For this drawing I wanted to use an image that had high focus in the foreground and a really soft and blown out background. I knew I’d be able to achieve the contrast with graphite and charcoal.I chose a reference photo that was originally in color, but I changed it to black and white to mimic the media I’d be using. I focused first on the figure in the foreground and really paid attention to the details, depth, and values in the hair since that would be what everyone looks at first. A lot of it consisted of laying down darker values and using a brush to blend and an eraser to remove for highlights. Once I got to the background I used more charcoal to get a rich black color and used my brush to diffuse all the hard edges to give it that out of focus look.
When beginning this project Clara and I talked about the works that we like best from a presentation show in class. We both really enjoyed the ones that were installed in nature. With that in mind we decided that we wanted to do something outside and use a tree in some way. Once we found our sight we started by brainstorming what colors of yarn we wanted to use and landed on using colors that would stand out from nature. We wanted to create a sort of portal between two trees. After gathering materials we began by first making a wire loop and tying it between the two trees and after starting to wrap the yarn. As we worked we started to expand from just wrapping on the two tree trunks.
After working on it the first day it wasn’t standing out enough so we decided that we would get more yarn, specifically neon colors. Our primary strategy was to wrap as much yarn as we could because it made it more visible from afar. After returning from the weekend we found that the wire loop had broken and a good amount of the yarn had fallen. We decided to hang the yarn that had fallen on the broken branch above. We also decided to add more of the little knots we started to add the week prior. We also added some more yarn in areas that felt empty because of the fallen yarn. The final thing that we did was wrap black yarn around the center air loop so it was extra secure and acted as a central point for the piece.
Overall I really enjoyed the process of working on this project and ultimately think that it breaking made it more visually interesting with the contrast of the tight and more droopy yarn.
May Tveit is an artist that makes large sculpture and installation work. The work shown in the images below are specifically from a series Tveit created titled Universal Boxes. The medium of this work is cardboard. With this body of work Tveit wanted to explore the transformation of this everyday somewhat ignored material.
Her interest in cardboard began during a residency she completed at the Lawrence Paper company. During her time there the factory workers would make large sheets of cardboard for her which she would cut using their prototyping table.
While some may not believe that cardboard hols any special meaning as Tveit worked more with the medium she described that she began to think out it in a more metaphorical way. As cardboard is something that holds, protects, and transports things. Looking at this work you can see that there are numerous layers of flat cardboard that have been cut. Tveit has spoken about how her decision to work with flat pieces of cardboard is because she was intrigued when at the factory looking at the flat cardboard boxes because they had yet to fufill their purpose.
I enjoy how her work transforms the cardboard into a new sort of cleaner appearance where it also takes a second to realize what it is. It is also interesting to hear the concept and motivations behind the work.
I knew right off the bat that I wanted to work with yarn and a tree so I found a like-minded partner. Together, we came up with the idea to create a “portal.” We decided to use purple and black yarn to contrast the natural green and brown colors of the site. We found a tree we liked (with a broken branch) and decided to do something to mend the broken branch back to the tree.
After one day of working on it we decided we needed to make changes. Instead of just using purple and black, we wanted to expand into other bright colors– specifically pink. We decided to incorporate orange, blue and a color changing yarn as well.
After adding those additional colors, we decided we wanted to play with the lines more so we took little pieces of yarn and tied the longer pieces of yarn together in certain places to shape the mass of the portal. It was at this point when we left for a weekend that the wire supporting our entire wrapping broke. We found it broken on Tuesday and went right back to work. First we repaired it to the extent that we could and then we continued to add more yarn and more little knots.
Overall, I’m super happy with the end result. I think it accomplishes everything we wanted it to accomplish. I think we did a great job of overcoming obstacles and making the most out of the two weeks we had to work on this.
