In this introductory lecture we were introduced to the themes that serve as inspiration and motivations for artists, up through the centuries into current times. We discussed various aspects of the artists function in society such as:

1) Creating places for people to gather. 2) Create extraordinary versions of ordinary things. 3) Record and commemorate history. 4) Give tangible form to intangible ideas or concepts 5) Express emotion in a visual manner 6) Refresh and encourage different views of the world around us.

We learned new vocabulary and terms that apply to the discussion of art. Please study and understand the meaning of the following vocabulary and terms:

1) Representational art 2) Abstract art 3) Non-objective art 4) Form 5) Content 6) Iconography 7) Style 8) Genre painting 9) Context

**NOTE: Please familiarize yourself with the terms and functions of artists listed above, as they will be asked about in Quiz #1

This weeks lecture introduces the fundamental and formal aspects artists use in creating two-dimensional images (drawings and paintings) Topics discussed cover the formal elements of line and shape, basic color theory as related to the 12-hue color wheel, spatial dynamics through the use of basic linear perspective and compositional aspects such as passage of time, motion and distance through manipulation of an artist’s palette.

Terms and vocabulary to know and understand. 1) chiaroscuro 2) value 3) linear perspective 4) atmospheric perspective
5) subtractive mixing  6) complimentary colors 7) analogous colors 8) composition  9) balance:symmetrical/asymmetrical
10) texture: implied/ tactile  11) rhythm

 

**NOTE: The terms and vocabulary listed above will be asked about in Quiz#2

This weeks’ lecture and discussion will introduce concepts and approaches to the broad topic of design, as applied to both applied industrial and fine arts. We will look at the work and contributions of influential designers of the past and schools of thought that have impacted how we look at and use objects, both functionally and aesthetically in the lifestyles of today.

Vocabulary and terms to become familiar with:  1) Golden section fibonacci rectangle   2) symmetrical / asymmetrical balance  3) rhythm  4) tactile  5) chromatic grays  6) juxtaposition 7) scale  8)proportion

**NOTE: The terms and vocabulary listed above will be asked about in Quiz#2

This week’s lecture looks at the various mediums (materials) used in executing two-dimensional drawings and paintings (including methods). The main drawing mediums discussed are: charcoal, graphite, chalk and pastels. Painting mediums include: encaustic (pigments added to molten wax) tempera (egg tempera) watercolor (transparent water based) gouache (opaque water based) oils (opaque petroleum based) acrylics (opaque water based)
The lecture also includes a look at the various three-dimensional utilitarian and textile crafts created by artisans, which include pottery, stained glass, fiber arts (basketry/weaving) woodworking/furniture making.

Terms and vocabulary to know and understand: 1) encaustic  2) fresco (buon fresco/ fresco seco) 3) opaque  4) impasto

Definition and characteristics of various drawing and painting mediums:

Dry media: 

• Charcoal:Derived from carbonized woods, charcoal comes in different varieties and densities; compressed stick, willow (vine) and pencils ofvarying degrees of hardness. Creates dense, rich darks yet capable of soft/ light finishes as well.
• Graphite:Drawing pencils are made with graphite, (a carbon mineral) which is also called black lead or plumbago, mixed with clay. They come rated by hardness: the more clay mixed with the graphite, the harder the pencil (lighter mark); the more graphite, the softer. (darker mark)
• Chalk:Natural chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock which historically, was ground into powder and compressed into sticks.Modern day artist’s chalk is generally made from the mineral gypsum. Pigments may be added to provide color.
• Pastel:Pastel sticks consist of pure powdered pigment (color) combined with an inert binder (most commonly gum arabic and gypsum). They are available in varying degrees of hardness, the softer varieties being wrapped in paper.*Note: Another variety of pastel uses an oil based binder and may be considered a painting medium as well.

  Paints:

• Encaustic: Pigments mixed with molten/liquefied wax.
• Tempera:(also known as egg tempera) traditionally created by hand-grinding dry powdered pigments into egg yolk(which was the primary binding agent or medium)Tempera colors are historically, the earliest known painting medium.  
• Watercolor:very finely ground pigments which are mixed with gum arabic or glycerin as a binder. Considered a transparent medium. Most commonly used on a paper support where the white of the paper gives the color its brilliance.  
• Gouache:Similar to the components of watercolors, (i.e; pigments and gum arabic as the binder) but with white pigment added to achieve opacity. (non-transparent)  
• Oils: Pigments are mixed with various types of oils, such as  

linseed (most commonly), walnut or saffron. Resins are added as

 a drying agent and for permanence. Oils afford the artist greater  

drying time and workability of the paint on the surface.

