Art & Design Enrichment
and Resources for Independent Learning
For Younger Students and Their Parents
Weekend and Summer Programs for Young Artists
Investigate the opportunities
Art Museums
Explore from Home (Younger students should use with parental guidance.)
ART CAREERS
Here's a partial list of art careers in which you might be interested.
College Search
For juniors thinking about art as a career, research post-secondary art programs:
Here are the most recent rankings for the best art schools in the country, according to US News and World Report. These are a list of graduate schools; the non-graduate art schools themselves should be ranked similarly but are not exactly the same. If you click on the name of the school, that should bring you to that school's website. From there I would check their admissions pages and even call a counselor to ask about what they're looking for in a portfolio.
Art Magazines
Arts Organizations
Online Arts Enrichment
On Netflix:
On Amazon Prime Video
If your family already has a membership with Amazon Prime, there are so many movies and shows on art that are available that it’s impossible to list them all. Here are a few good starting points:
On Hoopla
Members of the Burlington Public Library have access to Hoopla, an ebook and streaming service.
SKILL DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES
Virtual Instructor
A six-day set of lessons, including videos, on getting better at observational drawing
https://thevirtualinstructor.com/blog/improve-your-drawing-skills-in-6-days
Art Dares
Drawing Ideas for All Ages
-your hands and feet in 10 different poses
-the same thing every day for 30 days
-five items from a junk drawer that are overlapping
-take a bite from an apple and draw it
(do this until the apple is gone)
-hand tools (Jim Dine drawings)
-recreate a scientific illustration (Gray’s Anatomy is a good source...google search gray’s anatomy illustration images)
-draw a chair by focusing only on the negative space
-make a flip-book of an object moving
-metallic objects
-a self portrait
-a jumble of silverware
-a pile of Legos
-your room in perspective
-the peel of an orange
-a bicycle
-create your own font, including numbers and other characters
-a pile of laundry
-the view from your window
-a portrait of a family member
-an object that casts a shadow
-a family pet in multiple positions
-the same thing at different times of the day...how does the lighting change the object or scene?
-zoom in on a piece of jewelry
-different sized canned goods arranged in an interesting way
Sketching
Your sketchbook can be one of your “best friends” during the summer. Carry it around the house with you. Draw in it, write in it, scribble in it, paint in it, glue things into it, cut the pages, tear the pages, change the way it looks to make it look like your own book. It should reflect YOU and your experiences. Your sketchbook is the perfect place to try a variety of concepts and techniques as you develop your own voice and style.
Use your sketchbook to think, to plan, and to dream. Use it to rough out ideas, and also to create refined works of art. Some of your drawings might focus on line quality, while others might focus on tonal value and good contrast, and still others will concentrate on subtle color shifts. Some might just be to see what happens if you scribble.
Tips for working in your sketchbook:
Here are some ideas for what to draw in your sketchbook. Feel free to choose from this list or come up with your own ideas:
Your pet
Squirrels, birds, outdoor animals (from life - can you draw fast enough to capture a likeness while sitting near your window)
Other animals (visit websites of natural history museums, zoos, science museums - and draw from the photos)
Pile of pillows
effect(s) of extreme light source
shoes
fabric with pattern
baseball glove
sink with dishes in it
tools (see the work of artist Jim Dine)
extreme perspective; unusual viewpoint
yourself in fifteen years
insects
proverb
opposites
draw on top of an old drawing - transform it into something new
social statement
conflict of interest
man-made vs. natural
park
anatomy
close-up of an object, making it abstract
political cartoons
transformation / morphs
Realistic cloud formations, in full value and texture, or in full color (what colors do you see in the clouds and sky?)
an opened candy bar or packaged food, with the wrapper
fill a plastic bag with objects and draw from observation
a figure drawn from an unusual perspective
what was for dinner
forest floor
look up words you do not know and illustrate them
an interior (for example, your room, your kitchen)
how things work -- inner workings of a machine -- mechanics of an object
negative space only
glass bottles
nightmares / other worlds
outside v. inside
metallic and/or reflective objects
ballpoint pen only
line drawings of organic objects
a parked car, from a ¾ angle
exaggeration
the skeleton of a small animal or bird
accidents -- random acts of art
home is where the heart is
grouping of seashells
Portraits of your friends as famous characters from books
contour drawings of insects
multiple drawings of the same object, one per night for a week, using different media
buildings and man-made structures with character -- bridges, interiors of old churches, old theaters, etc.
landscapes with and without buildings
botanical drawings
a single flower with all its petals, leaves, etc., drawn accurately
a close-up set of 3 - 5 pieces of popped popcorn
looking from an interior pace to an exterior space (i.e. through a doorway or window)
a single object drawing from several viewpoints
fabric with a pattern. hanging or suspended
a chess set, partially played, or a different childhood game
your favorite food, or the table setting for a meal
What else can you think of?
Project Ideas
1. “Café” Drawings – Since right now is decidedly not the best time to take your sketchbook to the best locations for observing people (such as the mall, a café, the beach, etc.), try to capture your family members “at rest”, not posing for you. Fill up pages with multiple drawings of people on each page. Try to capture people in their natural habitats and in activities that are relatively stable: reading, eating, watching TV, etc. (Try not to have people knowingly pose for you.). Capture the entire figures as much as possible. Indicate their environments as much as possible.
