Lapis Lazuli to Ultramarine Blue

Lapis Lazuli to Ultramarine Blue

Ultramarine Blue is one of the most storied pigments in art history, coming from lapis lazuli in Afghanistan as early as the second century BC. The name comes to us from the Italian, oltre marino, or “beyond the sea.” During the Renaissance, it was the most expensive pigment used. When the patron requested Ultramarine Blue be used in a painting, the contract would state where it was going to be used and how much money was going to be made available for the purchase of the pigment. Sparked by a competition across Europe in the early 1800’s, a synthetic alternative was developed which has been known as Guimet’s Blue, French Ultramarine Blue, and today it is simply known as Ultramarine Blue.

But I think that even without any of this history, Ultramarine Blue would still be the most used color after white on the artist’s palette.

Check out the link for the complete story!

https://gamblincolors.com/praiseofultramarineblue/

Source: Robert Gamblin

Head drawing by Vilppu (AKA Pat)

Source: Glenn Vilppu
http://vilppuacademy.com/2013/

Transcending Descriptive Realism: Fall 19

Art 116  Professor Zeggert, Fall 19
Final Painting Assignment

Transcending Descriptive Realism:
The over arching concept of your final painting needs to convey the theme and title:
Transcending Descriptive Realism (research and define the theme)

The painting should include the physical elements listed below:
A self portraiture

A glass of water

A light bulb

A window or door
Drapery, include a gravity inspired fold and a half-lock fold

Visually represent two food items from the following;  foods high in Potassium, Fiber, Calcium & Vitamin D, Fruits,Vegetables, Whole Grains, Milk, Seafood or Healthy Oils

Objectives:

Composition:
Create a unified picture that is representative of a college level final
(use the rule of thirds as the underlying frame work to help organize the elements).
https://www.jerrysartarama.com/blog/the-rule-of-thirds-a-rule-of-thumb/
http://char.txa.cornell.edu/language/principl/principl.htm
https://www.thoughtco.com/elements-of-composition-in-art-2577514
http://www.muddycolors.com/2013/03/10-things-about-painting-in-oils/
Craft a picture that represents the theme (TDR)
Demonstrate an understanding and the use of High and Low value keys
Demonstrate an understanding of color temperature and demonstrate a command of your palette
Manage your time, manage the project

Critical element: Interpreting and resolving the theme (TDR) is viewed as one of the primary challenges of this assignment and considered an exercise in problem solving.

Deadlines:

The Concept: Due-11/25 or 12/02 (you decide)
Begin the ideation process and create three thumbnails. In addition to the thumbs, summarize in a paragraph the definition of TDR and the role it plays in your painting! Typed and printed.
http://www.explore-drawing-and-painting.com/thumbnail-sketch.html
http://drawsketch.about.com/library/bl-thumbnail-sketching.htm
The function of ideation is to list and describe how you are going to solve the problem conceptually and visually, complete this to be reviewed and for a grade.
Progression: Due-12/09

The progression phase is defined as the painting being more than 50 percent complete.
This portion is worth 25 percent of grade of the painting.
Final: Due-December 16 at 1:00 pm

No harm is using photo reference, as long as you shoot it yourself and illuminate it correctly, plus make physical print outs.

Grade structure:
Thumbnails (five total): 25%
Progression: 25 %
The final painting: 50 %

Pit-falls to avoid:
Not completing the individual parts of the paint process. This painting is informed by research, critical thinking and problem solving. Not completing the research element or investing minimal time will impact the overall quality of the painting.
Not addressing the detail of the assignment.

Size:

24 x 36 inches

Inspiration:
“The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real.” 
― Lucian Freud

Tip: Research Vasily (Wassily) Kandinsky
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-kandinsky-wassily.htm
https://www.moma.org/artists/2981

The content of the Museum Visit Paper:

The Museum Visit Paper:

The content of the paper should include:

Introduction:
Be brief and to the point, write tight and bright.
Explain your museum choice include what compelled and drove you to the work you selected!

Comprehensive content:
Explain and define the painting and movement, the contributors and any social trends relevant to that period!
Contextualize your report, use the 3 (Is) framework, address the Impact, Interest and Importance of the painting.

The formal elements:Use the formal elements http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/formal_analysis.html as a foundation for your discussion, especially when discussing the esthetic of the painting, include opinion if appropriate! (ie; discuss color, medium, surface tension, brush stroke, include emotional and technical impact if relevant).

