Reading Assignment #3: Yet another quiz next week!

Art 105: Two-Dimensional Design

Professor: Kyle Stevenson

Project 3 vocabulary: SPACE (3D)

*Reading: Pipes- Intro to Design, Chapter 4, pages 79-109*

The Vocabulary of Space (in regards to creating the illusion of depth):

Hieratic scaling:  In early art and some non-Western cultures, size used to denote status or importance, making the subject of the painting- a saint or a king- larger relative to the minor characters

Background:  In a landscape, the space we see in the distance- the sky, mountains, or distant hills.  In a still life or an interior portrait, it is the area behind the subject

Mid-ground:  In a landscape, the space between the foreground and background: trees, bushes, and buildings, for example

Foreground:  The space that the subject of an artwork, or the space before the subject, inhabits

Overlapping:  A depth cue, in which some shapes are in front of and partially hide or obscure others

Transparency:  A visual quality in which an object or distant view can be seen clearly through a  nearer object.  Two forms overlap, but both are seen in their entirety

Vertical location:  A depth cue in which the higher a figure or object is on the picture plane the farther back we assume it to be

Aerial perspective:  The illusion of deep space.  Distant objects such as mountain ranges, seen through the haze of atmosphere, appear to have less detail and contrast than nearer objects, lighter values, and a shift in color toward the blue end of the spectrum- also called atmospheric perspective

Linear perspective:  A formal method for drawing the way distant objects appear to be smaller than similar objects nearer to us by making parallel lines converge at a vanishing point or points on the horizon

Vanishing point:  In linear perspective, the point at which converging parallel lines appear to meet on the line of the horizon.  There may be one or more vanishing points.

Foreshortening:  The perspective effect means that something seen lying away from us appears to be shorter than if it were viewed full on: a circle, for example, becomes an ellipse. Or when you shorten the lines of (an object) in a drawing or other representation so as to produce an illusion of projection or extension in space

Projections:  Non-perspective methods for creating the illusion of three-dimensional forms

Space:  The three-dimensional void that elements occupy: the empty area between elements

Decorative space:  Ornamental areas, emphasizing the two-dimensional nature of an artwork or any of its elements

Plastic space:  Real three-dimensional space or the illusion of space

Deep space:  Majestic, awe-inspiring landscapes or distant mountains or rolling hills, also called infinite space

Shallow space:  The illusion of limited depth: the imagery is only a slight distance back from the picture plane

Interpenetration:  Where planes, objects, or shapes seem to slice through each other, locking them together within a specific location in space

Ground plane:  The ground we stand on, rather than the (back) ground or canvas of the painting- or a more abstracted plane.

Size:  The physical or relative dimensions of an object

Scale:  Size relative to actual size, as in a ______ model; size relative to human dimensions, as in small-_____ or large-_____; to make larger or smaller

Orthographic projections:  Two-dimensional views or an object, showing a plan, elevations (side views), and (cut away) sections, used by architects, engineers, and product designers; known as the “blueprint.”

One-point perspective:  A system of spatial illusion based on the convergence of parallel lines at a single vanishing point, usually on the horizon; only appropriate to interiors or vistas

orthogonal:  Imaginary receding parallel lines at right angles to the field of vision which join horizontal lines of, say, a building, to the vanishing point; also called sight lines or guide lines

Viewer’s location point (station point):  In one-point perspective, a vertical axis through the vanishing point.  One-point perspective assumes that the viewer is at a fixed point looking with one eye through the picture plane to the 3D world behind

Two-point perspective:  Linear perspective with two vanishing points, placed on the horizon at the left and right of the object, usually off the picture plane or canvas.  Vertical lines remain parallel to the picture plane

Three-point perspective:  Linear perspective in which vertical lines converge toward a third vanishing point directly above or below the object

Repoussoir:  In aerial perspective, a prominent dark or contrasting form in the foreground, such as a tree or a lonely figure silhouetted against the landscape

Multiple perspectives:  Where paintings and drawings allowing us to see planes we couldn’t possibly see in reality, unless we could get inside the picture and walk around

Fractional representation:  A device used by various cultures (notably the Egyptians) in which several spatial aspects of the same subject are combined in the same image, such as the front view of an eye on a side view of the head