When my teammate and I first started our project we found some inspiration on Pinterest thinking of maybe making a treehouse situation out of wire. From there, we created a tree and were struggling with how we should incorporate a treehouse into our tree. We eventually drifted away from the idea of doing a treehouse and created a swing set.
The way in which we created the base was by using chicken wire and folding it to make it stronger. The color of the chicken wire is green so, that helped our line installation to represent grass we also rolled up some chicken wire into balls to create somewhat of a leaf-like appearance to the trees. For the trunk and the branches, we used some random silver wire that was pretty malleable. For the roots of the tree, we wrapped twine around some of the silver wire that was used for the branches. We then created some swings that would hand from the tree, the swing set, the branches, and the roots.
Once we had finished creating the scene we played with names that we could name this piece and we landed on ‘Where Did All The Children Go?’ which is the name of one of the group dances that was performed on Dance Moms. After, watching the dance we wanted to create one figure that would be left swinging on one of the swings that are made of cardboard and white string with the figurine made of wooden sticks and twine.
Before hanging it up, adding the finishing touches and installing the final piece.The final product of our line drawing into space with the figurine.
This week I decided to choose a more well known artist from the early 1900s (1901-1966), Alberto Giacometti. Alberto was born in Borgonovo, Switzerland and grew up around his father and grandfather who were both painters- Growing up around art inspired him to become an artist himself, and he would later become a painter and sculptor. In 1922, Alberto moved to Paris and got an education at the Académie de la Grande-Chaumiére.
The surrealism and cubism movements of the 1900s greatly influenced Alberto’s work. He started off creating 2d work, integrating cubist elements into his sketches like Study for The Palace at 4 a.m. Over time, Alberto focused more on 3d work and started making bronze sculptures. As World War 2 unfolded, the chaos and despair of warfare stirred up was a common theme in Albertos work- The figures he created are strangely surreal, limber, and appear shriveled and existential. This may also come from his creative process, where he states “From 1935 through 1940, I spent every day with the model. Nothing went as planned. For me, a head became a wholly unfamiliar and dimensionless entity.” Emotion and the human condition played a big role in Alberto’s work, and a quote I found that sums it up pretty well is “He sought to make renderings of his models as he saw them and as he believed they should be seen.” For example- he sometimes made extremely small sculptures because the models he worked off were far away in the distance. However, he also made towering sculptures that spanned over 8 feet tall. Even decades after his death, Alberto Giacometti’s work continues to be eye-catching and thought provoking.
Study For the Palace at 4am, 1932Hands Holding the Void (Invisible Object) 1934 (cast c. 1954-55)
Edward Hopper was born in 1882 in New York. In 1900 he went to New York School of art and did illustration and proceeded his work as a illustrator after his schooling 1906. Later he went on trips to Europe which changed his way of doing art in the future. What really influenced his was the architecture and traditional art that influenced his work, especially in Paris, France. During the 1900s was when impressionism became more present. He found influence through artist such as the classic Monet and Van Gogh. Due to the references and influence, he started using a lighter color palette and quick strokes. He went on to do lots of paintings of landscapes and in 1942 his most famous piece, Nighthawks, was put in the Art institute of Chicago.
Nighthawks, one of my favorite paintings, was created during the war to reflect how Americans felt during the period of the war. You can see how the lighting on the diner is portrayed and how the influence of Europe is translated in his pieces.
Chop Suey by Edward Hopper is another impressionistic painting. The lighting is also shown in this painting such as the others that he has done. The light on the characters is carefully placed and done wonderfully. In this painting he also captures this moment of loneliness even though each person has company. I believe its due to the closure. It feels very alienated due to the sign being hidden and same for the other girl and table to the left
Theodore was born on April 15, 1812 in Paris, France and died December 22, 1867 in Barbizon, France. He was a French painter of the Barbizon school and at first he received a basic level of training, but soon displayed aptitude for painting. Although his father regretted the decision at first, he became reconciled to his son forsaking business. Rousseau’s pictures are always grave in character, with an air of exquisite melancholy. They are well finished when they profess to be completed pictures, but Rousseau spent so much time developing his subjects that his absolutely completed works are comparatively few. He left many canvases with parts of the picture realized in detail and with the remainder somewhat vague; and also a good number of sketches and water-color drawings.