Conclusion:
Wrap it up, your conclusion should be historically rooted but infused with opinion, and there's no shortage of opinion in this class, so let it come through in this statement!!! This can be forward looking, too. Evaluate if  there's something you could extract from this exercise and apply it to your next painting!

Refer to the MLA style guide for style and citations:
Use the MLA Style Guide as your citation reference and for other traditional formatting questions: 
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7^th edition or later is fine, published by the
Modern Language Association of America (MLA).
You can find copies in the library’s reference and circulating collections,
call number PN147 .G53 2009. Or use link: 
http://sunybroome.info/library/guides/mla-style-guide

Objectives: Organize a thoughtful statement based on the visit, research and critical thinking.
Craft a minimum 400 word statement- must be typed and printed.
Include a selfie of you and your selected work, in-turn the image should be used as a cover-page for the report.
Cover-page should include, report title, painting title (proper citation), your name, the class and the date.

Statement due May 20 at 12:30 pm.

Have fun and be informed!

Qualifying museums:
Johnson Museum
Arnot Museum
Metropolitan Museum

Pre approval-
Binghamton, or other

Remaining Fall 2018 schedule

Professor Zeggert

Week 12

11/12- Class 1: In studio, Bread & Water Narrative –

11/14-Class 2: In studio, Bread & Water Narrative –Due at the end of class
2:00 pm--Assign Final: Transcending descriptive realism

HW: Create a pencil sketch of Vilpu's “Pat” on a (16 x 20 .5) canvas and bring it to the next class. The “Pat” handout is provided and posted on the blog. Print it as a 8.5 x 11 grayscale paper print-out and refer to it to make your drawing. Bring the paper copy and the drawn image to class. Strive to draw life-size. 

Week 13
11/19-Class 1: Portrait lecture with Pat handout. Adjust drawing if needed. Paint Pat with an inventive light source (16 x 20-.5) Using the Zorn palette

http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2011/07/zorn-palette.html
http://michaellynnadams.com/zorn-palette/

HW: Study portraits by John Singer Sargent

http://www.johnsingersargent.org/  
http://www.artchive.com/
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/sarg/hd_sarg.htm  
Bring to the next class: (20x24).2 Research Grisaille painting technique

http://www.artistsnetwork.com/articles/art-demos-techniques/working-up-from-a-grisaille

11/21- Class 2: Thanksgiving break!!!!
(Extra credit: large scale expressive portrait with extreme crop (24 x 36).2

Week 14
11/26-Class 1: In studio, Complete Pat with an inventive light source using the Zorn palette.

Remind Family and Friends of your final evaluation- giving them time to plan

11/28- Class 2: In studio, Paint Planes of the head, realized with Grisaille painting technique.
HW: Bring Medium sized Mirror to the next class-Self-portrait from life, yes, you and a mirror! Consider attaching the mirror to your easel or propping it up. Bring to the class: (20x24).2 Research Grisaille painting technique
(http://www.planesofthehead.com/

Week  15

12/03- Class 1: Half self portrait over planes of the head from previous class 

12/05- Class 2:  Half self portrait over planes of the head from previous class or TDR work session
TDR progression grade: Defined as the final painting developed to the point where it is at least 50 percent complete or at the halfway point. This worth 25 percent of your final grade and you must bring it to class for a grade.

Week  16
12/10-Class 1: TDR work session
12/12- Class 2: Stage gallery for final evaluation. Meet at the Gallery

Last class:
12/17- Final evaluation and party

Sir van Dyck and paint quailty

Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641), Painter

Sitter associated with 31 portraits
Artist associated with 1003 portraits
Sir Anthony van Dyck was by far the most influential painter to have worked in Britain during the seventeenth century. Flemish by birth, he found patronage in a number of European countries, but his longest stay was in England, which he made his home from the beginning of his second visit in 1632 until his death in 1641 (with a break back in Antwerp in 1634-5). While his predecessors from the Low Countries had brought to Britain hints of what painting might become, it was van Dyck who decisively turned British portraiture away from the stiff, formal 'iconic' approach of Tudor and Jacobean painting. In England he developed the distinctive fluid, shimmering style that was to dominate portraiture in Britain not just during the seventeenth century but right up until the early years of the twentieth century. Rewarded by his most famous patron, Charles I, with a knighthood, his enduring influence - and a sense that it would be impossible to better him - was universally recognised and remarked on not only by his contemporaries but also by his successors. 