Open composition:  Placing elements in a composition so that they are cut off by the frame implying that the picture is a partial view of a larger scene

Closed composition:  Composition in which the elements are contained by the edges of the canvas or the boundaries of the picture frame

Forced perspective:  In a stage set, the illusion of distance created by using properties that are physically smaller than their real equivalents, so that they give the impression of being located some distance away

Intuitive space:  The illusion of space that the artist creates by overlapping, transparency, interpenetration, and other spatial properties of elements.  Where the conventions of perspective are manipulated for pictorial effect, with little attempt to mimic reality

Diminution: The act or process of diminishing; a lessening or reduction

Space Project

Art 105: 2-Dimensional Design  

Professor: Kyle Stevenson

Project 3: SPACE (Elements used to indicate three dimensions and to create the illusion of intuitive space.)

MATERIALS

Graphite Pencils Pack of 4 Graphic or Soft Sketching Pencils (HB, 2B, 4B, 6B)

Black Pens 1 Micron .04 pen, 1 Fine Point Sharpie + 1 two-sided (Fine/Broad) PrismaColor Marker

Metal Ruler: 18” or 24”

Design Ebony Drawing Pencils Pack of 2         

French curve with inking edge 10 ½ inking edge

Metal Ruler: 18” or 24”

Circle templates with large and small circles up to 2” in diameter

T-square or triangle with 12” inking edge

Pad of Bristol Paper 14” x 17” pad

INSTRUCTIONS

You are to create six 4” x 5” sketch designs and one 8” x 10” final design on Bristol paper displaying different elements of three-dimensional (3-D) illusory space.  You are required to choose from the listed elements below to make your designs. You must strictly follow the directions and specific limitations for each design problem.

To receive your grade, you will turn in 2 sheets of 14x17” Bristol Paper. The first sheet of Bristol will contain the six small 4” x 5” sketches in graphite pencil or pen and ink (dark enough to see in critique), and the second and final sheet of Bristol will contain one 8” x 10” design that is executed in black pen (using a range of fine-point and thick markers and mark-making techniques).  Remember that following directions and craftsmanship are important parts of your final grade so make sure to lightly draw and sketch in your final design before inking it in.

Shapes you will be using for your designs

• Circle or Ellipse
• Quadrangle/Quadrilateral Shape with 4 sides  (i.e. square)
• Star (can have as many points as you want)
• Triangle (Shape with 3 sides)

Mark-making you will be using for your designs

• Outlines- lines existing on the contours and the outer edges of a shape
• Hatching and/or Cross-Hatching- an accumulation of parallel lines used in layers and at different angles to create an accumulation of value
• Stipple- small dots used in various amounts and proximity to create an accumulation of value
• Solid Color- the shape is entirely filled in by the color- Black in this assignment

See reverse …

You are to follow the directions in each of the 6 (4” x 5” inch) design problems below.  Try you best to understand and illustrate 3-D Illusory space in each problem. The final design will be 8” x 10” inches and in pen and ink, centered on a sheet of Bristol.

1. Overlapping- shapes intersect one another where you position shapes clearly in front of the others.

directions: use 2 shapes multiple times to create your design. The 2 shapes must stay their original size throughout your design
mark-making: use outlines only- no value.
 

2. Scale and Size cues- use a change in size between shapes.

directions: use 2 shapes multiple times in a variety of sizes in this design. Do not allow shapes to intersect- no overlapping.
mark-making: use solid colors or hatching only- no outlines
 

3. Diminution of value (aerial perspective): shapes diminish in value and get lighter as they recede into space.
   Texture (surface): the surface appearance be different between shapes

directions: use 2 shapes multiple times in a variety of sizes in this design. Do not allow shapes to intersect- no overlapping.
mark-making: use solid colors, hatching or stippling- no outlines

4. Transparency: shapes are seen clearly through nearer or overlapping shapes.  The forms overlap but both forms are visible in their entirety.

directions: use 1 shape (different sizes) multiple times
mark-making: use hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, outlines or solid colors.