Some artists to view/study before doing this assignment (Look them up, specifically looking for “figure sketches”:
Honore Daumier
Edgar Degas
examples of cafe sketches
2. Multi-Figure Narrative – Make a fully-realized artwork that tells some type of a “story”. It can have several human figures interacting with each other and with their environment (“Environment” doesn’t necessarily mean outdoors.). It may be a drawing or a painting, and it must be either full value or full color. Focus on pictorial composition, considering the principles of art and other art concepts such as the implied triangle. You may have people pose for you, or you may use photographic references (especially if you take the photos yourself.), but it should not be a copy of a single photograph. The figures may be stylized rather than realistic if you choose.
Some artists to view/study before doing the Multi-Figure Narrative:
Caravaggio
Francisco Goya (particularly The Caprices and The Third of May, 1808)
Auguste Renoir (particularly The Boating Party Lunch)
Edgar Degas
Mary Cassatt (particularly The Boating Party)
Max Beckmann
Diego Rivera
Norman Rockwell
Romare Bearden
Jack Levine
Chris Van Allsburg (children’s book illustrator: Jumangi and The Polar Express)
3. Abstract Design – Create a color design that utilizes the principles of art to maximize visual impact. Consider color theory (In fact, study the color relationships in the paintings of the artists below, and use their color palettes or some thoughtful variation.). This is an abstract or non-objective artwork. If you are not satisfied with your first attempt, keep trying until you’ve created something you want to hang on your wall. Work until you impress yourself.
Some artists to view/study before doing this assignment:
Wassily Kandinsky
Kazimir Malevich
Paul Klee
Franz Marc
Pablo Picasso
Joan Miro
Jackson Pollock
Jasper Johns
Frank Stella
Sonia Delauney
Miriam Schapiro
4. Online Museum “Visit” – Refer to the list of museums on the Resources page of the Art Department’s website (www.burlingtonhighschoolart.org) or here. Visit one of them online.
a. Compare two different artists’ paintings of the same subject matter. Compare and contrast approaches. Use the 4-step critique process when evaluating the works: Describe the work in detail, then Analyze it (i.e. what do you notice about composition, color theory, the use of the principles of design, technique, etc.), Interpret (What does it mean? Why did the artist make the choices he/she did?), and Judge/Evaluate (What works about it? What doesn't?) Write one paragraph for each of those four steps.
b. Draw full-value thumbnails sketches of both artworks. Your thumbnail drawings should indicate dark, middle and light tones to truly capture the basic composition of each, but will not focus on detail.
5. Still Life – Using the color medium of your choice, draw or paint a still life comprised of at least three visually interesting objects. Work large (at least 18 x 24”). Build a strong composition. Observational accuracy is key; notice the relationships between shapes, both positive and negative. Notice subtle color changes. Mix colors with specificity and accuracy. Establish form via chiaroscuro and color changes. Demonstrate your ability to create a rich range of tonal value.
Some artists to view/study before doing this assignment (Look them up, specifically looking for “still life”):
Paul Cezanne
William Harnett
Vincent Van Gogh
Wayne Thiebaud
Ralph Goings
Rebecca Scott
Janet Fish
Dik F. Liu
6. Dissection: Do a study of an object that you have taken apart. Arrange the parts on a surface with other objects related or not related and study the TEXTURAL qualities. Some ideas would be a mechanical object, a child’s toy, a makeup bag, your bin of art supplies, ingredients for a cooking recipe, a few apples or other fruit cut apart…anything where you are creating a still composition out of something that has been dissected or disassembled.
7. A self portrait expressing a mood. How can you use color to convey that mood? What style will work best for you in this work? You might create a composition with multiple self-portraits with different expressions and/or from different angles. Do some research online or at an area museum to see how different artists create self portraits and what techniques and media they use. Use an odd/extreme angle and consider strong light/dark contrast.
8. Still life arrangement of three or more reflective objects. Your goal is to convey convincing representation. Sketch and shade for contrast and drama. Consider doing this as a self portrait – draw yourself distorted in a shiny object.
9. A drawing of an unusual interior – for example, look inside a closet or cabinet, in the refrigerator, under the car’s hood or inside the medicine cabinet.
10. A still life arrangement of objects representing members of your family. You must have at least three objects and use an unusual viewpoint or angle. Put the objects on the floor and stand up looking down at them.
11. A close up of a bicycle/tricycle from an unusual angle with strong light/shadow. Don’t draw the bicycle from the side view.
12. Shoes -- Create a still life arrangement consisting of your family members’ shoes. Try to convey the different personalities of your family members through the rendering of the shoes. Be creative and have fun! This assignment can be done in monochrome (black, white, gray) and/or in color using any medium, technique and style you desire.
13. Create an artwork as a political or social statement. Before you begin the art, write your statement out in detail to develop your ideas, and draw thumbnail sketches to compose your image.
14. Using media of your choice, design a CD cover for an imaginary musician or group, or for any local band that you personally know. It should be totally original (No copies of someone else’s photographs).
15. Create a fully-realized artwork that illustrates a scene from a book (a novel or children’s story). Research contemporary artist Kehinde Wiley’s work, Rembrandt’s many biblical scenes, and the work of children’s book illustrators Maurice Sendak and Jan Brett.
16. You might try your hand at one of the Concentration Ideas Samples.
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Art History Enrichment: Early Art
Here are some fascinating and entertaining videos and websites about stone age Cave Paintings, the earliest of which are from around 30,000 years ago! You will be amazed on how well drawn these are, especially considering the artists are from the prehistoric era. I’ve arranged the videos from shortest to longest.