http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp04604/sir-anthony-van-dyck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll6kXhHWDmw&feature=youtu.be

Source: NPG London

Art 116 FALL 2018 schedule UPDATED 11/04

Professor Zeggert
Week 4
09/17-Crit. Paint stick, In class- 8 x 10 .2 study- Consider distance and level.
Newer concepts: use (3 x greatest dim.) as a guide to help determine distance from the still life. Avoid pit-falls like level change and easel shift- (mark the floor to match the position of the easel).  Measure the distance from the floor to the surface of the still life and match the strength or power of your light source.
09/19- 8 x 10 study.3 in class
Homework: Complete an 8 x 10.4 oil study. Select two objects, correctly illuminate the still life with the goal to paint your objects with sculptural weight. 2-3 hour painting. Due next class.
Bring two objects to class on 9/24 to be used as props for an in-class project.
Bring to the next class, a (16 x 20 inch canvas.1)
(pre-ground or toned ground your canvas, review paint definitions)

Week 5
9/24- Class 1: Start the Skills painting in class for a grade

due at the end of class 10/1- (review assessment form)

9/26- Class 1: Complete the Skills painting in class for a grade

due at the end of class 10/1

(pre-ground or apply a toned ground to your canvas, review paint definitions)

Week 6

10/1- Class 1: Complete the Skills painting in class for a grade
due at the end of class 10/1
Bring to the next class, a (16 x 20 inch canvas.2)
10/3 Class 2: (Drape): 30 minute lecture, (take notes)

Colors:  Raw umber and white, objective is to match value, chair drape including gravity and half-lock folds

Bring toothpaste tube and 8 x 10 re-use to next class.

Week 7

10/08-Class 1: NO SCHOOL

10/10-Class 2: Complete drapery study-studio and/or begin toothpaste study-8 x10 re-use
Prepare for next class: Bring a (16 x 20 canvas .3-for color chart)- toned ground canvas-strive to achieve a middle value-Mandatory attendance.

Week 8
10/15- Class 1: Palette lecture, note taking and mixing exercise entire class-Mandatory attendance

HW: Bring to next class four Possessions, a crate size box, drape (color, size your choice) and your clamp light (optional).  (Pit-fall to avoid:  If you forget any of the items, you will be marked absent).

Four Possessions Portrait assignment:

This project includes a painting and two written statements, (typed and printed) to be completed for a grade.

(each element worth 100 points)

Due at the beginning of next class: First statement-based on study/research of French painter, Chardin, 1699-1779.  Type a 400 word statement profiling Chardin's life and work. Investigate and describe something you discovered about the artist related to still life painting and how it could be applied to your next assignment. 

Second Statement (reflective) due  at the beginning of class 10/29 and it must be typed/printed, min. 300 words. 

Content should include and define choice of objects, and how the they represent you. Decribe the paint process, use of color temperature, value and the physical properties of the paint.  Discuss problems, solutions, successes and failures and what adjustments you'll consider making for your next painting.

Bring pre-grounded or toned grounded (20 x24 canvas.1) to next class 

Color scale assignment:

Create color scales of your modified Zorn palette- use the palette page as reference-

16 x 20 inch canvas.3

Goal: First, mix the color in your palette, then paint the scale-

Due for a grade-Monday 10/17 at the beginning of class-

10/17- Class 2: Four Possessions, in studio paint day

Week 9

10/22-Class 1: Four Possessions, in studio paint day  

10/24-Class 2: Four Possessions, in studio paint day

Week 10
Week 10
10/29-Class 1: Four Possessions, in studio paint day (Painting due at the end of class)
Bring to next class (16 x 20 canvas .4)- toned ground
Also, bring your (16 x 20.3) color scales
10/31-Class 2: Bread and Water study-Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna plus White- Begin exercise in adapting colors.
Objectives: Color scales
Paint opaquely
Push the development of color options, examine warm vs cool, light vs dark.
Be aware of your mixture, devise a recipe-quarters, thirds, etc.-you decide- just know how to get to a color if requested.

