Category Archives: Ceramics 1

Thumbnail Sketches in Art

Posted on by

Taken from http://victoriatorf.com/media_design/thumbnails_sketches.html

Thumbnail Sketches — Shorthand Drawing for Artists

Thumbnail Sketches are Shorthand Notes for Artists: 
Thumbnail sketches are drawing quick, abbreviated drawings. Usually, they are done very rapidly and with no corrections – you can use any medium, though pen or pencil is the most common. Thumbnails sketches are usually very small, often only an inch or two high.

Thumbnails are Memory Aids and Planning Tools: 
Thumbnail sketches can serve as a memory aid to help you remember important features of a subject, when making notes for a painting or drawing. They are also useful when visiting a gallery, to help you remember important pieces. Ofen artists use thumbnail sketches to plan pictures. You can quickly experiment with format and composition, placing just the major features – such as the horizon and any large objects, and indicating movement and balance.

 

How to Draw a Thumbnail Sketch: 
Imagine your subject or picture stripped of all details, through squinted eyes, or in poor light. All you see are big rough shapes and some lines. Thats all you need for a thumbnail. First, sketch a rough box, smaller but in the same proportions as the finished picture might be. Then sketch in the horizon line, hills, or any major verticals or horizontals. The outline any key shapes, and quickly hatch in any strong dark areas. There are no right or wrong ways – that’s my approach, and it might work for you.

What is the value of thumbnails?
A quote from a convert:

“In this assignment I really felt the good use of doing thumbnails. The whole process of sketching, first by hand and then digitally, really paid off. The final design wasn’t in my mind at all when I started. But after making all of those sketches, all of the sudden it was just there.” MA

Thumbnails can be Colored:
Thumbnail sketches are a great way to plan color schemes. Use marker, colored pencil or watercolor to put in major areas of color in your picture. Small but intense colors can also be noted, as these can attract the eye, but don’t get bogged down with detail.

Making Notes and Working Drawings:
Once you’ve done your thumbnail sketch, you might want to make some notes alongside it. If at a gallery, you can record the artist’s name and the title, along with your thoughts about the painting. If sketching outdoors, you might record notes about the position of the sun, the particular colors, or make additional sketches to show small details. If you are planning a painting, you might want to do a working drawing. A working drawing is usually fairly large, sometimes as big as the finished piece, and carefully composed. The subject is sketched in, and potential problem areas might be done in more detail. This is where you can fine-tune your drawing before embarking on the finished piece.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Styrofoam Sculpture: Engaging the Space

Posted on by

Consider the Elements and Principles of 3D Art & Design.

  1. Generating Ideas: 
    • Choose 3 areas to work on in the Studio Habits of Mind Rubric.
    • Begin by exploring this new material.
    • Try out different ways to manipulate, cut, attach, and glue the pieces together.
  2. Researching:
    1. Think about your Theme/Subject
                                 Google Search: Styrofoam Cup Sculpture
                                 Google Search: Styrofoam Cup Relief
    2. What type of sculpture do you want to make?:
                             1.   Relief: Sculpture that extends from a surface, like the wall
      2.   In the Round: Sculpture that can be viewed from all sides
    3. What techniques will you use?
  3. Visual Development
    Create a sketch in your sketchbook for your design.
  4. Final Design
    Requirements:
    Must create an artwork that shows:
    a. experimentation with materials
    b. intentional Positive & Negative Space development
    c. completed artwork with a completed design
    d. artwork is interesting from all sides
    e. Constructed neatly and carefully
  5. Refinement: 
    • When you have completed the majority of your project, make sure you begin refining your design. Think about the following things:
      • Clean up your glue areas, making sure there are no messy areas that is tract from your design.
      • Make sure that you have GOOD CRAFTSMANSHIP in your cut out areas.
      • Make sure that you have GOOD CRAFTSMANSHIP when gluing/attaching the project together (construction). Ask three people around the room if they notice any areas that need attention.
      • Continue to analyze your project to see if any areas need to be refined or changed to fit the project rubric requirements (refer to the Studio Habits of Mind and your chosen 3 areas).
  6. Evaluation:
    • Turn in pictures of your completed work on Your Edublogs.org Blog.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Empty Bowls

Posted on by

emptybowls

North Texas Food Bank Website

North Texas Food Bank Facebook

Empty Bowls is a fundraiser for the North Texas Food Bank. People pay to attend and pay extra to get a handmade bowl specifically made and donated by area schools and artists. They have an auction for the really awesome bowls and vases donated to the cause. People come and enjoy food from vendors and pick out their bowls and give money to feeding the hungry.  We are going to participate this year in making bowls for this occasion.  The bowls need to have smooth edges (nothing left sharp) and be finished in some way with glaze, paint, or stain. They need your signature on the bottom and will represent your school.

Assignment:

Create at least 2 bowls with smooth edges and finished with glazes. Preferably ^6 (cone 6) glazes for durability. Pick the best one to donate to Empty Bowls.

  • At least 6″ in diameter
  • Smooth edges
  • Sign the bottoms
  • Finish with glaze, paint, or stain
  • Best one goes to Empty Bowls
  1. Post 3 Sketches for bowls to your blog. Due tomorrow.
  2. Post Greenware to your blog. Due next Friday.
  3. Post Glazeware to your blog.

Throwing Bowls on the Wheel

Ideas for bowls:

Pinterest Board Ceramic Bowls

Slab Bowls:

Wheel Thrown Bowls:

Coil Bowls:

Dip Bowls:

Altered Bowls:

Bowls with Texture:

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Test Tile

Posted on by

test tile

  1. Roll a slab of clay 1/4″ thick using one of the slab rollers in the classroom.
  2. Cut out a 6″ x 6″ square using a ruler.
  3. Create 9 (2″ x 2″) spaces on the tile. (Measure at 2″ and 4″ on each side. Line up the measurements and push the side edge of the ruler into the clay to create grooves that split the square into 9 equal spaces. Make sure the grooves don’t go more than halfway deep into the clay. Keep the grooves shallow or your test tile will fall apart.)
  4. Test out your stamps in each square. Only press into the clay until it leaves and impression.
  5. Number each square 1-9.
  6. Put your name/initials and class period on the back.
  7. Photograph it and post it to your blog under the title “Test Tile”.
  8. Turn in the link to Google Classroom.
  9. Turn it in to the cart in my office.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Stiff Slab Box

Posted on by

Requirementsceramic boxes example2:

  1. Must be at least 6″ in length in one direction (height OR width OR depth)
  2. Must have a lid (knob & feet optional)
  3. Must have carvings/sgraffito work

Pre-AP Requirements:

  1. Must be at least 6″ in length in one direction (H or W or D)
  2. Must have a lid (knob & feet optional)
  3. Must be a non-square form (example: triangle, heart, cylinder)

Creating the Sides:

Building the Box:

Cleaning Up the Box:

Cutting the Lid/Design:

Print Friendly, PDF & Email