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Today we discussed Composition and began the Parts of the Puzzle project. The vocabulary terms are above under the COMPOSITION tab. I'll post examples of work tomorrow.

Eunice Solis Students continued with their investigation of Notan. The project began with the organizing of the picture plane into 5 variously sized rectangles sharing no more than two of the same value. The upper right-hand corner is the unaltered shape. The objective for the remaining rectangles was to distort the shape sequentially striving for a balance of the light and dark areas. All of these formats exhibit a balanced distribution of light and dark. The composition would be stronger yet with a diagonal separation of the values of the positive shapes (ex. the black positives are both in the center left and the white positives are both along the right edge). This could be remedied by making the bottom right positive black, the bottom left positive white and the central positive pink.

Today we started with the characteristics of shape . Students made collages addressing the dark and light concept of NOTAN. True Notan achieves total balance of positive and negative areas; each working together without one negating or dominating the other. Ayda Uraz Ayda's collage exhibits a symmetrical design of two overlapping shapes with the centralized star. The beauty of the design is strengthened by the contrasting square and rhombus that seem to expand, rotate and contract. Sophia Brisbois Next students made an asymmetrical design. Sophia's collage exhibits a strong rotational rhythm propelled by the direction of the triangles and complemented by the circular or curvilinear elements.

Kelly Sherwood Today students made line drawings with the intent of creating the illusion of space. The constraints were to use a specific number and type of shapes and render them with either vertical parallel lines or horizontal parallel lines. There are no outside contours rather the shapes are defined by continuous lines across the composition of varying values. So this project in Line is very much a project in Value as well. Kelly has very skillfully placed dark values in a manner that moves diagonally across the composition creating a dynamic as well spacious image. In addition, her treatment of overlapping shapes and transparency adds an extra level of visual interest. The inclusion of cast shadows has given the design a sense of light or time .

Ayda Uraz Kacie Brunk Today students made drawings exploring the various methods of creating the illusion of depth within their compositions using line and mark-making techniques in ink. The Distal Ques are explained in the menu above. Ayda's drawing above very skillfully  illustrates atmospheric perspective . Notice how the line quality and size of the objects diminishes as the image recedes into space. Kacie has employed line weight variation, overlap, value and gradations as well as size change to suggest a deep sense of space. Mushky Rice After completing two quarter sheet compositions, students changed the format to a half sheet with the same objective of creating a deep sense of space.  With her use of dark values to recede, overlapping shapes and variable line quality, Mushky has effectively addressed the objective of the project while adding a psychological twist with the subtle distortions applied to the shapes and lines.

Sasha Mattos Today we began our investigation of the art element Line . Sasha's drawing above is a Line Inventory illustrating various line types. The objective was to explore different types of lines and what happens to them when 1. the format changes, 2. lines are repeated, 3. lines intersect, 4 lines move outside of the format (cropping)., etc. Format in particular may stretch the line, or in the case of a "tondo" or circular format, the negative areas are drastically altered. Kacie Brunk From there students made drawings exploring straight, curved and angular lines individually as well as combined. Notice in Kacie's drawing how the dynamics become more powerful with the changes to line and weight. In addition, when a line expands at an end or in the middle it may look more like a shape. Observe the left tondo composition how the line becomes "almond" shaped. Ma Samson Lastly, students chose one of the thumbnails from the previous drawing to enlarge. Ma...

Summer school officially began today. We covered the syllabus and materials list with some examples of artist as well as student work. Tomorrow we start our explorations with Line . We'll draw in our sketchbooks and then move on to the bristol paper.