TWO-DIMENSIONAL ART
CHAPTER 1	Jean-Michel Basquiat | Picasso
Last Supper is a mural painted by Leonardo da Vinci. It's located in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, and is a great example of perspective and the use of triangles.

DRAWING

Pietà per Vittoria Colonna

What do students learn from a good drawing class? They learn how to see. That might seem like a strange statement, but it's true, and it's the reason we should continue to teach drawing, and not pull funding for the subject. The best book on the subject is: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards (Preview this book »). This is the book that Disney and Pixar use to teach their computer animators how to draw. It was intended for people that think they have no talent, and can never learn to draw.

It's important to realize that the brain is active; it's not passive. In other words, your brain takes information sent to it by the senses, and constructs and interprets reality. According to neuroscience, the brain has two ways of perceiving and processing reality – one verbal and analytic, the other visual and perceptual. Edwards' method of drawing suppresses the verbal analytical tendency of viewing things. It disregards our preconceived notions of what the object should look like, and focuses on seeing what's really there.

What do you think you see, when you look at an object - lets say a person walking down the street. What do you directly see? Think very carefully now. Do you see a person walking - or a street? How could you actually see these things directly? The theory is that we see light reflected off objects; it passes through our eyes, and an electrical signal is sent to the brain. The brain then takes pixels of color, and constructs a person walking down the street. If you just focus on drawing, or painting pixels, you would immediately be able to create realistic pictures.

Photorealism

Types of Media for Drawing

Graphite:

 

England had the only pure deposit of graphite in the world. It was used to make rounder cannonballs; that gave the English navy an advantage as rounder projectiles fly farther. They took what they needed, and flooded the mine with water to prevent people from stealing the graphite. When they needed more, they drained the mine.

Today we can refine impure graphite, and England is no longer the only source.

Pencil Drawing by Jan Anders Nelson 1975-1976


Emanuele Dascanio
 

Charcoal:

 

 

Charcoal is produced by heating wood in the absence of oxygen. The final result is up to 98% carbon.

Charcoal can be smudged with your fingers - to achieve a sense of volume, three-dimensionality, and dramatic lighting. This is called chiaroscuro - Italian for light and dark. A resin is then sprayed over the drawing to fix the image.

View the drawings of Robert Longo: Robert Longo – Charcoal Drawings

 

Chalk:

 

Chalk is a sedimentary rock that is formed underwater. It's composed of calcium carbonate. 

It can also be smudged with your fingers - to achieve chiaroscuro.

Sidewalk Art (chalk and Perspective) - Video
 

Gaetano Gandolfi (1734–1802) Italian Baroque painter.
Cain and Abel - chalk on paper

Gaetano Gandolfi Seated Male Nude - chalk on paper

Gaetano Gandolfi (1734 - 1802) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque and early Neoclassic period.

 

Pastel:

 

Pastels consist of powdered pigments in a binder. These pigments are the same that are used in other art media. Their colors are vibrant, and their name is also used to describe the type of colors that pastels produce.

Pastels can also be smudge and worked with the fingers, but they require no spray fixative.

Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Portrait of Louis XV of France (1748)


Mary Cassatt - Sleepy Baby 1910

Edgar Degas - Ballet Dancers in the Wings

Jean Etienne Liotard (1702 at Geneva – 1789 in Geneva)
Swiss-French painter - Portrait of a Young Woman

 

WET MEDIA
 

Pen and Ink:

Different intensities can be created by diluting the ink.

Amedeo Modigliani - Ritratto di Donna Rossa
Pen and Ink

Michelangelo


Michelangelo Buonarroti - Satyr's Head

Bistre Ink was made by boiling large quantities of wood creosote (chimney soot). The preferred wood is beech, and the resulting ink is silky smooth - with warn golden brown colors.

Wash and Brush:

Ink is diluted with water, and washed onto paper with a brush.