5. Foreshortened Angles: create shapes at an angle so that they seem to be receding into space (i.e. circles as ellipses, or squares as trapezoids)
   and
   Interpenetration: position planes, objects, or shapes where they seem to slice through each other, locking them together.

directions: use 2 shapes (different sizes) multiple times
mark-making: use outlines and solid colors- no hatching or stippling.

6. Perspective (3D), Dimension (with projections) and shadows : through perspective elements (which I will explain- including horizon line and vanishing points) and  repeated form of the shape extend lines to give shapes dimension and add shadows to give the appearance of directional light.

directions: use 2 shapes (different sizes) multiple times
mark-making: use outlines, solid colors, hatching or stippling

7. Final Design (8” x 10” inches) using a Mixture of Methods: mix any of the methods above to create a design with the strongest illusion of deep space.

directions: use many shapes, any size, multiple times
mark-making: use any of the types of mark making  

Shape Assignment Examples

2nd Assignment: Shape

Art 105: 2-Dimensional Design

Professor: Kyle Stevenson

Project 2:  SHAPE MOTIF

        (Linear /Curvilinear or Geometric/ Biomorphic Pattern)

MATERIALS:

Canson Mi'tientes (individual sheets of paper).

One 18x24” sheet of white, black, and gray
Scissors

Exacto Knife

Glue Stick

Graphite Pencils Pack of 4 Graphic or Soft Sketching Pencils (HB, 2B, 4B, 6B)

Black Pens 1 Fine Point Sharpie + 1 two-sided (Fine/Broad) PrismaColor Marker

Metal Ruler: 18” or 24”

Tracing Paper

Pad of Bristol Paper 14” x 17” pad

Illustration board (Hot Press)

Comes in a pack of 2 (15”x20”) or 1 (20”x 30” to cut into 2 pieces)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: Make 4 sketches of Original Geometric and Biomorphic shapes.

·         On a 14x17” sheet of Bristol Paper, arrange four 5”x5” squares, with one inch separating them, for sketching.

·         In two of the squares use a straight edge to draw geometric shapes that fit inside the squares.  The shapes must touch all four sides of each square, but there must be a total of 5 points of contact where the shape meets the edge of the square. Neatly fill in the shapes with black ink.

·          In the other two squares use the circle template and/or the French curve to design biomorphic shapes that fit inside the squares.  The shapes must touch all four sides of each square and there must be 5 points of contact where the shape meets the edge of the square. Neatly fill in the shapes with black ink.

Preliminary Due date for finished sketches: Sept. 20th (next week)

Step 2: Choose the best shape out of the four sketches and create a motif pattern by symmetrically flipping the shape into four quadrants.

·         Choose the most effective shape out of the four designs and redraw the shape into a 2”x 2” square on Bristol paper.

·         Cutout the shape (this will be your template to trace onto black paper.)

·         Trace and cut four shapes out of the black paper, keeping two shapes the original orientation, but flipping two shapes into a mirrored orientation.

·         Arrange the four shapes into a 4”x 4” quadrant, ensuring that all four shapes reveal the same side of the black paper (the front and back of the paper show different “blacks.”  In the top left quadrant arrange the first cut out shape. In the top right quadrant, flip the second cut out shape horizontally.  In the bottom left quadrant, flip the third cut out shape vertically.  In the final bottom right quadrant, flip the shape vertically and horizontally to complete the vertically and horizontally symmetrical shape.  Again, be sure that all shapes reveal the same side of the black piece of paper.

·         This design will be the repeating motif in your final layout.  Cut out 48 total shapes to create 12 similar quadrant motifs that will be laid out in a grid.

Step 3: Arrange 48 black shapes into the motif repeating pattern, choose a white negative space area in the pattern, cut out the appropriate amount of white shapes to fit into the design, and glue down your motif pattern composed of black and white shapes on a Gray 12”x 16” background.

·         Arrange 48 shapes into 2 rows of 6 motif quadrants.

·         Examining the negative spaces created by the connecting design, choose one or more of these negative shapes to be white, but be sure that all repeated motif quadrants have the exact same black white and gray pattern.

·         Cut enough of these white shapes to fit seamlessly into the final repeating design

·         The final design will be a 12” x 16” grid (48 shapes) of your original shape; a grid that is also 3 motif quadrants wide and 4 motif quadrants long

·         Cut out a 12”x 16” background of gray paper.

