Instructions for Oral Presentation / Drawing Experiment Advanced Drawing: Aston Levels 1-4
Advanced Drawing students may choose to do an oral presentation on an artist or art style that has influenced them, or they may demonstrate an experimental drawing technique or medium to the class.
Oral Presentation
Students will create a Powerpoint on a representational draftsman or drawing style. Students will deliver the report to the class on the smartboard using at least 20 visual examples. The art-historical context and influences of the artist should be discussed in addition to a few relevant biographical details. This material must be in your own words, and you should be able to describe what it is you admire about the artist’s work using art terms from your vocabulary list. The presentations should be about 10-15 minutes long, must be properly cited, and should be emailed to the instructor for grading. The oral presentation should follow and describe the images you have chosen as you comment on each slide as you move through the presentation. Do not simply copy something, read it to the class, and then show the slides. This makes a dull presentation. Short YouTube clips may be included. You may choose the work of a contemporary artist or designer as long as the work reflects a high level of skill in representational drawing. Street art, drawings for tattoo designs, movie sets, costumes, architectural studies, or drawings for 3D artworks are acceptable subjects for presentation, if you are more interested in how drawing is used in the creation of other mediums. Powerpoints may be created using in ArtStor and accessed online with the classroom monitor. They may also be saved to a flash drive using a Mac compatible format. See rubric on back for grading criteria. Also see syllabus for list of contemporary and historical artists and draftsmen. Level 4 students may substitute a gallery talk on their own work for the oral presentation.
A dated presentation schedule will be posted on the wall. All students should pick a date and sign up within the first 2 weeks of class. The presenting student is required to email the class to inform us of the date and subject of the presentation, as well as any required materials. Attendance at drawing experiments and oral reports is required for levels 1 and 2.
Technical Help: Make sure you are able to open your flash drive on the classroom monitor in advance of your presentation. For technical issues with Mac formatting, schedule an appointment at the Teaching and Leaning Center in Noss. Art Department liaison Monica Ruane in the Manderino Library can help with you research questions and also technical issues related to Artstor.
Experimental Drawing Sessions
Present a one-hour drawing experiment in which all students will participate. The purpose of this assignment is to try out various drawing styles, methods and materials so students remain open to new ideas and don’t simply keep using the styles and materials with which they are the most comfortable. Students may choose a drawing method used by one of their favorite artists, they may choose a style from art history, they may select an idea from the list below, or they can invent a new process. (Images of student drawing experiments can be found on my website). A minimum of 6 visual examples illustrating the drawing style should be presented to the class. Background information on the artist or art style that uses this technique is optional, but the student should give specific instructions on what they would like the class to do and what materials to use. Below is a list of ideas used in past semesters that have produced interesting results.
*The figure/object is rendered as a series of small dots or strokes in the style of an Impressionist painting.
*Planar Analysis: the figure is broken into faceted planes and drawn only with straight lines in the style of the Cubists and Futurists.
*The figure emerging from or disappearing into shadows. A charcoal ground is applied and lights are pulled out with an eraser.
See monotypes by Seurat, Degas, Eric Fischel.
*The figure is drawn using only circular movements of the arm in a series of cross-sections. See drawings by Durer .
*Collage Drawings: an abstract collage is created with colored paper, printed fabrics or found objects and the figure is drawn on top of this in ink.
*Skeletal Study: the figure is posed next to the skeleton and the bones are drawn inside the figure.
*Death and the Maiden: the model is posed embracing the skeleton and drawn in the style of a Renaissance engraving.
*The model is clothed with animal skins and feathers in tribal costume and depicted with excess body hair.
* The model’s skin is decorated with tattoos for the figure pose.
*The model is posed sitting on the bed with a friend in a psychological narrative with dramatic lighting.
*The surface of the paper is streaked in drips and streams of pigment and the model is rendered as if through a veil of rain or sludge.
* Soot is deposited on the paper with a moving candle flame and the resulting patterns serve as atmospheric ground that is drawn through with charcoal and eraser.
*The model moves through a series of repetitive motions drawn as overlapping forms.
*The model is drawn outdoors in front of a sculpture and in the same style as the sculpture.
*Students make gesture studies of live animals as they roam around the room.
* Students draw on balloons with Crayola markers and print the wet images off on paper at various sizes as the balloons deflate.
* Students play Exquisite Corpse game to produce collaborative, Surrealist style drawings.
* Drawings are created with feet, mouth, and left hand to produce distinctive markmaking often more expressive than right hand drawing.
* Watercolor pigment is mixed with soap and blown through straws to produce bubble patterns similar to cell structures.
Experimental drawing presentations (or oral reports) are mandatory for all levels and will be graded. A successful drawing experiment will be one that is well-researched, presented with enthusiasm, and one that produces interesting results for the majority of students.