Week 11
11/5- Bread and water oil sketch, in studio exercise completed at end of class
Assign Bread and Water narrative
Research: Thumbnail sketches and begin creating your reference photo board
Bring 22 x 28 canvas to next class plus three thumbnails for approval-(graded)
11/7- Bread and water, Narrative
Prep Museum visit: 
https://museum.cornell.edu/
https://www.arnotartmuseum.org/
https://www.metmuseum.org/
https://www.binghamton.edu/art-museum/
or suggest a museum for approval

Note taking

https://www.npr.org/2016/04/17/474525392/attention-students-put-your-laptops-away

Please read- class notes need to be taken in a traditional paper notebook.

Analysis of folds

One of sixteen drapery studies by Leonardo da Vinci

http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/drapery-seated-figure

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/leon/hd_leon.htm

Analysis of folds:
We will identify the basic/general types of folds and the characteristics that are associated with them.

In order to make your drapery study successful, it’s critical that you apply what you’ve learned through out the term. Consider the study of value, and light as the foundational aspects used to construct your paintings, as well as the fundamental elements that support the realization of drapery.

Key points:
Folds are impacted by the underlying form or structure. (ie, clothes on a figure, clothing draped over the back of chair, etc.).
The point of impact is also called the point of origin; fabric at the point of origin will have tighter, more taut and even linear characteristics.  Conversely, the further away from the point of origin the more the fabric will billow out, appear open and flow(ie), and subsequently less linear.

At its core, folds will take on the shape of a triangle. As a fundamental practice (tool) adhere to the concept of general to specific, and one would seek out triangular shapes to help establish the initial phase of the drawing.


Types of folds:

·       Gravity inspired (pipe-like)

·       Dual point of origin (diaper fold)

·       Half lock

·       Dead fold

Gravity inspired has a traditional look and feel and is best described and identified as having a tight and defined point of origin.  As the fabric flows from the point of origin the individual folds resemble a pipe or half-pipe shape. (ie, window drapery, fabric cinched at the waist, think pleat or waist area of a dress or simply, a piece of fabric hanging from a nail on the wall).

Dual point or diaper fold, I prefer to use the term dual point. Historically, a dual point fold was referred to as the diaper fold, either works.  Dual point folds have several points of origin have the same properties as gravity inspired folds.  Typically, between the two points you’ll encounter unusual qualities, somewhere between tight, linear folds and a billow. This is often called a Half lock, which I’ll cover next.

The primary characteristic of a Half lock fold is that the fold turns in on itself and acts as a strong indicator that something has changed.   A common place to find half lock folds is inside the bend of an elbow, back of the knee, bend at the waist.  The half lock possesses hard and soft edges plus tight characteristics that slightly billow out.

Dead fold is as it sounds, maybe the toughest fold to tackle, it consists of a bit of everything with limited direction.  Many dead folds are lumped piles of fabric with various folds responding to and acting as points of origins. (In short, it's defined as a mess).

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/387994

https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2015/neoclassical-drapery-studies

Painting folds:
As mentioned the fabric should be correctly illuminated revealing to you the value pattern of the fabric, it also allows you to see the pattern and characteristics of the folds. The energy and anatomy of the fold is a direct result of compression and expansion of the fabric.  Note the pipe folds resemble a wave like pattern, one portion compressing the other expanding; this pattern should correlate with a light/dark pattern.   As you investigate and discover the patterns, look for the characteristics that identify the action of the fold.  Also be cognizant of the recurring theme of change and respond to it.

A great indicator of compression and expansion is to sit or stand up straight and bend side to side.  One side of your torso will expand and the other will compress. This exercise resembles the energy of the folds you're describing.  

Review
Paint from general to specific: Address bigger, basic forms first-

A core requirement of painting from observation requires the artist to investigate the subject with the goal to see and analyze the subject.  It's reasonable to say that we will understand the subject better after continued study especially in contrast to the immediate response, (ie, your brain will have more visual information after two hours of observing the subject compared to five minutes of observation).  This observational concept supports the idea of painting from general to specific.

Being mindful of changes is a good rule (tool) of thumb when establishing major planes or shapes and defining values from observation.  The core idea is that you identify and react to the subject that you're painting.  In most cases if you identify a shift in value, seek out a planar change or change of direction. Conversely, if an element has changed, seek out a shift or transition in value. The changes or shifts could be a result of the subject turning away from you based on your position in space or it could represent a change in the physical structure of the subject.  Regardless, something has changed, respond to it and use the information defined as changes to help describe your subject and achieve sculptural weight.

Contributing source: Drawing drapery, Vilppu