National Geographic: Prehistory 101: Cave Art - a very brief introduction to some of the very first art ever created (3 minutes)
TEDEd 360 degree animated cave - Explore cave paintings by using your cursor to pan to the left or right. (3 minutes)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Fifteen minutes of scenes from the movie) about the cave paintings of the Chauvet Cave in France, discovered in the mid-1990s and the oldest examples of painting ever found (32,000 years old!). It was written, directed, and narrated by Werner Herzog, who is also on film in this documentary and who Star Wars fans may recognize as one the villains in The Mandalorian TV series on Disney+ . If you like the segment and want to watch more, the full two-hour movie is available to rent/stream online.
If you’d like to visit the Chauvet Cave, you can go on a virtual tour on its official website. You can do the same for the Lascaux Cave, also in France.
The movie Finding Altamira, starring Antonio Banderas (of Shrek and Puss-in-Boots fame) dramatizes the magic of discovery by an amateur anthropologist’s young daughter in 1870s Spain.
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Google Arts & Culture: Online Exhibition: The Adventure of the Chauvet Cave Replica
Here’s a fascinating slideshow (From Google Arts & Culture) to follow up on the above on the earliest paintings ever found, those of the Chauvet Cave in France.
Because over time the carbon dioxide and light from regular visitors would damage the delicate paintings on the walls, the actual cave is closed to the public, so a big project was started to create a clone of the cave, an exact replica, not far from the actual site. This shows the process.
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Masterpainting Recognition Quiz
Here’s a fun multiple choice quiz from Zoo.com on the names of some of the most well-recognized paintings in Western art. After you click each answer, you’ll be given a little information about the painting and the artist. These are paintings worth remembering! Spend a little time looking at and appreciating each one.
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Digital Art / Computer Graphics / Graphic Design
Some resources that you might find fun, interesting, and useful, especially if you’re planning on continuing in graphic design, computer graphics, business, or any number of creative pursuits.
If you’d like to continue to develop your skills in digital art while at home, Adobe offers a 7-day free trial on all of its Creative Cloud software, including Illustrator and Photoshop, and many others related to not only graphic design but animation, web design, film editing, sound production, etc. If you want to continue with the software after the 7-day trial, there is a monthly fee. If you’re interested, make sure you take advantage of the student pricing option, which is heavily discounted.
Adobe also posts a great many free video tutorials for most of its software. Try one out. You can even learn new skills and techniques that we may not get around to during the Graphic Design course.
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WATCH
Abstract: The Art of Design on Netflix.
Each show profiles one well-respected working artist in a different creative field: illustration, graphic design, costume design, toy design, architecture, industrial design, interior design, and many more. They are so well done! Funny, fascinating, and creatively filmed with high production value. Each episode is about 47 minutes long. Watch them with your family!
Season 1: Christopher Niemann, Illustration
This episode is so funny and so well put together. Christopher, a well known illustrator and cover artist for many New Yorker magazine covers, has a big hand to play in putting together this documentary (about himself!). It incorporates very cool visual effects and animations of his drawings. He describes so well his artistic process, and you get a real sense of how an illustrator thinks creatively. So much to learn, but so entertaining!
Season 1: Paula Scher: Graphic Design
As one of the interviewees says in the film, Paula is “THE most influential woman graphic designer on the planet.” The show gives you a sense of the working environment of a big city graphic design studio, the home life of a creative person (I wish I had her home studio!) her artistic process and way of thinking, and it ends with the back-and-forth of a meeting with clients and designers that I described to you last week. Really gets to the heart of graphic design. SO good!
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A fun design challenge for students:
UN and WHO launch Global Call Out To Creatives to make informative coronavirus visuals
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Art Enrichment: Illustrators
If you have younger siblings in the house, encourage them to take part in these activities with you. These two sites are no doubt intended for a younger audience, but whether or not you have younger brothers and sisters to draw with, these are just fun and relaxing ways to spend a little of your time.
WATCH AND MAKE:
Jan Brett’s How to Draw Videos
We have looked at several of Jan Brett’s illustrations in class as an introduction to the watercolor illustrations of a fable you’ve been working on. Jan Brett is a graduate of Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She’s the author/illustrator of The Mitten and a great many other award-winning picture books. Her How to Draw video series is no doubt intended for a younger audience (so watch them with your younger siblings and try out the exercises as a family), but you get to see her in her home and studio.
Mo Willems’ Lunch Doodles
Mo Willems, the author/illustrator of many best-selling picture books (like Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!), invites YOU into his studio every day for his LUNCH DOODLE. Learners worldwide can draw, doodle and explore new ways of writing by visiting Mo’s studio virtually once a day for the next few weeks. Grab some paper and pencils, pens, or crayons and join Mo to explore ways of writing and making together. If you post your art to social media, be sure to hashtag it with #MoLunchDoodles!
New episodes will be posted each weekday at 1:00 p.m. ET and then remain online to be streamed afterwards. Check back each weekday for new LUNCH DOODLES!
