Reflecting Back: Looking Forward

“The answers you get depend upon the questions you ask.”
—Thomas Kuhn

The studio was a busy place this term. Students were drawing with charcoal, ink, graphite, and chalk pastels. Students were exploring working on new surfaces: kraft paper, watercolor paper,tracing paper, and mylar. Drawing 1a artists ventured into the world of printmaking, investigating relief printing and working with their selves as a subject. Drawing 1b students mastered skills of shading, proportion, composition, and scale.

Many new discoveries were made, and hopefully students will carry their abilities and learnings with them as they move into Term 3.

Here are some windows into some completed projects:

The 7 x 7 sketchbook project: (7 translations for 7 tracks)

Each Drawing 1a student received a CD with 7 tracks. Each student listened to a different musician: music ranged from Charlie Parker to Arcade Fire. Everyone was responsible for creating seven drawings (in their sketchbooks) in the course of a week in response to each song.

Self-Portraits: Who Am I? 

Drawing 1b students looked at a range of artists who capture their selves through different materials. They then worked with graphite pencil and charcoal to render their identities on paper.

How do I want to portray myself?
What do I want the world to know about me?

Botanical Mixed-Media pieces

Drawing 1a students layered different papers and drawing materials onto canvas while capturing elements of different botanical forms.

The botanical forms were plucked from Ascha’s garden in Oakland and suspended by string in the studio space. The hanging forms were lit with dramatic lighting so that the students could access their subtle nuances.

The students combined various drawing materials that they had used throughout the term.

Each student was able to work with the compositional space according to their own personal aesthetic and individual motivations.