Color and Painting Series 

Choose from the assignments below. Assignments may be done in any order

1. Colored  Line as Detail - Create  a variety of production for 3 or more  days to a week. Interpret pictures or invent pictures which feature  rich detail.  Detail is descriptive, small and interesting it is secondary breakup. (inside of the main forms of the picture.) 
Skills and Method: You will use a fine pointed brush and a palette  and pure bright colors.  Use tempera paint which is bright, colorful  and opaque. Apply concentrated amounts of detail in color. Use more varieties of color. Do not think in terms of realism which would limit color choices.  Emphasize line and textures. You may suggest textures by using small dots, lines, small circles, etc. 
Do not  attempt fill areas with solid color - Do not try to make colors realistic.  
Composition/Design: Include numerous forms in your visual content (Object with setting.) 
HINT: Do not try to fill  a large picture with tiny detail 
(Too much labor and time would be required.) The picture size will probably work best at 9x12 
Time:  It is easy to do more than one a day.  But work with this method for at least  3 days. Therefore if you finish early  repeat the technique again with new subjects and variations for extra credit, trying to be more creative, often the best work comes with more practice and more freedom to express "creative play." 
Artists: See Van Gogh, Matisse, Vlaminch, Dufy,  Fauvism 

2. Still life interpretation: Abstract Version   
Skills and Method: Still life painting. Semi Abstract: 4 to 5 Days 
Interpret a still life display using abstraction methods. Applying color with control, Painting  in areas of solid or graded color tones   
Abstraction methods: Observe and then reinterpret the forms in this design.  Use any of the following methods of abstraction: Overlapping, Transparency,  Lines of symmetry, or faceting>  I will give you a handout or  show examples  to explain these methods. 
Medium: Blended tempera or poster color. Use palette, Color mixing skills, etc. 
Composition/Design: Composing and drawing skills;  Compose your own still life grouping. Achieve an interesting breakup of the picture space, considering size varieties, contrasts, rhythms, movements etc. Plan a color harmony allowing compatible colors, color contrasts and variety. Mix color blends or tones using a palette. 
Size of painting: 18x24 with border  or 16x20 (trimmed size) 
Design Ideas: Color harmony should be planned, consider a dominant color and color contrasts.  
Time: 4 days    Artists: Picasso, Braque, Gris 

3. Still life,  Realistic:  
Organize a very simple still life group, but still consider size, shapes, colors, light, size and textures. 
Skills: Use the same skills as described above, But you will be achieving true life appearance using outline and tone and color. 
Size: Size 12x16 or 11x14.With border of 1-1.5 inches 
Art Media, Acrylic paint use  palettes to blend color 
Time:  No more than one week maximum, That means.225minutes--3 3/4 hours. 

4. Life Drawing (modeled human or other living forms) 
Use Limited Palette.  
General Assignment Idea: Emphasize the body as 3dimensional mass. Use  Light and shadow, illuminate  human forms, draw them as large as possible inside the given picture size. 
Color Idea: 4-color palette: ( Limited color)  black, white and any 2 hues:- - 
Acrylic Paint on Tag bd. 
Skills and Design: emphasize the masses of the body and the light and shadows illuminating the body. Suggest a 3d environment though it may be simple. Pose figures or use photos as model source. Do not match color for realism, (obviously because of palette restriction)- -  emphasize mass and tone, light and shadow.   
Size: 11x14 or 12x16 Time: 3 class days. You should  aim for 1 or more complete figure poses a day.< Adapt your method to match time constraint.> 