If you’re looking for something more challenging:
LOOK
This week’s New Yorker cover, by Christoph Niemann (who I introduced you to in Abstract: The Art of Design, on Netflix), takes on the spread of the novel coronavirus, evoking a world in which the health of an individual and the health of the public seem, increasingly, to be interdependent. The New Yorker recently talked to Niemann about the image, and about how his own life has been disrupted by the pandemic. This very brief interview, which touches on his artistic process for the cover art, is on the New Yorker’s website at: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/2020-03-23
MAKE: Creative Challenge: Coronavirus
Artists often make art to comment on the world around them, the issues of the day, or their other concerns.
In a sketchbook, on a letter-sized paper, or on whatever you have handy, create a work of art about the novel coronavirus Covid 19.
This can be done with any materials. Graphic Design students might try it with traditional drawing materials or by using Photoshop, Illustrator, or any other digital program you have at home.
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LOOK: Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring
Google Arts & Culture is incredible website with so much to see! Try the “Explore” button, and in Google Art Project, you can zoom into the finest details on some of the most famous artworks in the world. The site features “tours” of many masterworks, in which you are guided (by scrolling down) to zoom into details of the artwork and learn how the artist created the work. This one was featured today (but they are all in their online catalogs by museum, so they are always available): Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer, one of my all time favorite painters.
WATCH: Girl with a Pearl Earring (the movie)
If you like the painting as much as I do, you may want to check out the movie Girl with a Pearl Earring, starring Scarlett Johannson. It’s a completely fictional account of Vermeer and his subject (Little is really known about the artist.), but you get a sense of how artists lived and worked during the Dutch Golden Age (mid-1600s). The movie is based on a novel by Tracy Chevalier. It’s available to stream.
READ
From Newsela: Take a virtual tour of these 12 amazing museums closed because of coronavirus. It's an article on the museums with virtual tours on Google Arts & Cultures. If you don't have much experience with Newsela, it's a site that allows a teacher to adjust the reading level of the articles from upper elementary grades through high school, and give assignments based on the reading.
LOOK
I introduced you to the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring, by the Dutch Golden Age artist Johannes Vermeer. Vermeer also created The Art of Painting. By clicking on the picture, then scrolling down with two fingers, you can zoom in to an extraordinary degree.
WATCH
You can also watch this short video from TEDEd on the artist and his painting:
Additionally, this other TEDEd page answers the question Why is Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring" considered a masterpiece? Click on the Think tab on the right to take a short quiz on the work, Dig Deeper to access other resources, and DIscuss Vermeer’s work.
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Articles and Interviews
From NPR's Weekend All Things Considered radio show/podcast:
Art Critic Jerry Saltz On His New Book 'How To Be An Artist'
From the New York Times:
The Quarantine Diaries
Around the world, the history of our present moment is taking shape in journal entries and drawings.
Yes, You Can Channel Your Stress Into Creativity. Here’s How.
This is also on Jerry Saltz and his new book.
10 Binge-Worthy Art Podcasts in the Age of Coronavirus
Comic Book Tutorials for Those Staying at Home During Coronavirus
Can You Draw This? Of Course You Can
Museum Asks People To Recreate Paintings With Stuff They Can Find at Home, Here Are The Results
Bored Russians Posted Silly Art Parodies. The World Has Joined In.
Global Open Call for Art: Mental Health and Public Safety
- Mo Willems Lunch Doodles (through the Kennedy center)
- Jan Brett’s How to Draw (learn to draw with this famous author illustrator)
- Mark Kistler’s YouTube channel (learn to draw 3D cartoons)
- The Artful Parent
- DIY Art Activities for Young Students:
https://artfulparent.com/diy-art-activity-pages-for-kids/
- DIY Art Activities for Young Students:
- Kids Art Spot
- Art Lessons for Kids
Weekend and Summer Programs for Young Artists
Investigate the opportunities
- Lesley University Pre-College Art Programs
- Boston Architectural College Summer Academy
- Boston University Visual Arts Summer Institute
- The Massachusetts College of Art and Design Youth Programs
- School of the Museum of Fine Arts (Tufts) Pre-College Studio Art Intensive
- Montserrat College of Art Summer Pre-College Programs
- Lexington Arts & Crafts Society (LexArt) Summer Class Catalog
Art Museums
Explore from Home (Younger students should use with parental guidance.)
- Boston Sculptors Gallery
- DeCordova Art Museum and Sculpture Park
- Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
- Harvard Art Museums
- The Institute of Contemporary Art Boston
- Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
- The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MassMOCA)
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston
- The Museum of Modern Art
- Peabody Essex Museum
- The Smithsonian Museum of American Art
ART CAREERS
Here's a partial list of art careers in which you might be interested.
College Search
For juniors thinking about art as a career, research post-secondary art programs:
- Boston Architectural College (BAC)
- Boston University College of Fine Arts
- Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
- The Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt)
- Montserrat College of Art
- Pratt Institute
- Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
- School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (SMFA)
- School of Visual Arts (SVA)
Here are the most recent rankings for the best art schools in the country, according to US News and World Report. These are a list of graduate schools; the non-graduate art schools themselves should be ranked similarly but are not exactly the same. If you click on the name of the school, that should bring you to that school's website. From there I would check their admissions pages and even call a counselor to ask about what they're looking for in a portfolio.
Art Magazines
Arts Organizations
Online Arts Enrichment
- Google Arts & Culture - So much to see! Try the “Explore” button, where you can use the Art Camera to zoom into famous master paintings, experience culture in 360 degrees, and tour the world’s greatest museums and other landmarks using “Street View”. Or choose categories to discover the most well-known artists and masterworks in history.
