Each week will have a theme or a question that relates to the course content.
Every student will contribute one blog post per week, due by 11:59 pm on the Monday night before class.

Your posts should include images, a short text, and your name.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Lines

This is a photograph taken from America's next top model Season 6. The picture  shows a contour line that is slightly curved from the model's head down to her legs. The eyes naturally follow the curve of the model's body in the form of a line. This photo is a representation of Snow White and the poisonous apple that she is going to bite. The idea of this photograph is special because it is representational of a fictional story. At the same time, the eyes are smoothly drawn to this picture to follow the model's body carefully while examining this piece. It is very interesting to see how much thought and art is put into modeling photographs.

line

This is a drawing done by an aspiring artist I found on an art website I frequently visit. The title of this is "Beauty" and she is trying to portray how we kill ourselves for the chance to be what society considers beautiful. It was done with pen and ink and she uses lots of different types of lines. The tiles in the back are done with stippling to show the dirt and shadow and her hair is done in the same way but she made the dots closer together to make it darer. The figure is done with hatching, getting closer together to show the shadows.

-Molly

lines

 In this painting, the artists used alot of verticle and horizontal lines. He uses horizontal lines to represent the sky and what looks like and island, and some of the ocean. Vertical lines are used on the walkway, along with the mans shirt, and some of the ocean.  The mans face contains contour lines.He creatively uses the lines to represent a darker painting filled with different textures.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

This is a marker drawing by Todd Doney of one of his students. In this illustration he utilized a messy cross hatching style to shade it and create depth. There are no colors in this piece, it is simply a black and white picture. The negative space is used in the picture both the background and to show brighter things on the actual face such as the glasses and the skin of the person. Although it is a marker drawing there is no outline, but there is an edge created by the shading on the face.

Lines In Baseball

Even though they might not be visible, lines can always be found within paintings. The image I chose is the perfect example of this. There are no drawn out lines, but there are many inside the picture. The 2 men near the 3rd base bag make a triangle with their body positions. The lines are diagnals which most commonly show action, which in this case is true. Also there is a horizon by the bleachers of where the sky meets the stadium wall. The lines in this painting are NOT actual. They can be considered implied creating implied shapes in the case of the men making the triangle. The horizon is an example of direction lines. By seeing this line you can see that the ground ends and now the sky is starting.You can also see the edges of the men in this painting. Great painting to analyze because the lines aren't obvious and it gets you thinking.

Cross hatching in action

I chose this video to post because I thought it was really interesting how you can see the actual cross hatching and line process being completed. Obviously, the main use of line in this piece was cross hatching which was done so carefully and meticulously. With the contrast of dark and light the artist did with the cross hatching, the forms have more depth and look more realistic. The way the lines towards the bottom are drawn diagonally, your eye is directed from the top left and down to the bottom right, across the piece. I'm not entirely sure what this drawing is of but I found it interesting and a good example of line. 

-Leah 

John Lennon - Cross-hatched

This picture here displays a face portrait of Beatle's member John Lennon, created using the line style of cross-hatching. Cross-hatching is when parallel lines are intersected like a checkerboard to create images. Cross-hatching can also be used to create shading and value in a portrait, as you can see at the bottom  right of the picture around the mouth area, where the area is darker.The cross-hatching used in this piece also seems to be done in a wild way. This is a very unique and interesting style of art to look at and take in.

-Alfonso Robles

Stippling

This example of stippling by an artist is clearly evident.  He uses the dots to contrast light and dark in his work.  This contrast helps us to put together what exactly he is trying to illustrate.  The use of negative space also helps to draw attention to minute details of the drawing.  Bringing all these elements together allows the artist to create his drawing.

M Rizzi

"Its the real thing, Coke."

Earl R. Dean was the artist behind this piece. This particular drawing was the reason why the coke bottle was shaped like this. There is a contour line that surrounds the bottle itself. I can tell its a contour line because it shows a boundary in a three-dimensional  form. The coke bottle is in the middle of the piece and its made from vertical lines, which shows the power and strength that it holds here. Also, there are horizontal lines from the stadium and on the home plate, which brings a calmness to the drawing. There is't any implied lines in this piece, because the viewer can determine what it is just by looking at it. There is a lot of value that is being used in this piece. Within the coke bottle there are areas like the bottom where its almost black and in the middle is more of a lighter brown. Lastly, at the top of this drawing the stadium looks like it's been done using stippling.