• Acrylics:Developed in the 50’s for industrial use, acrylic paint is fast-drying

paint containing pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion.

 A water soluble medium that becomes water resistant when dry.

**NOTE: The media discussed above will be asked about in Quiz#3

This weeks lecture will cover the subjects of prints and the camera arts. Discussion of prints will cover the development and function of printing as well as the basic processes involved and the different types of prints. Printing terms, vocabulary and processes to be familiar with and understand include: matrix / impression / limited edition  PRINTING PROCESSES: relief print (raised surface) / intaglio processes of: engraving • etching • mezzotint / lithography /  silk-screen (screen prints)

In our discussion of the camera arts, we will look at the development of both still and motion pictures from early techniques and uses through to current digital technologies. We will be introduced to the work of prominent photographers and film makers of the 20th century, who’s work continues to inspire the photographers and film makers of today. Photographic terms to know and understand: Daguerrotype / Camera obscura.

**NOTE: The various printing processes and vocabulary will be asked about in addition to the terms related to photography in Quiz#3

This week’s lecture turns our attention to 3-dimensional art, sculpture and installations.We will discuss and students should understand the three primary means of creating sculpture: Modeling (additive process) Carving (subtractive process) Casting (replacement process)  In addition we will look at more contemporary methods such as assemblage, earthworks and installations.

We will view a one-hour documentary on the work of environmental artist Cristo and his Running Fence project. Students will have an extra-credit opportunity to write a review and personal reaction to and discussion of this installation.

This week’s lecture and discussion will pertain to architecture as we look at historic building technologies, popular historic styles, prominent architects and the styles within which they worked, as well as contemporary emerging technologies that  address today’s environmental concerns.

Terms and architectural features to familiarize yourself with include: Stack & Pile/Shell construction • Skeleton & skin construction • The Greek orders • Roman and Gothic arches • Barrel / groin vaults • pendentives • Flying buttresses & piers

For your mid-term exam you will need the green 100 question (small format 4″x11″) scantron form. All questions on the mid-term exam are from material we have discussed in lecture and covered in the three quizzes we have taken to date. Please study your corrected quizzes, study your vocabulary handout and the important points outlined in each week’s blackboard overview.
Also, review the enclosed PowerPoint presentation to view images (in addition to other pertinent images) that will be shown in the slide identification portion of the exam.

This week’s lecture looks at the substantial impact and the advances in art that occurred in the 15th & 16th centuries during a pewriod known as the Renaissance. We shall also look into the developments and art of the following Baroque era (17th & 18th centuries)

Aspects of this lecture to be familiar with and to know for exam purposes.  Know the five major advances in the realm of painting and drawing: development oil of paint & use of canvas & wood painting surfaces / discovery and use of linear perspective / Contrapasto stance/pose / Pyramidal compositional configuration / development and use of chiaroscuro (light logic) • Know the centuries that these periods occurred • Know the major artists of the Renaissance: Donatello / Bottecelli / Leonardo di Vinci / Michelangelo / Raphael / Titian • Know the main artists of the Baroque: Caravaggio / Rembrandt / Rubens / Vermeer / Bernini

We conclude this course with a look at the emergence of Pop culture and the turbulent decade of the 60’s and into the present post modernist trends of our current social and artistic environment.
Starting with the Pop art movement, be familiar with the artists: Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Peter Max • Understand the impact of 70’s movements of Minimalism and Photorealism • 80’s Post modernist trends of conceptual and performance art • Street art has its day! Post modern Neo-Expressionist painters Jean Michele Basquiat, Julian Schnabel

As with your mid-term, for your final exam you will need the green 100 question (small format 4″x11″) scantron form. All questions on the final exam are from material we have discussed in lecture and covered from the time of the mid-term forward. Please study your corrected quiz, Study the important points outlined in each week’s overview (weeks 10 -14). Review the enclosed “Final Review” PowerPoint presentation, research and answer the questions contained within.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In our introductory lecture we were introduced to the themes that serve as inspiration and motivations for artists, up through the centuries into current times. We discussed various aspects of the artists function in society such as:

1)Creating places for people to gather. 2) Create extraordinary versions of ordinary things. 3) Record and commemorate history. 4) Give tangible form to intangible ideas or concepts 5) Express emotion in a visual manner 6) Refresh and encourage different views of the world around us.

