TENSION BETWEEN THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE

Emily Riordan

Jessi Davis

Sophia Wiley

Spacing, tension and balance must be given total focus when developing a composition. Last night's collage addressed these three aspects. Students made a design of repeating primary and secondary elements moving down columns. The objective was to achieve total balance between the positive and negative areas without one dominating the other. In all three compositions above , the black and white areas are able to exchange roles. It is possible to see the black areas as positive and the white areas as negative and yet the white areas could also be seen as positive and the black areas negative. Great consideration must be given to the tension and spacing between the columns. In addition, the types of shapes (curves, angles, etc) as well as whether a shape is concave or convex profoundly affects the balance between the dark and light areas.

MANDALA

Diana Douch

Jessica Schweizer

Katelynn Pizzio

Last Thursday, we continued working with symmetrical compositions and exploring the balance of light and dark areas. The project was to create a mandala. There were many great designs. The three here illustrate some unique elements. Diana has continued her nature theme by including the central bee character and the winding vine. Jessica has employed bold line and shape elements within a three toned design reminiscent of stained glass. And lastly Katelynn's drawing appears to revolve due to the shark fin and wavy outside shapes.

NOTAN: Expansion of the Square

Bettina Schoefer Gordon

Katelynn Pizzio

Vicotria Le

Last Thursday the class continued exploring positive and negative relationships. Working with a 5 in. square the class made symmetrical compositions by cutting and flipping the pieces without destroying the square or having any waste. The real challenge was creating a composition with a strong central, dominant shape.
Bettina's design has a spider-like quality with arcing diagonals and a bold, convex central shape. The outside curvature is a good contrast to the straight lines of the square.
Katelynn has skillfully introduced a circular shape into the design. The protruding linear elements imply diagonals again in contrast to the square.
Victoria has created a very dynamic design with diagonals inside the the square. Again, the central shape is convex with elements shooting outward from the core.

LINE DYNAMICS

Last night the class made drawings addressing symmetrical and asymmetrical compositions. The objective was to create images illustrating depth employing the Distal Cues (see tab above).

Amber Barnard

 Amber's drawing illustrates a "funneling" effect. The width of the lines and the spacing between the lines adds to the sense of recession.

Katelynn Pizzio

Katelynn's drawing illustrates a combination of angular forms and curvilinear forms. Her drawing is rich with pattern and tonal techniques.

LINE: The Characteristics of Line

Last night the class began exploring the different types of lines and their characteristics. Review the notes above for a full description of LINE. The objectives of the projects below was to 1.) explore the various types of line while increasing their dynamics 2.) explore the changes in format and the affect on the lines 3.) create a series of small compositions with the possibility of expanding one into a larger more resolved image.

Hayley Simmons: Line Types

Katelynn Pizzio: Line Types

In our first drawing exercise students chose four different line types to explore. The top row exhibits the individual types. The columns illustrate the original line gaining intensity and strength combined with changing formats.

Jessi Davis: 4 Lines, 4 Times

Stacey Murphy-Brown: 4 Lines, 4 Times

In the second project, students worked exclusively with straight, curved, and angular lines. The forth column illustrates the combining of all three. Again, the dynamics of the lines are increased moving down the columns to the circular format aka "tondo."

At the end of the night students chose one thumbnail from the projects above to expand into a more resolved image.

 Amber's drawing is reminiscent of a rolling and tumbling landscape of overlapping hills. A strong tension and pulling effect is created with the lines arcing inward toward the center.

Melissa Milks

 Melissa's drawing is very elegant and lyrical. The fluid, flowing lines are very musical. Each line and dot representing a different sound or instrument.

Victoria Le

Victoria's drawing evokes a cosmic landscape complete with light waves and reflections, asteroid belts and a cloud of gas that seems to be peeling back space in the upper left hand corner.

FINAL PROJECTS: Ambiguous Space

Here are just a few examples of the excellent work created for this semester's art 3 final project.

Dung Truong

 Dung has effectively used a complementary color scheme to create a design similar to an opening flower. The contrasting shapes and colors are dynamic and rhythmic. The transition from blue to orange along the oblique paths is so smooth that by time you've noticed, it's already happened.

Ellen Cox

 Ellen's painting has a strong surreal, architectural feel. The combination of detached cubes and swooping cables establishes a very elegant rhythm. The muted colors are very calming and  complementary to the cool and confident design.

Juliana Cheplick

 Juliana has created a very seasonal and festive design. The cool blues capture the temperature and color of winter while the reds and a touch of warmth. The small interior stars appear to orbit around the center of the design like dancers observed from above.

Linda Job

 Linda has taken a very inventive approach by placing the design within a silhouette thus challenging the notions of positive and negative relationships. The rhythm of the flowers' contours spins the "eye" around the composition. This is complemented by the three white dots.

Shiho Nakagawa

Shiho's design shimmers and pulses like reflections of light. On the other hand, all of her fragmenting of the shapes can't break the structure of the grid which creates a pixel like view of wind rippling water. The soft, muted colors are also reminiscent of the calming sounds of water.

FINAL PROJECT: Paraline Views

Dung Truong

The class began working on their final project yesterday. The objective is to make a design that simultaneously advances and recedes using paraline views (i.e. oblique and isometric cubes).