-John Marchetti

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

stippling and shading

pointillism-31-299x300.jpg
In this drawing, the artist combines shading and stippling.  Due to the fact that there is shading in this piece, there are no contour lines.  There is implied light which shows the white and moves down the value scale to black.  The shading in this artwork creates mass in the object, which in turn creates an implied shape.  There is no line but the dots make an edge making it seem like there is sphere.  This drawing illustrates all of the shades in the value scale.  




Dana-Lynn

The image of the cake, created by John Derry, is drawn using contour lines and hatching. You can tell he used contour lines because the actual picture is drawn, and and it is an outlined picture. He also used hatching to create the shadows of the cake on the outside and the inside. The picture doesn't really have implied lines because the artist drew everything that needed to be seen, he didn't leave the viewer to fill in any parts of the image with their mind. The artist did use the value scale because you can see he made areas darker by hatching and most of the image was left alone and was very light.
-Rose Migliara

We've forgotten the cheese Gromit!

Wallace and Gromit is a classic cartoon created by Nick Park and begins as a simple sketch like this one.  Line is being used to draw the viewer’s eye from all edges of the sketch to the main point at the train crossing.  Perpendicular lines keep the eye moving around the entire sketch.  Hatching is used in the background and in the shading of areas like the train; there is also use of cross hatching in the chair and the dog's ears.  Also with the use of hatching, this creates different shades and values which adds dimension to the sketch.

Emily

Lines

This drawing has many variations of line within it. There are contour lines to outline the drawing to show shape. there is also hatching within the drawing to imply shading. Along the nose of the tiger there is stippling used for effect. Most of the lines used in this drawing were meant to show both shape and texture. The artist used the value scale to some extent. We can see the value scale where there is shading and how there is still white in the drawing as well as black.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Line

In this piece of art there are shapes and lines.  There are contour lines that make up the shape of the circles that dominate the picture.  They outline the shape of the circles.  There are some implied lines as well, for example, the circle on the bottom right is red on the inside and pink on the outside.  The line separating the two colors is an implied line.  There are also many straight diagonal lines that can represent movement.

Contour Lines

This piece is an example of a piece that is done using contour lines.  The lines in this picture create outlines that give the viewer a shape to view.  The figures that the lines create do not have any shading but instead include more lines to show how the shapes of the objects have been changed over time.  There is no thick border on the outside of these figures which is why the lines that form them are contour lines and not edges.  There is a hint of shading under the objects which look as if they were done using a stippling technique.

Lines--hatching

This drawing is called "The Citadel of Fear" by Virgil Finlay. Right away, it is quite easy to point out the major content in the work, such as the woman and the large hand reaching out to her. However, if you look closer, this drawing was done completely by drawing lines, aka hatching. She used 4 different styles of hatching (such as cross-hatching) while working on this particular piece. Even though its only in black and white, the artist was very particular in shading. By putting the lines closer together and repeating this process (the more times they go over it, the darker it becomes), the artist makes different objects stand out from each other. Or, if you look at the pillow, the artist used less lines and drew them further apart to create a lighter shade. Nothing is actually outlined with contour lines, but in this case, it is not needed. The artist did a marvelous job in shading and hatching that depth and content are easily visible.

--Alexis Swoyer
This drawing is a horse drawn using contour lines.  As you can see, it has the feeling of being a cartoon, and the figure is outlined all around in a thick black line.  It has no shading so there is no difference in value or hues in the work because it is strictly white and black.  Also, there is no stippling or hatching, just contour lines all around.  Angles are emphasized in this drawing as opposed to 3d forms.
-AnnMarie Pollock

Stippling

Both these pieces of art are done by the artist Noli Novak (Picture on Upper Left). Noli Novak signature style of art is stippling. The use of light and dark areas are very prominent in all her pieces of art. The positioning and amount of the dots are used to cause shadow and shading in both pieces shown. The lower picture shows primary colors with a warm feeling. The artist also plays around with shape and boundaries without definite lines. Her work is very intricate and astonishing to look at.

Line




This print is called Lil' Foxy and it is done by an artist on Etsy. First, the artist sketches using pencil and ink and then colors the picture digitally.Besides the color, one of the most striking elements of this print is the artist's use of lines. A contour line outlines the shape of the fox. Within the fox, lines are used to illustrate the fur. The lines used are both black and white. In the negative space behind the fox, a design using lines in white can be seen. The lines being used in this print are actual lines.