- Google Art Project - Zoom into the finest details on the most famous artworks in the world.
- Arts & Culture Experiments - Try out experiments at the crossroads of art and technology, created by artists and creative coders with Google Arts & Culture (Some require VR headsets and Steam)
- Google Arts & Culture (Chrome Extension) - Make the site your homepage, and have a new masterwork fill your screen every day.
- Art Project - New Tab (Chrome Extension) - Display random masterpieces from Google Cultural Institute in your every new tab
- Artcyclopedia
- Art History Resources
- Art 21: Art in the 21st Century (PBS) - video series on working artists. Art21 is a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring a more creative world through the works and words of contemporary artists.
- Art School: PBS Learning Media - a web video series that introduces contemporary artists who discuss their careers and intentions, then demonstrate hands-on techniques or concepts. Art School provides resources for learning how to draw comic strips, create animations, and much more. Engage with contemporary art and discover new ideas for creativity from a variety of professional artists through this fun and engaging series.
- The Art Assignment (PBS) - A weekly PBS Digital Studios production that takes you around the U.S. to meet working artists and solicit assignments from them that we can all complete. For more, subscribe to The Art Assignment on YouTube: youtube.com/theartassignment.
- TED.com: Visual Art
- PBS Learning Media: Visual Art (videos for all grades)
On Netflix:
- Abstract: The Art of Design (2 seasons)
- Tales by Light (3 seasons) - Photographers and filmmakers travel the world capturing indelible images of people, places, and creatures from new, previously unseen angles.
- Miss Hokusai - An animated motion picture - Herself a talented artist, O-Ei works with her father, Tetsuo, later known as Hokusai, on the woodblock prints that would make Edo famous worldwide
On Amazon Prime Video
If your family already has a membership with Amazon Prime, there are so many movies and shows on art that are available that it’s impossible to list them all. Here are a few good starting points:
- Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace (A fantastic contemporary portrait artist and a great documentary)
- Masterworks
- Brushstrokes: Every Picture Tells a Story (a series of half-hour shows each focusing on a single famous painting)
- Great Artists with Tim Marlow (16+)
- Museum Access: Season 1: Episode 3: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Museum Access: Season 2: Episode 7: The Bruce Museum
- Museum Access: Season 2: Episode 10: The Phillips Collection
- Renaissance Unchained (16+)
- Art & Copy (a movie about graphic designers)
On Hoopla
Members of the Burlington Public Library have access to Hoopla, an ebook and streaming service.
- Loving Vincent is a wonderful animated movie comprised of thousands of actual paintings (hand-painted in the style of Van Gogh!). The life and controversial death of Vincent Van Gogh told by his paintings and by the characters that inhabit them. The intrigue unfolds through interviews with the characters closest to Vincent and through dramatic reconstructions of the events leading up to his death.
SKILL DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES
Virtual Instructor
A six-day set of lessons, including videos, on getting better at observational drawing
https://thevirtualinstructor.com/blog/improve-your-drawing-skills-in-6-days
Art Dares
Drawing Ideas for All Ages
-your hands and feet in 10 different poses
-the same thing every day for 30 days
-five items from a junk drawer that are overlapping
-take a bite from an apple and draw it
(do this until the apple is gone)
-hand tools (Jim Dine drawings)
-recreate a scientific illustration (Gray’s Anatomy is a good source...google search gray’s anatomy illustration images)
-draw a chair by focusing only on the negative space
-make a flip-book of an object moving
-metallic objects
-a self portrait
-a jumble of silverware
-a pile of Legos
-your room in perspective
-the peel of an orange
-a bicycle
-create your own font, including numbers and other characters
-a pile of laundry
-the view from your window
-a portrait of a family member
-an object that casts a shadow
-a family pet in multiple positions
-the same thing at different times of the day...how does the lighting change the object or scene?
-zoom in on a piece of jewelry
-different sized canned goods arranged in an interesting way
Sketching
Your sketchbook can be one of your “best friends” during the summer. Carry it around the house with you. Draw in it, write in it, scribble in it, paint in it, glue things into it, cut the pages, tear the pages, change the way it looks to make it look like your own book. It should reflect YOU and your experiences. Your sketchbook is the perfect place to try a variety of concepts and techniques as you develop your own voice and style.
Use your sketchbook to think, to plan, and to dream. Use it to rough out ideas, and also to create refined works of art. Some of your drawings might focus on line quality, while others might focus on tonal value and good contrast, and still others will concentrate on subtle color shifts. Some might just be to see what happens if you scribble.
Tips for working in your sketchbook:
- Imperfect drawings are OK; don’t be afraid to make mistakes; make false starts.
- Try drawing big and filling the page you are working on. Go off the edges whenever possible. Make every square inch count for something.
- Return to unfinished drawings. Go back later, change them, and make them into something else. Being able to rescue bad beginnings is the sign of a truly creative mind.
- Fill many, many, many pages of your sketchbook.
- Suggestion: put the date on the corner of every page you finish.
- Draw from observation, things you see in the world.
- Your sketchbook is a place for risk-taking. Try things out that you are not sure will turn out so well. Don’t be boring.
