emmet gowin - artforum.com / 500 words

That first trip to the tropics led to discoveries I would never have imagined. I learned to use a certain mercury-vapor lamp that scientists use. When you look at this light, it seems to remain at a constant brightness, but in fact it flashes sixty times a second. The swollen points you see in the moths’ flight paths are wing strokes. This bit of line, all these intricate curlicues and spirals, is about one-tenth of a second—whoop! When photographed, it reveals this beautiful tracery of flight.

emmet gowin - artforum.com / 500 words

Sally Mann - September 15 - October 31, 2009 - Gagosian Gallery

Proud Flesh is up through October 31 at Gagosian Gallery.  Sally Mann’s (Season 1) new body of work focuses on a photographic study of her husband, taken over a period of six years.

 “Proud Flesh suggests a profoundly trusting relationship between woman and man, artist and model that has produced a full range of impressions – erotic, brutally frank, disarmingly tender, and more.”

Sally Mann - September 15 - October 31, 2009 - Gagosian Gallery

Rosalind Nashashibi and the film as art | Jonathan Jones | Art and design | guardian.co.uk

Rosalind Nashashibi and the film as art

"The days when artists ranged between sculpture, video and paint may be over. Committing to a specific medium reaps greater rewards – as Nashashibi's new show reveals."

Rosalind Nashashibi and the film as art | Jonathan Jones | Art and design | guardian.co.uk

Madison Artists; from the Leff Collection 1950-1990

Our first Furlong exhibit of the academic year:

Madison Artists from the Leff Collection 1950-1990

Opening Reception
Thursday, September 24th
5:00-7:00 p.m.

This event is open to the public, free and refreshments will be provided.

 

A Man and a Woman Examining Orchids which Grow from a Skull

An unusual drawing of a skull that I thought you might enjoy. It comes from artsconnected.org, a newly completed website that searches the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Arts Center collections. From their website :

Explore the combined collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Art Center through hundreds of new features in ArtsConnectEd. Search over 100,000 resources in the Art Finder, including works of art, texts, audio, video, and interactive resources. Save and customize items in the redesigned Art Collector. Comment, tag and rate everything!

Georgia O'Keeffe: Abstraction -- New York Magazine Art Review

Georgia O'Keeffe: Abstraction -- New York Magazine Art Review

blog this!

Here's a great bookmarklet for all you bloggers.

• Click on the link and then drag the "blog this!" link up to your bookmark toolbar.
• Then when you come across something you'd like to share on your blog, all you have to do is click on your bookmarklet and it creates a post for you.
• One drawback--it only creates links to images, doesn't actually display the image--but it's a nice way to start a post.

editing photos

I'm using Andrea's photo here as an example, but this post is for all of you. Make sure you edit your photos before you post them on your blog. Make them as professional-looking as possible. This means nothing around the image--no carpet, no wall, nothing. Make sure they are in focus and the exposure and contrast are adjusted to the right levels.

All this takes just a few minutes in photoshop or other online photo editing services--even preview.

Here are before and after shots of one of Andrea's expression studies.

elena kalis

Kalyn posted some images from the photographer Elena Kalis.
Some beautiful work.

it's art mag

Megan posted an interview in her blog from this site. Check it out, especially if you're interested in illustration and/or digital art-making.

it's art mag

here's an image I like from the sketchbook category of the gallery.

skull image

Originally uploaded by moominsean

found this on flickr––I enjoy a lot of the images in moominsean's photostream, but thought this one was appropriate for class right now.

keep this in your mind as we begin to incorporate the skull with the fleshed head.

what a nice self-portrait--expressive use of the skull and live face in combination.

skull studies

These images are from a forum on The Society of Figurative Arts––bookmark this site!

amelie clavier

amelie clavier
check this artist's flickr photostream for some gorgeous drawings–there are more facial studies at the end of the stream.

Check out ACHTUNG: Presentation on Germany Exchange Program

"Achtung" (Attention)
HAWK Exchange Program Exhibition
Sept. 21-25
Opening and Presentation about HAWK, Hildesheim Germany
Wed. Sept. 23, 6:00pm
Gallery 209 Applied Arts Building

uw-stout link on hildesheim 

the upset: young contemporary art

found this book while browsing the web...
definitely looks worth a read.

p.s. i sent a request to the campus library, so if/when we get it in, i'll let you all know.

skull, cross contour

here is a nice cross contour drawing, side view, that i found online.


notice the darker lines of the cheek bone and zygomatic arch and the lighter lines that try to describe the recessed area of the cranium behind them.


also see how the shape below the zygomatic arch is flat and way too dominant in the drawing due to its being filled in with black (too much contrast) and being too closed (comes forward in space, especially with bottom convex edge.


i'd also say a little more size to the cranium especially in back would help even out the proportions, and the angle of the face is more vertical than i like to see it.


the big thing to notice here, is everyone (or almost everyone) shies away from dealing with the cranium when it comes to its 3D form. if you can learn to do this (it is time-consuming and difficult), you will have learned something that many think is too difficult or time-consuming to accomplish.


so... keep working!

weekly reflections

Your ongoing assignment this semester will be to use your life drawing blog as a tool for reflection. You will be expected to post one reflection per week. This reflection should consist of at least one image and one paragraph of writing which addresses the past week of Life Drawing II, III, or IV--in class or with homework.

Reflections should be meaningful to you personally and also be appropriate for sharing with other class members and other art & design professionals.

Reflections should consist of thoughts about your progress, what you are learning, what you are struggling with, what you notice in your work or other students' work, questions you have, links to books/websites/any other information that you have found useful or interesting in relation to that week's work in Life Drawing II, III, or IV.