Waterfall and Monkeys by Shibata Zeshin, 1872
The Lost Art of Tsujigahana The Kosode Fragment
Tsujigahana (辻ヶ花) is a Japanese fabric dyeing technique used on Kimonos. It originated in the Muromachi era, and incorporates an intricate tie dying technique called Shibori. The original Tsujigahana technique was lost. It lasted for two eras - from Muromachi to Edo periods (300 to 400 years). The art was recently recreated by Itchiku Kubota (1918-2003). His collection of eighty kimono, known as the Symphony of Light, displays the Four Seasons, Oceans, and the Universe.

	MEDIA

PAINTING

Watercolor:

Watercolor paint is fast drying, transparent, and is diluted with water.
 

 

Albrect Durer - A Young Hare, 1502 - watercolor

Van Goh 1883
 

Acrylic:

The pigments of acrylic paint are suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion. The paint is water soluble, and when diluting, the media is like watercolors. 

The paint is inferior because it's fast drying. Recent advancements have made this media as durable as oil paint. 



Oil Paint:

The pigments of oil paint are suspended in linseed oil. It can be diluted with linseed oil, turpentine, or varnish; varnish creates a glossy finish. Technically the oil never fully dries.

Oil is slow to dry, so the artist has ample time to work the paint, or wipe the paint off the canvass. Intense details, shading, and chiaroscuro can be created with this paint. Photo realism became possible with the invention of this media.

Oil Painting, "Pressure #1", 40" x 60" on canvas, 2017
by Jan Anders Nelson
 

The Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci

Landscape by Chen Chengpo, 1933
Note: Chinese oil painting is not a common practice.


Both Members of This Club George Bellows
 

Fresco:

Learn about Michelangelo's fresco technique.

In buon fresco pigments are mixed with water, and applied on wet lime mortar. The plaster serves as a binder. Because the plaster dries fast, this technique is done in sections. Colors are limited, because some pigments don't react well with lime.

Secco frescos are painted on dry plaster, so the pigments require a binder. Egg tempera was the most common paint used. Secco work is often done on top of a buon fresco to: give the work more detail, add a color unavailable with buon fresco (blue for example), and to correct mistakes. Unfortunately secco frescos don't last as long.

Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel (1508-1512)
What type of fresco did he use here?





 Was buon or secco used above?
 Collaborate:

Tempera:

Tempera is a fast drying paint, durable, and long lasting. Pigments are mixed with egg yolks, glue, or gum. This was replaced by the invention of oil paint.
 

Franz Marc - Red and Blue Horses, 1912, Tempera on Paper

Franz Marc (1880 – 1916) was a German painter and printmaker. He was one of the key figures of the German Expressionist movement.
 

PRINTING

Relief Etching:


 

In relief etching groves are cut into a plate or wood block (matrix). Ink is applied to the surface, and paper is pressed onto the surface. The ink on the raised areas transfers onto the paper. The cut out areas become the negative space.
 

THE BOOK OF URIZEN by William Blake, 1818

Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
Woodblock
 Katsushika Hokusai, Japan (1760–1849)

 