·         Glue down your final design on the gray paper and mount it on a 15”x 20” sheet of smooth illustration board.

Note: a huge part of this assignment is craftsmanship, so be sure your final is as neat and clean as humanly possible—in other words, flawless.

FINAL DUE DATE: September 27

Reading Assignment #2: Quiz next week!

Art 105: Two-Dimensional Design

Professor: Kyle Stevenson

Project 2 vocabulary: SHAPE

Reading: Pipes- Intro to Design, Chapter 2

The Vocabulary of Shape and Form:

Motif: 

A designed unit or pattern that is repeated often enough in the total composition to make it a significant or dominant feature.  Motif is similar to theme or melody in a musical composition.

Geometric shapes:
Simple mechanical shapes defined by mathematical formulas, which can be produced using the implements found in geometry sets: triangles, rectangles, and circles.

Rectilinear shapes:
A subset of geometric shapes, produced using straight lines, usually parallel to the horizontal and vertical.

Curvilinear shapes:
Shapes based on the sinuous organic shapes found in nature.

Biomorphic shapes:
Blobby shapes, reminiscent of single-cell creatures such as amebas, derived from organic or natural forms.

Abstract:
Describing an object or representation that has been simplified or distorted down to its basic essentials, with superfluous detail removed to communicate a fundamental aspect of a form or concept.

Non-Representational:
Entirely imaginary shapes and forms with no reference to, or representation of, the natural world.  The artwork is the reality.  Also called subjective or non-objective shapes.

Positive Space:
Where the creation of elements, or their combination, produces a figure or field against a ground.

Negative Space:
The unoccupied or empty area left after positive elements have been created by the artist.

Distortion:
A departure from the accepted perception of a form or object, often manipulating conventional proportions.

Idealism (idealized):
The world depicted as an artist thinks it should be, rather than as in naturalism, in which it is depicted as it is, warts and all.  All flaws and deviations from the norm are corrected.

Picture Plane:
A transparent plane of reference used to establish the illusion of forms existing in three-dimensional space, usually coinciding with the surface of the paper or canvas.

(Picture) Frame:
The outermost limits or boundary of the picture plane.  This can be a physically surrounding form, the edge of a sheet of paper, or an arbitrary boundary.

Amorphous Shapes:
A formless and indistinct shape without obvious edges, like, for example, a cloud.

Shape:
An enclosed area identifiably distinct from its background and other shapes.  It can be bounded by an actual outline or by a difference in texture, color, or value surrounding a visually perceived edge.  A shape has width and height, but no perceived depth.  It is two-dimensional, but can exist on a plane other than the picture plane.

Form:
The apparent solidity or three-dimensionality of a drawn or painted object.  Also the composition and structure of the work as a whole.

Mass:
The apparent solidity of a form.  The illusion of bulk and weight achieved by shading and lighting, or by overlapping and merging forms.  In sculpture and architecture, it is the actual or apparent material substance and density of a form.  It can be thought of as positive space, volume as negative space.

Volume:
The illusion of enclosed space surrounded by or implied by a shape or form, and the space immediately adjacent to and around a painted form.  In sculpture and architecture, the space occupied by the form and/or the immediate surrounding space.   It can be thought of as positive space, volume as negative space.

Figure:
The recognizable object we are depicting; a human figure, vase, or flower, for example.  Traditionally, it is described as a positive shape, the ground as a negative shape.

Field:
A synonym for figure, taking in the possibility of color fields-colored shapes against a ground or contrasting value or color, as in the work of abstract expressionists.

Ground:
The unoccupied or relatively unimportant space in the picture, as in background.  Traditionally, the ground is a negative shape; the figure a positive shape.  Also a name for the substrate onto which we paint.

Equivocal Space:
An ambiguous space where it is difficult to distinguish figure from ground or positive from negative shapes, and our perception alternates from one to the other.  Many optical illusions make use of this phenomenon.

Golden Section:
A rectangle in which the ratio of the shorter side to the longer is the golden ratio.  It is a system of proportion related to the geometry of squares and circles, and also to the Fibonacci series of numbers.