Here are some ideas for what to draw in your sketchbook. Feel free to choose from this list or come up with your own ideas:
Your pet
Squirrels, birds, outdoor animals (from life - can you draw fast enough to capture a likeness while sitting near your window)
Other animals (visit websites of natural history museums, zoos, science museums - and draw from the photos)
Pile of pillows
effect(s) of extreme light source
shoes
fabric with pattern
baseball glove
sink with dishes in it
tools (see the work of artist Jim Dine)
extreme perspective; unusual viewpoint
yourself in fifteen years
insects
proverb
opposites
draw on top of an old drawing - transform it into something new
social statement
conflict of interest
man-made vs. natural
park
anatomy
close-up of an object, making it abstract
political cartoons
transformation / morphs
Realistic cloud formations, in full value and texture, or in full color (what colors do you see in the clouds and sky?)
an opened candy bar or packaged food, with the wrapper
fill a plastic bag with objects and draw from observation
a figure drawn from an unusual perspective
what was for dinner
forest floor
look up words you do not know and illustrate them
an interior (for example, your room, your kitchen)
how things work -- inner workings of a machine -- mechanics of an object
negative space only
glass bottles
nightmares / other worlds
outside v. inside
metallic and/or reflective objects
ballpoint pen only
line drawings of organic objects
a parked car, from a ¾ angle
exaggeration
the skeleton of a small animal or bird
accidents -- random acts of art
home is where the heart is
grouping of seashells
Portraits of your friends as famous characters from books
contour drawings of insects
multiple drawings of the same object, one per night for a week, using different media
buildings and man-made structures with character -- bridges, interiors of old churches, old theaters, etc.
landscapes with and without buildings
botanical drawings
a single flower with all its petals, leaves, etc., drawn accurately
a close-up set of 3 - 5 pieces of popped popcorn
looking from an interior pace to an exterior space (i.e. through a doorway or window)
a single object drawing from several viewpoints
fabric with a pattern. hanging or suspended
a chess set, partially played, or a different childhood game
your favorite food, or the table setting for a meal
What else can you think of?
Project Ideas
1. “Café” Drawings – Since right now is decidedly not the best time to take your sketchbook to the best locations for observing people (such as the mall, a café, the beach, etc.), try to capture your family members “at rest”, not posing for you. Fill up pages with multiple drawings of people on each page. Try to capture people in their natural habitats and in activities that are relatively stable: reading, eating, watching TV, etc. (Try not to have people knowingly pose for you.). Capture the entire figures as much as possible. Indicate their environments as much as possible.
Some artists to view/study before doing this assignment (Look them up, specifically looking for “figure sketches”:
Honore Daumier
Edgar Degas
examples of cafe sketches
2. Multi-Figure Narrative – Make a fully-realized artwork that tells some type of a “story”. It can have several human figures interacting with each other and with their environment (“Environment” doesn’t necessarily mean outdoors.). It may be a drawing or a painting, and it must be either full value or full color. Focus on pictorial composition, considering the principles of art and other art concepts such as the implied triangle. You may have people pose for you, or you may use photographic references (especially if you take the photos yourself.), but it should not be a copy of a single photograph. The figures may be stylized rather than realistic if you choose.
Some artists to view/study before doing the Multi-Figure Narrative:
Caravaggio
Francisco Goya (particularly The Caprices and The Third of May, 1808)
Auguste Renoir (particularly The Boating Party Lunch)
Edgar Degas
Mary Cassatt (particularly The Boating Party)
Max Beckmann
Diego Rivera
Norman Rockwell
Romare Bearden
Jack Levine
Chris Van Allsburg (children’s book illustrator: Jumangi and The Polar Express)
3. Abstract Design – Create a color design that utilizes the principles of art to maximize visual impact. Consider color theory (In fact, study the color relationships in the paintings of the artists below, and use their color palettes or some thoughtful variation.). This is an abstract or non-objective artwork. If you are not satisfied with your first attempt, keep trying until you’ve created something you want to hang on your wall. Work until you impress yourself.
Some artists to view/study before doing this assignment:
Wassily Kandinsky
Kazimir Malevich
Paul Klee
Franz Marc
Pablo Picasso
Joan Miro
Jackson Pollock
Jasper Johns
Frank Stella
Sonia Delauney
Miriam Schapiro
4. Online Museum “Visit” – Refer to the list of museums on the Resources page of the Art Department’s website (www.burlingtonhighschoolart.org) or here. Visit one of them online.
a. Compare two different artists’ paintings of the same subject matter. Compare and contrast approaches. Use the 4-step critique process when evaluating the works: Describe the work in detail, then Analyze it (i.e. what do you notice about composition, color theory, the use of the principles of design, technique, etc.), Interpret (What does it mean? Why did the artist make the choices he/she did?), and Judge/Evaluate (What works about it? What doesn't?) Write one paragraph for each of those four steps.
b. Draw full-value thumbnails sketches of both artworks. Your thumbnail drawings should indicate dark, middle and light tones to truly capture the basic composition of each, but will not focus on detail.
5. Still Life – Using the color medium of your choice, draw or paint a still life comprised of at least three visually interesting objects. Work large (at least 18 x 24”). Build a strong composition. Observational accuracy is key; notice the relationships between shapes, both positive and negative. Notice subtle color changes. Mix colors with specificity and accuracy. Establish form via chiaroscuro and color changes. Demonstrate your ability to create a rich range of tonal value.