In my opinion, his paintings look beautiful and like as if they could be a real photograph. I don’t know why he painted so many with trees, but it might be because he loves natures or just trees in general.
For this line installation project, my partner Leilanie and I decided to create a house. We wanted to create this house in a childlike manner by having the structure a bit whimsical with objects of what you would see in a house hanging down, mimicking mobiles in baby cribs. To create the structure of the house we took garden wire and put it through black rope. We each then created drawings of furniture, decorations, and other household objects, making sure to color on both sides so that they can still be seen when they rotate in the air.
Group Members: Laramie Torres, Reagan Stevens, Beth Davis
When assigned the project on Tuesday, we decided to walk around to look for a place we could install our project in. After some time, we found a perfect place we all liked in Equity Hall’s stairwell. From there, we needed to think of ideas on what we could put there, so we agreed to bring back ideas and concept sketches we thought we could do for our projects next class on Thursday.
By Thursday, we came together to show off sketches and share ideas of what we could do. Laramie had ideas for using Q-Tips to make them into interesting snowflake designs that could hang. Beth had an idea for a cage with a figure hanging inside it. Since both Laramie’s and Beth’s ideas included hanging elements, we combined both to have this icy-cold theme with the cage, figure, and snowflakes hanging together.
We started off making the cage out of heavy-duty wire, and we let Beth lead this part since it was her idea for the cage. The three of us made a large wire base and a lot of time was spent cutting and twisting pieces together. We only got a cage base going by the end of class.
The following week on Tuesday, we continued working on building the cage by adding more bars with thin wire pieces. Then, at the top of the cage, we tied all the wire bars together to create a centerpiece and loop of the cage where it will hang from. After that, we all decided to integrate a hula hoop at the base to make it more round and sturdy, and we used thinner wire to secure it together. Towards the end of class, Laramie agreed to start making some of the Q-Tip snowflakes and we all agreed to have the whole project done by the end of class on Thursday.
On Thursday, Laramie brought two snowflake designs along with the pack of Q-Tips, tape, and super glue to work on making more snowflakes during class. Laramie helped to add a smaller base towards the top with a silicone tube to help the cage to remain round and sturdy. Afterward, Reagan agreed to help Laramie with making the snowflakes and Beth agreed to get started on the figure. We initially planned to have a full-body figure inside, but due to time, we decided to not include legs. The pose of the figure was inspired by images from google, and we thought it would be a good idea to have the figure reaching up and holding itself up from the top of the cage. By the end of class, the project was pretty much finished and all that was missing was to give the figure more volume and install it in the Equity Hall stairwell. We coordinated and agreed to set it up the next day on Friday around 1:30 pm.
On Friday, Beth came in earlier to do some final touches before installation. Beth took a ball of blue yarn she had laying around to go with the icy theme and wrapped it around the wire figure several times to give it more volume/further develop the body. She also used some silver ribbon and let it hang off the bottom of the figure to give it more expression. In certain spots like the arms, it was difficult to get the yarn to lay the right way, but in the end, it came together and we were satisfied with the result. Once everything was good to go, we all headed to the Equity Hall Building as planned but unfortunately we ran into a problem with the ladder. It was too small for Beth to hang up our project, so she had to return to the Fine Arts Building to get a taller one. After hanging up the cage and tying on the snowflakes, the project and installation were finally completed.
This project was a lot of trial, error, and discovery; we ran into problems with the extremely thick wire frame we made, finding the best way to hang it, and there was a lot of experimentation with what materials would work best to achieve our goal. In the end, we worked well as a team to problem-solve and create an experimental piece that we were happy to show.
drawing into space 