We learned new vocabulary and terms that apply to the discussion of art. Please study and understand the meaning of the following vocabulary and terms:

1) Representational art 2) Abstract art 3) Non-objective art 4) Form 5) Content 6) Iconography 7) Style 8) Genre painting 9) Context 

#NOTE: These terms and artist functions will be addressed in Quiz #1

Our second lecture introduced the various techniques, compositional considerations and color theories that artists use to create their works. Terms and concepts to be familiar with are: 1) subtractive mixing 2) complimentary and analogous colors 3) value 4) linear perspective 5) composition 6) symmetrical & asymmetrical balance 7) Golden section

#NOTE These terms and concepts will be addressed in Quiz #2  Information for both quizzes #1 & #2 are covered in chapters 1-5

 

This week’s lectures will focus on the topics of two-dimensional media (drawing & painting) Printing processes and the Camera Arts. Our first lecture of the week will be an introduction to the traditional “dry” drawing mediums of charcoal, graphite, chalk and pastels and the various “wet medium” painting mediums of tempera, watercolors, gouache, encaustic, oil and acrylics, as well as the differing components of each of those mediums. The lecture will then close with a look at, and discussion of the different printing processes such as relief, intaglio processes (engraving,etching,mezzotints) lithography and screen printing (serigraphy)

Our second lecture of the week will be a look at the Camera Arts, from the development of still photography through to the advancement of motion pictures.

*NOTE: The terms that describe the mediums and processes of drawing, painting and printing, outlined above, will be addressed in Quiz#3  Know the purpose of pigment. Know the process of Buon (true) fresco. Know the benefit of oil paint. What sort of matrix surface for lithography? What defines relief prints. Know the three intaglio processes. Early use of the “camera obscura” Understand the character of the photographic process known as a Daguerrotype.

Our opening lecture of the week will be an exploration of the different forms of three-dimensional art and sculpture, including the processes of: carving, modeling, casting, assemblage and installation. We will end this lecture with the viewing of a short documentary film from which you will have the opportunity to write an extra-credit paper.

We will close the week with a lecture and look at the various Artisan Crafts that include ceramics/pottery, stained glass, fiber arts and woodworking. The lecture will close with an introduction to architecture, which will be concluded the following week.

The first class meeting of this week will be dedicated the presentation of our collage projects. Be prepared to spend 3-5 minutes before the class, as you present your project and discuss/explain your process in building your collage and the aspects that you included which speak to who you are in this “self-portrait”.

The following lecture of the week will be the continuation of our look at structural building processes through the centuries and up into the developing architectural styles and technologies which address societies’ changing lifestyles and environmental considerations. We will close with a review of the material we have covered since the start of class in preparation for next week’s mid-term exam. This is a very helpful review and it is highly recommended that you be present and take notes.

Our first class meeting of this week is devoted to your mid-term exam. Make sure to have the green 100 question scantron (form 882-E) with you when you arrive.

Our lecture this week we will start our journey through the ages and look at the development of art and culture starting with the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean and middle eastern regions. We will look at the ancient artifacts of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Mediterranean based cultures as well as Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. We will examine the ways in which these early peoples history and cultures was expressed through their artisans.

Aspects of this lecture to be prepared with for quiz #4 and final exam are: Identify which ancient civilization gave us the first form of writing in the form known as Cuneiform • How ancient Pharoahs were depicted in Egyptian statuary • Understand the description of a Mesopotamian ziggurat • What culture emphasized the afterlife • What period of Greek history Black/Red Figure vases are attributed to • What the most common subject matter of Greek statuary was •  That Byzantine churches mostly featured mosaic murals • Understand description of Byzantine Icons • Be prepared to understand and identify Cycladic sculpture • Understand and identify characteristics of Gothic architecture • Understand difference between ancient Greek statues known as Kouros and Korai • Identify what culture and under who’s rule the period known as the Amarna existed • Know the definition of hierarchical scale

Our first meeting this week will be an in-depth review of the material we’ve covered since our mid-term exam, in preparation for our final exam.  Our final exam will occur at the next and final meeting of the course. Be sure to have the green 100 question scantron (form 882-E) with you when you arrive.