Some artists to view/study before doing this assignment (Look them up, specifically looking for “still life”):
Paul Cezanne
William Harnett
Vincent Van Gogh
Wayne Thiebaud
Ralph Goings
Rebecca Scott
Janet Fish
Dik F. Liu
6. Dissection: Do a study of an object that you have taken apart. Arrange the parts on a surface with other objects related or not related and study the TEXTURAL qualities. Some ideas would be a mechanical object, a child’s toy, a makeup bag, your bin of art supplies, ingredients for a cooking recipe, a few apples or other fruit cut apart…anything where you are creating a still composition out of something that has been dissected or disassembled.
7. A self portrait expressing a mood. How can you use color to convey that mood? What style will work best for you in this work? You might create a composition with multiple self-portraits with different expressions and/or from different angles. Do some research online or at an area museum to see how different artists create self portraits and what techniques and media they use. Use an odd/extreme angle and consider strong light/dark contrast.
8. Still life arrangement of three or more reflective objects. Your goal is to convey convincing representation. Sketch and shade for contrast and drama. Consider doing this as a self portrait – draw yourself distorted in a shiny object.
9. A drawing of an unusual interior – for example, look inside a closet or cabinet, in the refrigerator, under the car’s hood or inside the medicine cabinet.
10. A still life arrangement of objects representing members of your family. You must have at least three objects and use an unusual viewpoint or angle. Put the objects on the floor and stand up looking down at them.
11. A close up of a bicycle/tricycle from an unusual angle with strong light/shadow. Don’t draw the bicycle from the side view.
12. Shoes -- Create a still life arrangement consisting of your family members’ shoes. Try to convey the different personalities of your family members through the rendering of the shoes. Be creative and have fun! This assignment can be done in monochrome (black, white, gray) and/or in color using any medium, technique and style you desire.
13. Create an artwork as a political or social statement. Before you begin the art, write your statement out in detail to develop your ideas, and draw thumbnail sketches to compose your image.
14. Using media of your choice, design a CD cover for an imaginary musician or group, or for any local band that you personally know. It should be totally original (No copies of someone else’s photographs).
15. Create a fully-realized artwork that illustrates a scene from a book (a novel or children’s story). Research contemporary artist Kehinde Wiley’s work, Rembrandt’s many biblical scenes, and the work of children’s book illustrators Maurice Sendak and Jan Brett.
16. You might try your hand at one of the Concentration Ideas Samples.
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Art History Enrichment: Early Art
Here are some fascinating and entertaining videos and websites about stone age Cave Paintings, the earliest of which are from around 30,000 years ago! You will be amazed on how well drawn these are, especially considering the artists are from the prehistoric era. I’ve arranged the videos from shortest to longest.
National Geographic: Prehistory 101: Cave Art - a very brief introduction to some of the very first art ever created (3 minutes)
TEDEd 360 degree animated cave - Explore cave paintings by using your cursor to pan to the left or right. (3 minutes)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Fifteen minutes of scenes from the movie) about the cave paintings of the Chauvet Cave in France, discovered in the mid-1990s and the oldest examples of painting ever found (32,000 years old!). It was written, directed, and narrated by Werner Herzog, who is also on film in this documentary and who Star Wars fans may recognize as one the villains in The Mandalorian TV series on Disney+ . If you like the segment and want to watch more, the full two-hour movie is available to rent/stream online.
If you’d like to visit the Chauvet Cave, you can go on a virtual tour on its official website. You can do the same for the Lascaux Cave, also in France.
The movie Finding Altamira, starring Antonio Banderas (of Shrek and Puss-in-Boots fame) dramatizes the magic of discovery by an amateur anthropologist’s young daughter in 1870s Spain.
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Google Arts & Culture: Online Exhibition: The Adventure of the Chauvet Cave Replica
Here’s a fascinating slideshow (From Google Arts & Culture) to follow up on the above on the earliest paintings ever found, those of the Chauvet Cave in France.
Because over time the carbon dioxide and light from regular visitors would damage the delicate paintings on the walls, the actual cave is closed to the public, so a big project was started to create a clone of the cave, an exact replica, not far from the actual site. This shows the process.
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Masterpainting Recognition Quiz
Here’s a fun multiple choice quiz from Zoo.com on the names of some of the most well-recognized paintings in Western art. After you click each answer, you’ll be given a little information about the painting and the artist. These are paintings worth remembering! Spend a little time looking at and appreciating each one.
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Digital Art / Computer Graphics / Graphic Design
Some resources that you might find fun, interesting, and useful, especially if you’re planning on continuing in graphic design, computer graphics, business, or any number of creative pursuits.
If you’d like to continue to develop your skills in digital art while at home, Adobe offers a 7-day free trial on all of its Creative Cloud software, including Illustrator and Photoshop, and many others related to not only graphic design but animation, web design, film editing, sound production, etc. If you want to continue with the software after the 7-day trial, there is a monthly fee. If you’re interested, make sure you take advantage of the student pricing option, which is heavily discounted.
Adobe also posts a great many free video tutorials for most of its software. Try one out. You can even learn new skills and techniques that we may not get around to during the Graphic Design course.
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WATCH
Abstract: The Art of Design on Netflix.
Each show profiles one well-respected working artist in a different creative field: illustration, graphic design, costume design, toy design, architecture, industrial design, interior design, and many more. They are so well done! Funny, fascinating, and creatively filmed with high production value. Each episode is about 47 minutes long. Watch them with your family!
