Just For The Fun Of It: Vik Muniz

If you are unfamiliar with the work of Vik Muniz, get ready for a treat. All of the recent activity amongst you guys learning to master different and new materials and techniques put me in mind of Muniz. This man makes drawings working with materials that one generally would never use to make drawings. Particularly, he has created series of drawings using wire, sugar, dirt, garbage, and (the work he is most famous for) chocalate. In each case he makes the drawing than then photographs it. Since he is using materials that are not archival and sometimes even perishable, the photograph becomes the only evidence of the work. Essentially, the photograph IS the artwork. Below I have examples of a few of his "Pictures of Chocolate" and a video in which he talks about his work. However, since most of Muniz's work is difficult to find online anywhere other that his own website, you should also visit vikmuniz.net and specifically check out his "Pictures of Wire" and "Pictures of String". Those series are particularly appropriate, since you will essentially see drawings very reminicent to what we do in class, only done with very odd materials. Have fun checking him out. His websit is particularly fun to navigate.

Controlled Contour: Plants

Examples Of Exterior With Objects

Homework due Tuesday, November 2:

Exterior with Objects

Draw from observation of an exterior space with object that define the space.

Work loose-to-tight, unfinished-to-finished.

Drawing pencil or Charcoal pencil (2B, 4B, 6B)

Consider how line variation can be used to give the illusion of the extreme depth of three-dimensional space provided by an exterior vs. the shallow depth of the still life.

Here are a few examples. Pay special attention to how each student handled the line variation of distant objects versus closer objects. What did each of them do to give the sense of extended, deep space?

Artists Working "Loose-to-Tight"

We will look at these artists in class, but I thought I'd go ahead and post them here first, so you can take a look for yourself before lecture in class.

Edgar Degas
So, here's a guy with whom I'm sure you are all familiar. Edgar Degas, in his drawings, worked very similarly to how we are working now in class and in the homework assignments. Take a good, careful, analytical look at the drawings below. You will notice that underneath the topmost finished, confident drawing, there is evidence of more gestural work. In many cases notice how, in earlier steps, he often discovered that he had an appendage in the wrong place. Rather than erasing this screw-up, he just moved over and put it in the correct place. He was making his corrections right on top of the mistakes. There are areas where you can see that it took him three or four attempts to get it just right. Now, this man could DRAW, and look at all the mistakes that he made over the course of each picture. So when you, as a first-year college student, find yourself getting frustrated and concerned with making nice perfect lines while working in that first loosened-up underdrawing, remember Degas.






Alberto Giacometti
Here's some of Alberto Giacometti's paintings. His paintings are essentially drawings, not unlike Zak Smith's. Now, Giacometti definitely works "loose-to-tight," but he does one thing I don't want you doing. He places the same amount of pressure and emphasis on the lines of each layer he puts down. I always want you working very lightly in the first and second steps of your drawing process. But Giacometti is good to look at while you are working in this manner because, since he places just as much emphasis on his gestural underdrawing as he does on the more defined final step, you can really see the evidence of his entire process.

Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres
Ah, here's our old buddy Ingres again. I figured I'd just put one example of his work up here for you to analyze since you've spent plenty of time with him already. Since Ingre saw these drawings as studies for finished paintings (and I've always loved his drawings so much more than the paintings) he wasn't worried about having every area of the drawing perfectly "finished." When you examine his work, you can see that he first blocked out the figure in gestural lines, then came in and gave a bit more finish to areas with which he was mainly concerned, and then came in with the final coup de grace of finished, confident linework (mainly around the face). Now, yes, Ingres' gestural lines still feel rather defined and close to perfect, but that because he's INGRES. This guy trained like a madman for many years to be able to do that. I would never expect that kind of polish from you at this point in your education. What is important, however, is that you look at artists like this--artists who were doing what you are now doing long, long before you--and see what there is to learn, to glean, to adopt from their work.

Paper Loops And Curls

HERE is the past student blog I mentioned in class with examples of the homework due Tuesday.

William Anastasi: Drawing Blind

For whatever reason, Blogger isn't letting me embed this video, so here's the link to watch it on NewArtTV:

http://www.newarttv.com/William+Anastasi%3A+Drawing+Blind

YOUR Chance To Critique ME

I thought this could be an interesting experiment. Below, I have images taken from old (very old in some cases) sketchbooks of mine when I was a student. Some are from undergrad classes and some are classes I took while attending grad school here at MCA (I won't say which are which). Some are from drawing classes and some are not. So, after you read through the comments I left in your sketchbooks, feel free to browse through my old sketchbook pages here and see if I practiced then what I'm preaching to you now. Then, feel free to critique by posting a comment. It's your turn now. My feelings aren't going to be hurt. So, anything you see that needs to be criticized, praised, or taken out into the street and flogged, you can point it out without fear.