5. Serendipitous Water Color/and/ or / Wash Techniques:  
General assignment: Use transparency and wet in wet effects which express fluidity and spontaneity with the medium.  Do not overwork any of the color areas. The accidental of serendipitous quality of wet in wet is such that you can not always predict it try to allow for these effects to happen on their own and do not rework that which  happens in a spontaneous fresh way. 
Medium:  Water Color transparency happens with adding water to the paint until it is very fluid. Though tempera or poster color is considered an opaque and not a transparent medium, it still gives nice effects when very fluid. It is not quite as good for transparent washes as water color tubes or  water color cakes. 
Water color from tins must never be used heavy or thick except very rarely for accents or detail touches. 
Subject matter: It is up to your imagination to supply images to fit the accidental wash images. See Teacher examples. Select a subject that you are inspired to describe after doing a little experimenting with serendipity. 
Technique and Hints: The wash blends are very effective to suggest many things; foliage, storms, seas,  fur, flowers, etc. Use additional drawing, small details and any necessary colors to complete the images you discover after the splash pieces are done. 
Size: Any size up to 11x14 inches. Even miniatures work beautifully. Use heavy drawing paper or watercolor paper.  
Time: On day one to make a series of wet in wet serendipitous experiments, additional day or two to follow up  day to clarify and complete with detail touch ups. Do two of these or more in 1 week's time. 

6: Wash  sketches Life Drawing "Studies", with added pen detail:   
General Instructions and Technique:  Capture the essential human figure pose with Visual shorthand, Work with a light wash from watercolor or tempera as in 5 above, you are to complete gesture drawing of human figures in natural action poses:  HINT:  Use any neutral color (like blue and brown together). Use only fluid washes, no heavy application of paint. Do not "cross out" any imperfect sketches. Try to improve your skills while you work with a brush and wash method. Consider this a practice and skill building assignment.  Not many people have a good sense of figure proportion so it is advisable that you review figure drawing proportion with a guide sheet from your teacher. Some of these may be from pictures but be sure that the majority or from real life models. 
Design:  Use a montage or multi image per page approach.  They should have the appearance of practice or "studies" or practice works but they should still be done sensitively and caringly.  Please consider size variation and position of the images  
Page size:  9x12 or 12x16 inch Drawing paper. 
Time: You will work with wash and pen for 3 days or until you have a minimum of  six pages of studies 

7.  Surrealism (Fantasy Images):  
Surrealism is a highly realistic representation of irrational or fantasy  forms and images. Personal symbols combine with dreamlike irrational images. Juxtapose forms not normally associated together.  Surrealism suggests deep psychological content. 
Hints: Try juxtaposing (using closely together) size and scale for unique fantasy effects - switch large things and small in context with each other. Try substituting (juxtaposing) qualities of two objects. e.g. fur and << with surface qualities for surprise effects>>>
To understand the idea of  irrational > Look up Magritte: or Salvador Dali or "Surrealism".  To understand the concept of pure   visual texture look up, Kandinsky. Make thumbnail sketch  before you proceed. 
Medium:  Acrylic on  canvas tablet Size: up to  16x 20 
Artists to Look up Magritte: or Salvador Dali or "Surrealism".  To understand the concept of pure   visual texture look up, Kandinsky. 

8: Blending Oil pastels.  
Drawing directly and mixing color with oil pastels. "CrayPas" crayons.   
Imagination and composition is the key. Play with colors and images. Release your ability to create spontaneously with every day crayon like media. One thing about craypas. They can be blended like chalk using the finger or tissues. They also respond in a very interesting way to paint thinner. Which you will have to use with caution because of the flammable properties. 
Time: Use craypas for 3 days or more if you get to like it. 
Size and Subject limitation: Your choice. 

9. Self Portrait, Interpretive.  
I will supply you with a digitized image of yourself. It will have your features mapped out in 8 posterized colors. You will select your  8 color harmony to complete it. I will digitize each of your faces at some stage early in the quarter. Use the opaque projector to get an exact tracing of the image and then you paint with Acrylic. 

10. Blends of Colored Pencil, 
Use colored pencils to interpret photos- subjects you find interesting. Let the colored pencils suggest a technique and quality which is natural to the medium. Colored pencils  are not like paint or craypas but express a unique quality of their own. Most beginners never think of blending colored pencil together. This is the way to go mix many colors within an area to define tonal and color blend effects.
Size: 9x12 on drawing paper.
Subject: Your Choice
Time: One or two pictures a day.