Season 1: Christopher Niemann, Illustration
This episode is so funny and so well put together. Christopher, a well known illustrator and cover artist for many New Yorker magazine covers, has a big hand to play in putting together this documentary (about himself!). It incorporates very cool visual effects and animations of his drawings. He describes so well his artistic process, and you get a real sense of how an illustrator thinks creatively. So much to learn, but so entertaining!
Season 1: Paula Scher: Graphic Design
As one of the interviewees says in the film, Paula is “THE most influential woman graphic designer on the planet.” The show gives you a sense of the working environment of a big city graphic design studio, the home life of a creative person (I wish I had her home studio!) her artistic process and way of thinking, and it ends with the back-and-forth of a meeting with clients and designers that I described to you last week. Really gets to the heart of graphic design. SO good!
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A fun design challenge for students:
UN and WHO launch Global Call Out To Creatives to make informative coronavirus visuals
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Art Enrichment: Illustrators
If you have younger siblings in the house, encourage them to take part in these activities with you. These two sites are no doubt intended for a younger audience, but whether or not you have younger brothers and sisters to draw with, these are just fun and relaxing ways to spend a little of your time.
WATCH AND MAKE:
Jan Brett’s How to Draw Videos
We have looked at several of Jan Brett’s illustrations in class as an introduction to the watercolor illustrations of a fable you’ve been working on. Jan Brett is a graduate of Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She’s the author/illustrator of The Mitten and a great many other award-winning picture books. Her How to Draw video series is no doubt intended for a younger audience (so watch them with your younger siblings and try out the exercises as a family), but you get to see her in her home and studio.
Mo Willems’ Lunch Doodles
Mo Willems, the author/illustrator of many best-selling picture books (like Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!), invites YOU into his studio every day for his LUNCH DOODLE. Learners worldwide can draw, doodle and explore new ways of writing by visiting Mo’s studio virtually once a day for the next few weeks. Grab some paper and pencils, pens, or crayons and join Mo to explore ways of writing and making together. If you post your art to social media, be sure to hashtag it with #MoLunchDoodles!
New episodes will be posted each weekday at 1:00 p.m. ET and then remain online to be streamed afterwards. Check back each weekday for new LUNCH DOODLES!
If you’re looking for something more challenging:
LOOK
This week’s New Yorker cover, by Christoph Niemann (who I introduced you to in Abstract: The Art of Design, on Netflix), takes on the spread of the novel coronavirus, evoking a world in which the health of an individual and the health of the public seem, increasingly, to be interdependent. The New Yorker recently talked to Niemann about the image, and about how his own life has been disrupted by the pandemic. This very brief interview, which touches on his artistic process for the cover art, is on the New Yorker’s website at: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/2020-03-23
MAKE: Creative Challenge: Coronavirus
Artists often make art to comment on the world around them, the issues of the day, or their other concerns.
In a sketchbook, on a letter-sized paper, or on whatever you have handy, create a work of art about the novel coronavirus Covid 19.
This can be done with any materials. Graphic Design students might try it with traditional drawing materials or by using Photoshop, Illustrator, or any other digital program you have at home.
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LOOK: Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring
Google Arts & Culture is incredible website with so much to see! Try the “Explore” button, and in Google Art Project, you can zoom into the finest details on some of the most famous artworks in the world. The site features “tours” of many masterworks, in which you are guided (by scrolling down) to zoom into details of the artwork and learn how the artist created the work. This one was featured today (but they are all in their online catalogs by museum, so they are always available): Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer, one of my all time favorite painters.
WATCH: Girl with a Pearl Earring (the movie)
If you like the painting as much as I do, you may want to check out the movie Girl with a Pearl Earring, starring Scarlett Johannson. It’s a completely fictional account of Vermeer and his subject (Little is really known about the artist.), but you get a sense of how artists lived and worked during the Dutch Golden Age (mid-1600s). The movie is based on a novel by Tracy Chevalier. It’s available to stream.
READ
From Newsela: Take a virtual tour of these 12 amazing museums closed because of coronavirus. It's an article on the museums with virtual tours on Google Arts & Cultures. If you don't have much experience with Newsela, it's a site that allows a teacher to adjust the reading level of the articles from upper elementary grades through high school, and give assignments based on the reading.
LOOK
I introduced you to the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring, by the Dutch Golden Age artist Johannes Vermeer. Vermeer also created The Art of Painting. By clicking on the picture, then scrolling down with two fingers, you can zoom in to an extraordinary degree.
WATCH
You can also watch this short video from TEDEd on the artist and his painting:
Additionally, this other TEDEd page answers the question Why is Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring" considered a masterpiece? Click on the Think tab on the right to take a short quiz on the work, Dig Deeper to access other resources, and DIscuss Vermeer’s work.
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Articles and Interviews
From NPR's Weekend All Things Considered radio show/podcast:
Art Critic Jerry Saltz On His New Book 'How To Be An Artist'
From the New York Times:
The Quarantine Diaries
Around the world, the history of our present moment is taking shape in journal entries and drawings.
Yes, You Can Channel Your Stress Into Creativity. Here’s How.
This is also on Jerry Saltz and his new book.
10 Binge-Worthy Art Podcasts in the Age of Coronavirus
Comic Book Tutorials for Those Staying at Home During Coronavirus
Can You Draw This? Of Course You Can
Museum Asks People To Recreate Paintings With Stuff They Can Find at Home, Here Are The Results
Bored Russians Posted Silly Art Parodies. The World Has Joined In.
Global Open Call for Art: Mental Health and Public Safety