This is a 2D acrylic painting. It is a naturalistic style as you can tell by looking at the variations of color in the background. The subject of the painting in set in the vintage, 1960's era. By the way the women is sitting with her elbows propped up against the table, one can interpret that this painting is trying to convey female empowerment. She is taking over in the dynamic between herself and the man she is sitting with at the table. Also, she isn't sitting perfectly, rather she is sort of slouching to one side and she has a drink and cigarette in hand.


Boy and girl gazing at the moon

This art is a painting by Norman Rockwell. It has been called many things, (puppy love, little spooners, sunset, first love) but it is actually titled Boy and girl gazing at moon and the subject matter is exactly that. It is an oil painting, very representational everything looks real, there is a lot of negative space and the subject of the picture is centered on the canvas.


-Molly

Monday, February 6, 2012

M.C. Escher

M.C. Escher sketches very interesting pieces that draws in the attention of a diverse audience. Escher brings the ordinary performance of creating art into an extraordinary art piece. The objective of this monochromatic sketch is to create an illusion for the audience of a hand drawing a hand when in fact both hands have been drawn by Escher. The symbolism of this piece stems from the idea that no one knows where the beginning is, just like the idea of the "chicken and the egg". Where the hands begins, just like that of the chicken and the egg, no one knows because they constantly contradict each other. People are fascinated with this concept and Escher explores this in his art. The hands create two curved contour lines that allow the eyes to follow in a circular motion around the hands. Although the image is simple, the concept is mind-blowing and consumes the imagination of his audience around the world.

Dog

This is an Oil Painting of a dog. It portrays a dog who looks older in his life and seems sad. The artist does a good job of focusing on the dog and leaving the negative part of the painting white and blurred out. Also the white background and white specs around the mouth makes me believe the dog is in the snow.  The artist also uses a primary collar in red for the collar which makes it stand out against the rest of the painting. The painting is naturalistic.

Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is a very interesting piece of art, a totally man made tree with different animals carved into it. The ideas behind everything from the tree to the physical animals on it are naturalistic but the way everything is arranged around and is all over the actual trunk is totally abstract. The animals are popping out all over the place overlapping each other turning a very realistic view of a tree and conveying a whole new message. The idea of life and how trees are necessary to life is being shown through the carvings
This is "Hand with Reflecting Sphere" by M.C. Escher. It is a lithograph made in 1935. It is very much representative and naturalistic. One can clearly tell it is a hand with a sphere and image in that sphere. The detail put into the work is amazing. the sphere surly catches the attention of any view especially with the ground fading from a lighter gray to darker. The work is very interesting and almost like the oil painting from the text with the reflection of the room backwards. One can interpret this work to be one reflecting their own life, which is essentially in the palm of some higher spirit or being.

Life Strands


This drawing is called "Life Strands" by Hong Chun Zhang. He used a huge piece of paper that rolls out onto the floor and drew it with charcoal. You can tell it's a drawing by the distinct individual strands of hair that stick out in the braid. It is in black and white, therefore you can assume it is done with charcoal or a pencil like substance. This picture is representational of a long braid. There is no questioning that it isn't and it is extremely realistic. It almost looks as if it is 3D because of the shadows he uses. The iconography of this piece may be that the beginning of the braid represents a strong life and by the end it is fading away, symbolizing death.
This is an oil painting by Brain Duey. You are able to tell this is an oil painting because of the distinct brush strokes. This is a representational portrait because it represents Megan Fox, a well known actress of the 21st century. The pose in this painting is a very distinct pose for this actress because many pictures that are taken of her are in this stance.

Reporting of Form & Content: Adoration of the Magi

Adoration of the Magi by Filippino Lippi is an oil painting on panel (wood). A representation of the visitation of the three kings to the Christ child, Lippi used the primary colors in the garments of the main focus of Mary & Joseph in the Holy Family and the Magi. The Christ Child's garment is white, which symbolizes purity. The use of the white makes Him stand out while sitting on his Mother's lap. The primary colors were used against a dark, naturalistic wooden frame of possibly a barn,  in the background. The blue sky and landscaping are naturalistic, as well, and make this wooden structure stand out in contrast against the blue sky and green foliage.The faces on the main characters in the front show much love and devotion to this Child. The two characters to the right may be conversing about the Child, or from where they began their journey.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Artist  Jason Levesque is an illustrator who uses sketches that are later edited and colored using Photoshop to create unique and beautiful art (these are later produced into prints). Although representational in the way the women in his work are portrayed, there is an element of abstractness to his work. The scenes his subjects are placed in are fantasy like in nature. The colors of this work in particular are cool. He also uses white to provide a contrast and focus one's eye on the subject of the piece.