F302i SESSION 01

SESSION 01
Friday, 17 April 2020
LESSON 01 / COLLECT & PLAY WITH COLOR COMBINATIONS

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GOALS /
__ start/continue a sketchbook
__ collect materials
__ play with some initial ideas of collage — go with your instinct,
__ create three collages, each one in similar hues

as a brief reminder:

Hue is what we usually mean when we ask “what color is that?” So when we talk about red, orange, yellow, green, blue or violet, we are talking about hue. One hue can have many colors depending on value and intensity.

Value is a measure of the amount of light reflected from a hue often described as “lightness” and “darkness”. Those hues with a high content of white have a higher luminance or value.

Intensity / Saturation is the degree of purity of a hue, or the brightness or dullness of a hue, also described as “pale or weak” and “pure or strong”. One may lower the intensity of a hue by adding white or black.

Tints, Tones and Shades: When discussing tint, tone or shade, the important thing to remember is how the colour varies from its original hue. If white is added to a colour, the lighter version is called a “tint”. If the colour is made darker by adding black, the result is called a “shade”. And if gray is added, each gradation gives you a different “tone.”

SKETCHBOOK /
it is a great idea to keep a sketchbook by your side when working in the studio, especially when you are focusing on a project or trying something new. the sketchbook is a place to unravel. it is a place to lets words and marks and doodles flow from mind through hand — from page to page. i’ve always considered the sketchbook a great place for stream of consciousness, or what the Dadaists called, automatism, or automatic writing. let your daydreams fall onto the page. plop your thoughts down regardless of continuity or comprehension. let things happen that your more pragmatic self might not allow. play, sigh, repeat.

the sketchbook can take any shape, can be any purchased sketchbook, hand-bound book, shape, quality, medium, etc. this is a space for you… though you may be asked to share from time to time. designate something that is easy to reach for. something that is always at the ready.

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION /
we will start off by collecting materials and setting up our workspace. a studio is any space that we dedicate time and energy to a specific activity — in this case our studio practice. it can be a kitchen table, a bathroom, a bedroom closet. wherever it is, as long as you create the space and make the time, it is your studio!

now, consider the materials listed on the previous page. what do you have at the ready? what do you need a bit more time to find, search for, collect? what book were you going to recycle or give away? can this be used as a substrate for the next couple of weeks? collect materials that you have around the home. be resourceful. be playful. open up your mind to ideas of what art material might be. what it could be.

think about how these materials might be categorized. how will you want to refer to them in the future? create a system in which you organize your materials that makes most sense to you. this system can evolve, or change completely, but consider the variants — color, tone, texture, finish, feel, imagery, etc. create a system and categorize for easy referral.

finally, this week, you will create a series of three collages, each based on one hue. these can be any size, the only requirement is that they are each predominately one color — variations of color are absolutely acceptable here, if not required. the goal of the project is to play with cutting, tearing, gluing, layering — composition will come into play, but let these flow, let them develop organically and somewhat abstractly — again, channel your inner Dadaist and play with automatism. try to develop the image without any source material and just let the image happen improvisationally. feel the materials on your finger tip. let them fall and scatter and scamper and sit on the page. or, maybe you need to imagine something — fabricate something from memory? if so, imagine it upside-down. inside out. really far away. alternatively, if you need a source to work from, go with that. grab a fabric pattern, or a color-block photo — anything to get you experimenting with cutting, tearing, etc.

play without gluing first. arrange and rearrange and arrange again. take photos of your process if you’d like. they will be nice to go back to for reference.

think about combining elements: big/small, clear/blurry, variety in texture. layer and repeat, playing with perspective. the sky is the limit, though you will likely feel limited working with one hue. keep experimenting. find the sky.

once you are happy with your composition, finish the pieces by adhering them down to the substrate.

post your three images in the classroom and tell us a bit about your journey. also, feel free to post a few in-process images if it makes sense to. all work must be submitted by monday @ 12noon (nyc time) and all students must check back and comment on at least one other student’s work by 2p (nyc time).