. Use a variety of combinations and layers, and have fun.

Breadth # 4 - Alternative mark-making Figure Drawing

For this piece you will create a series of observational figure drawings of live models. You will not be allowed to use any traditional mark-making tools (pens, pencils, brushes, markers, pastels, etc.). You must create your own mark-making tools from found objects instead!

Project Requirements:
- Figure drawing from a live model.
- No traditional mark-making tools (such as pens, pencils, brushes, markers, etc.) may be used. Be resourceful and creative.
- Liquid media may include (but is not limited to): Acrylic paint, watercolor, India Ink, alcohol inks, etc.
- May be completed on any combination of traditional or non-traditional drawing surfaces.
Sketchbook Requirements:
- Fill a minimum of 2 full pages with a variety of mark-making experimentation using a number of different alternative tools (found or created). Play with objects that can create interesting marks, textures, lines, etc., then combine them in different ways.
- Fill at least 1 full page with figure drawing practice from live models. Use a friend or family member to model, or complete quick gestural drawings from people in public spaces.

Breadth # 5 - Engraving project

Example of an engraving-style scratch art piece. Note the attention to mark-making, value, and composition.

For this piece, students will create a work of art in the style of an engraving or "scratch art" piece based on the movie and historical location "Moulin Rouge".

For this type of work, students will be working in reverse value on a black piece of scratch art paper, scraping away the areas that they would like to appear white in the final drawing.

Project Requirements

Sketchbook Requirements:

Create a series of at least 4 thumbnail sketches of your chosen compositions. Each thumbnail should show a significant difference in composition, altering either location, zooming, cropping, or a combination of the three.
Choose a picture of a highly textured surface Practice on the small scratch board provided. Think about usage of mark-making and value in your practices.

Breadth #6 - A Knot is not a knot

Drawing from observation and creating the illusion of three-dimensional form are two major components in creating a successful drawing portfolio. For this project, students will create a still life consisting of drapery, rope, and string wrapped around objects with lots of folds, twists, and knots.

Students will first create a series of composition studies of the constructed still life, consisting of no fewer than 10 different compositional choices. Students will utilize their choice of media to create an accurate and realistic depiction of the assembled still life and chosen composition.

Sketchbook Requirements:

Create a series of composition studies of the constructed still life, consisting of no fewer than 10 (TEN) different compositional choices.
Fill a minimum of one full page with media experimentation using your choice of media for this project. Circle or highlight selected areas within your experimentation that you will utilize in this drawing.

Project Requirements:

Must include observational drawing of in-class still life.
Choice of media on choice of surface. Investigate your current portfolio and decide if there is currently an area in which you feel like you need to explore. Choose your media and surface based upon this assessment. Options may include, but are not limited to:
- Colored Pencil or Pastels on Toned Canson Paper
- Watercolor and/or Ink on Watercolor or Bristol Paper
- Marker on Bristol Board
- Acrylic on Canvas or Canvas Panel
- Mixed Media on Masonite or Wood Panel
- Etc.

Breadth #7 - Steal Like an artist

Students will select a historical artist and analyze this artist's style of artwork, including:

- - The media used by the artist (art materials and surfaces).
  - Mark-making techniques (What does the artist's mark-making look like? Is it tight and controlled or loose and gestural? Is it carefully rendered or quickly abstracted?)
  - Subject Matter (What types of subjects did the artist prefer to focus on in their artwork? Figures, Landscapes, Still Life, Abstract, Realistic, etc.)

Students will create their own work of art utilizing the stylistic characteristics and their own unique individual subject and composition. Media should also replicate the work of the chosen artist.

Sketchbook Requirements:

Create 1 full page full of research on your chosen artist, including:
- Media: What types of materials did your artist use?
- Mark-Making Techniques: How would you characterize the mark-making in your chosen artist's work? is it tight or loose? Is it linear or organic? Consider how the artist used their tools to create the marks and how they work together to create a specific style.
- Subject Matter: What types of subjects did your artist choose to depict in their works, if any? How did these subjects tie into the meaning of your artist's work?
Create a minimum of 4 thumbnails of potential compositions for your project, and include media experimentation as necessary to replicate your artist's style.

Project Requirements:

Minimum of 11" x 14"
Mark-making, media, style, and subject matter based on your chosen artist and their work.
Make it your own: Project must be your own original composition and subject. How will you ensure that the work you produce is unique and individual to you as an artist, not just copied or reproduced from your artist or other sources?

Breadth #8 - Autumn Leaves

Students will create a composition of a minimum of 5 leaves collected from outdoors - consider careful arrangement and placement to create a thoughtful and engaging composition. Overlapping, size and scale, value and intensity, and color choice may all be incorporated in various ways to manipulate your compositional space. Leaves will be rendered in a realistic style using acrylic paint, with an emphasis on accurate form and tone.

Project Requirements:

16" x 20" or 18" x 24"
Acrylic on Canvas or Board
Must include at least 5 leaves in your composition.

Sketchbook Requirements:

Create a series of at least 4 thumbnail sketches of your chosen compositions. Each thumbnail should show a significant difference in composition, altering either location, zooming, cropping, or a combination of the three.
Fill a minimum of one full page with media experimentation using the required media for the project. Use a variety of combinations and layers, and have fun.

Breadth # 9 - Industrial Design

Sketchbook Requirements:

Create at least 4 different product ideas. Each drawing should be for either a different product category OR show significant difference in the design of the product.
Render each of your drawings using alcohol marker to practice using this type of medium. Pay attention to light, shadow and form.

Industrial Design is the professional practice of designing products used by millions of people around the world every day. Industrial designers not only focus on the appearance of a product, but also on how it functions, is manufactured and ultimately the value and experience it provides for users.

For this project, students will design and create a thorough, detailed industrial design rendering of a proposed new consumer product.

Project Requirements:

18" x 24"
Micron and Marker on Bristol Board
Must represent your product from at least 3 viewpoints. Consider drawing the object from the front, side, and 3/4 or isometric view. More drawings (or close-ups of details) can be incorporated as necessary to further describe certain aspects of your proposed product and to enhance your composition.
Be considerate of the placement and arrangement of your drawings on the page to create a strong overall composition.
All lines should be neat and clean and drawn with a ruler. Alcohol marker (such as Concepts, Prismacolor, or Copic) should be used in at least one of the drawings to represent color and value.
Perspective or Scale lines may be left but should be light and add to, not distract from, the overall drawing.

Breadth #10 - foreshortening

For this breadth assignment, students will create a portrait drawing that demonstrates extreme foreshortening where the figure is seen from a very dramatic viewpoint. Your goal should be to create a realistic sense of deep space by demonstrating how perspective affects the human figure, with objects closer to the viewer being larger and objects further away being smaller.

Project Requirements:

- Choose one of the media options below. Base your decision on what work you currently have in your breadth portfolio and where you feel your portfolio is weakest.
  - - Oil or Chalk Pastel on Canson Paper
    - Mixed Media on Unconventional Surface
    - Graphite, Charcoal, or Colored Pencil on Stonehenge Paper.
    - Other media to be considered with approval.
- Minimum size: 12" x 16"
- Must include at least part of a human figure represented with extreme foreshortening.
- Incorporate dramatic value contrast and focus on rendering of 3-dimensional form.

Sketchbook Requirements:

Create a series of at least 4 thumbnail sketches of your chosen compositions. Each thumbnail should show a significant difference in composition, altering either location, zooming, cropping, or a combination of the three.
Fill a minimum of one full page with media experimentation using the required media for the project. Use a variety of combinations and layers, and have fun.

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