Feel free to post more than once a week. Once a week is the minimum requirement and expectation for Life Drawing II.

For those in Life Drawing III and IV, the expectation is to post one reflection per week plus one post on a contemporary art issue (artist, art critic, museum show, gallery, etc.).

We will take time during class each day to present these reflections/blog posts.  Each of you will be asked to do this twice during the semester. I will choose students to present each day, not in any particular order (to keep you on your toes!).

Quality and thoughtfulness of reflections and other blog posts will be reflected in your midterm and final grades, as will the quality of your presentations.

first assignment, fall 2009

1. if you do not have a life drawing blog set up yet, do so.  for those of you who do have blogs, inform me of any changes to titles, url's, etc.
2. create an introductory post: why are you taking life drawing two, what do you hope to learn this semester, what would you like to improve upon, etc. Include a few images of your other art work to give us an idea of what you do outside this course.
3. once you have your blog information ready, send an email to fichtera@uwstout.edu with your name, your blog's title, and your blog's url.
4. have supplies ready to go for next monday, sep. 14.

syllabus, fall 2009

art-4o1-oo1 & art-4o1-oo2
life drawing 2
fall 2009
monday/wednesday
2:30 – 5:35 pm
applied arts 303

save all drawings done during the semester

pre•requisites
you must have completed life drawing 1 (art 3o1) before participating in life drawing 2. 


course•objectives
in life drawing 2, you will:

• deepen your understanding of artistic anatomy.
• refine your use of line, mark-making, and value to describe the figure in illusionistic space.
• wrestle with complex drawing issues such as exaggeration and distortion of forms, description of the environment around the figure, development of multiple-figure compositions, etc.
• expand the use of media, scale, and point of view in your drawings.
• examine ways of representing the body.
• develop and research ideas, concerns, and obsessions you want to attend to in your drawings.
• look at historical and contemporary examples of other artists’ representations of the figure.
• find source material and imagery for creating your own drawings.
• use writing to explore influences, clarify ideas, and analyze drawings.

coursework
i expect you to

• attend class
  
• give considerable focus and energy to the drawing process, ask questions, engage in class discussions, communicate with me any concerns about the class or course work
• complete assigned course work:

in-class drawings
homework assignments
blog posts/weekly reflections
final project

attendance
it’s important that you are in class—for access to the model, to hear comments i make, and to experience drawing in a studio setting. the class happens because all of you are here working together.

let me know via e-mail if you can’t make it to class.

rely on your classmates to show you drawings and notes you may have missed.

final exam
we will meet during the final exam time:

tuesday, december 22, 2009

2:00 - 3:50 pm

grading policy
• your grade will be based primarily on your final e-portfolio in which you showcase your learning over the semester and best examples from the class. this e-portfolio will include gesture drawings, long-pose drawings, maniken work, and blog summaries.

• a mid-term e-portfolio will be graded to give you an idea of your standing in the class at that point, but may be overridden by the quality of your final portfolio. In other words, the two grades will not be “averaged” for your final grade.

• your grade will also be affected by such “subjective” qualities as these:

1. are you present?
2. in mind as well as body?
3. open to suggestions?
4. helpful in class discussions?
5. awake during lecture time?

it is part of my job—my responsibility—to give you a grade that lets you and other art “authorities” (other professors, employers, grad schools, gallery owners, etc.) know how your final portfolio and overall attitude during class measure up to given standards.

one useful way to think about grades is to consider them guides as to how other art professionals (besides me) would view your portfolio. how would a design firm see your work? a graduate school acceptance committee? other professors in the art & design department? gallery owners?

if i imagine i am an employer of designers, an A would mean you could start right away, a B would mean you might get hired if you get some more experience and refine your portfolio, a C would mean you are not ready for the job.

likewise, if you are considering graduate school, an A would mean your work is of the quality that would get you accepted into a grad program, a B would indicate that you might get accepted if you worked on your portfolio some more, a C would mean you are not ready to apply for graduate studies (in drawing/life drawing, anyway).


materials
newsprint (18" x 24" or 24” x 36”)
large drawing paper (Strathmore 100 lb. rolls, 42” x 10 yds.)
other drawing paper and supports, depending on your needs
drawing board and clips
masking tape
ruler
charcoal
charcoal pencil
conte
conte pencil
erasers
ink with pen or brush
pastels
x-acto knife
sand paper

texts
atlas of human musculature in clay (volumes 1 – 5), jon zahourek, ed. kenneth morgareidge, zahourek systems, inc., 1994.

in addition to the texts, each student will be checked out a half maniken for his/her use during the semester. The manikens are property of uw-stout instructional resources services. you are responsible for the maniken checked out to you. if the maniken is missing, lost, damaged, etc., you are financially responsible to replace it through irs.

videos
world famous lectures on artistic anatomy & figure drawing
robert beverly hale

lecture 1 rib cage [78 minutes]
lecture 2 pelvis [ 81 minutes]
lecture 3 leg [74 minutes]
lecture 4 foot [ 72 minutes]
lecture 5 shoulder girdle I [77 minutes]
lecture 6 shoulder girdle ll [ 68 minutes]
lecture 7 arm [76 minutes]
lecture 8 hand [80 minutes]
lecture 9 head/skull [80 minutes]
lecture 10 head and features [97 minutes]

these are available in the library.

art education artifacts
the course objectives of this course meet:
• wisconsin standard 1: the teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches.
• uw stout school of education domain 1a: demonstrating knowledge of content and pedagogy.
• wisconsin standard 9: the teacher is a reflective practitioner.

portfolio artifact: best work as determined by student and/or professor
• art education students will be required to reflect in writing on this artifact.
• art education students will be required to upload papers and digital images of their studio works into their e-portfolios.