Golden Ratio:
A mathematical ratio discovered by the ancient Greeks derived when a line is divided into two sections such that the smaller part is to the larger as the larger is to the whole.  The ratio is 0.618:1 or 1:1.618, or roughly 8:13.  It can also be found in natural forms; also called the Golden Mean.

Symbolic:
Inverted shapes communicating ideas or meaning beyond their literal form.  Meanings are assigned and agreed upon by the community, for example, in musical notation, signage, and technical diagrams.

Pictograms:
An image in which a highly stylized shape represents a person or object, for example, in map symbols, warning signs, and Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Logotype:
A symbol, often incorporating some lettering, used to identify an organization, corporation, or product.  Usually shortened to logo.

Objective:
Having real, tangible existence outside of the artist’s mind, not influenced by personal feelings or opinions.

Tessellation:
Covering a plane with an interlocking pattern, leaving no region uncovered.  From the Latin tessera, meaning a small square piece of stone or tile used for mosaics.

Naturalistic:
The skillful representation of a scene as seen in nature with the illusion of volume and three-dimensional space.  The opposite of idealistic.

Reading Assignment #1; There will be a quiz!

Art 105: Two-Dimensional Design

Professor: Kyle Stevenson

Project 1 Vocabulary: Points and Line

Reading: Pipes- Intro to Design, Preface, Part 1: Elements, Prologue, Chap. 1 (you WILL be quizzed on this stuff next week)

General Design Vocabulary:

Design:
The planned arrangement of visual elements on which artist base their work; it is often synonymous with the term composition

Drawing:
An artwork in which line is the predominant element; a preparatory sketch for a painting

Graphic Art:
Two-Dimensional artworks based on line and tone rather than color, such as drawings and prints; the crafts and techniques of printing

The Vocabulary of Point and Line:

Point:
In mathematics, a point has no dimension, it is just a position in space.  In art and design, we have the dot, dab, or blob.  Like the breadth of a line, the size of a point is not usually its most important attribute.

Line:
The path a point makes as it moves across a surface.  In mathematics, a line joins two or more points.  It has length and direction, but no width.  In art, lines have breadth, but this is not their most important parameter.  In graphic design, line art means black or another single color, with no other values or colors.

Line Quality:
A characteristic of line determined by its weight, direction, uniformity, or other features

Stippling:
A method for producing areas of value by clustering small dots or points

Hatching:
Drawing several thin (usually parallel) lines close together to create an area of value

Cross-Hatching:
Superimposing hatched lines at right angles to the initial hatched lines, to build up value and to suggest from and volume.

Tesserae:
Small cubes of colored marble or glass used to make mosaics, from Latin tessara meaning “square tablet.”

Contours:
The lines within an outline that give an object its volume, such as the hoops around a barrel.  Sometimes used synonymously with outline.

Cross-Contour:  A line that crosses and defines the surface undulations between, or up to, the outermost edges of shapes or objects.

Outline:
A real or imaginary line that describes a shape and its edges or boundaries.

Implied Line:
An imaginary line created by arranging points or short lines in such a manner that our brains join them, for example, a dotted or dashed line.  With lines that appear to stop, start, and disappear, the missing portions are implied to continue and are completed in the mind of the viewer.

Psychic Line:
A mental connection between two points or elements.  An imaginary ray of flight joining, for example, a person’s eye to the object they are looking at, or the line that extends into space from the tip of a pointing arrow directing the viewer’s eye to follow it.

Explicit line:
A line or edge within which forms are clearly delineated: it may not always be a black line, but it has clear and distinct edges that stand out from the background.

Gesture (drawing):
A free line within and around a form showing the dynamics of a scene or pose, the action of drawing, and the movement of the eye rather than a tight arrangement of shapes.

Lost and Found Edges:
Where edges are sometimes hard and sharp against a background, and sometimes are soft and blurred, receding into the background.  Now you see them, now you don’t.

Bridge passage:
Where two adjacent parallel planes are graduated in opposite directions, from dark to light and light to dark, there will be an area where differences of value dissolve.

Wireframe:
A mesh of points and planes in space, as found in computer graphics,  which can convincingly describe solid forms.  Produced using a 3D modeling program or by laser-scanning a 3D object or body.