№	Image	English title	Japanese title
1		The Great Wave off Kanagawa	神奈川沖浪裏 Kanagawa oki nami-ura
2		South Wind, Clear Sky (also known as Red Fuji)	凱風快晴 Gaifū kaisei
3		Rainstorm Beneath the Summit	山下白雨 Sanka hakū
4		Under Mannen Bridge at Fukagawa	深川万年橋下 Fukagawa Mannen-bashi shita
5		Sundai, Edo	東都駿台 Tōto sundai
6		The Blue Mountain and Circle of Pine Trees	青山円座松 Aoyama enza-no-matsu
7		Senju, Musashi Province	武州千住 Bushū Senju
8		Inume Pass, Kōshū	甲州犬目峠 Kōshū inume-tōge
9		Fuji View Field in Owari Province	尾州不二見原 Bishū Fujimigahara
10		Ejiri in the Suruga Province	駿州江尻 Sunshū Ejiri
11		A sketch of the Mitsui shop in Suruga in Edo	江都駿河町三井見世略図 Kōto Suruga-cho Mitsui Miseryakuzu
12		Sunset across the Ryōgoku bridge from the bank of the Sumida River at Onmayagashi	御厩川岸より両国橋夕陽見 Ommayagashi yori ryōgoku-bashi yūhi mi
13		Sazai hall - Temple of Five Hundred Rakan	五百らかん寺さざゐどう Gohyaku-rakanji Sazaidō
14		Tea house at Koishikawa. The morning after a snowfall	礫川雪の旦 Koishikawa yuki no ashita
15		Below Meguro	下目黒 Shimo-Meguro
16		Watermill at Onden	隠田の水車 Onden no suisha
17		Enoshima in Sagami Province	相州江の島 Soshū Enoshima
18		Shore of Tago Bay, Ejiri at Tōkaidō	東海道江尻田子の浦略図 Tōkaidō Ejiri tago-no-ura
19		Yoshida at Tōkaidō	東海道吉田 Tōkaidō Yoshida
20		The Kazusa Province sea route	上総の海路 Kazusa no kairo
21		Nihonbashi bridge in Edo	江戸日本橋 Edo Nihon-bashi
22		Barrier Town on the Sumida River	隅田川関屋の里 Sumidagawa Sekiya no sato
23		Bay of Noboto	登戸浦 Noboto-ura
24		The lake of Hakone in Sagami Province	相州箱根湖水 Sōshū Hakone kosui
25		Mount Fuji reflects in Lake Kawaguchi, seen from the Misaka Pass in Kai Province	甲州三坂水面 Kōshū Misaka suimen
26		Hodogaya on the Tōkaidō	東海道保ケ谷 Tōkaidō Hodogaya
27		Tama River in Musashi Province	武州玉川 Bushū Tamagawa
28		Asakusa Hongan-ji temple in the Eastern capital [Edo]	東都浅草本願寺 Tōto Asakusa honganji
29		Tsukuda Island in Musashi Province	武陽佃島 Buyō Tsukuda-jima
30		Shichiri beach in Sagami Province	相州七里浜 Soshū Shichiri-ga-hama
31		Umegawa in Sagami Province	相州梅沢庄 Soshū umezawanoshō
32		Kajikazawa in Kai Province	甲州石班沢 Kōshū Kajikazawa
33		Mishima Pass in Kai Province	甲州三嶌越 Kōshū Mishima-goe
34		Mount Fuji from the mountains of Tōtōmi	遠江山中 Tōtōmi sanchū
35		Lake Suwa in Shinano Province	信州諏訪湖 Shinshū Suwa-ko
36		Ushibori in Hitachi Province	常州牛掘 Jōshū Ushibori

Additional 10

№	Image	English title	Japanese title
1		Goten-yama-hill, Shinagawa on the Tōkaidō	東海道品川御殿山の不二 Tōkaidō Shinagawa Goten'yama no Fuji
2		Honjo Tatekawa, the timberyard at Honjo	本所立川 Honjo Tatekawa
3		Pleasure District at Senju	従千住花街眺望の不二 Senju Hana-machi Yori Chōbō no Fuji
4		Nakahara in Sagami Province	相州仲原 Sōshū Nakahara
5		Ōno Shinden in the Suruga Province	駿州大野新田 Sunshū Ōno-shinden
6		Climbing on Fuji	諸人登山 Shojin tozan
7		The Tea plantation of Katakura in Suruga Province	駿州片倉茶園の不二 Sunshū Katakura chaen no Fuji
8		The Fuji from Kanaya on the Tōkaidō	東海道金谷の不二 Tōkaidō Kanaya no Fuji
9		Dawn at Isawa in Kai Province	甲州伊沢暁 Kōshū Isawa no Akatsuki
10		The back of Fuji from the Minobu river	身延川裏不二 Minobu-gawa ura Fuji

MOVABLE TYPE PRINTING

 

Johannes Gutenberg (1398–1468) was a German goldsmith, printer, and publisher. He invented movable type printing in 1439. The design of his press was taken from the wine screw presses at the time - see picture below. Before the invention of movable type, books were handwritten, or they were printed using the woodblock method.

WINE PRESS

Gutenberg Press

Movable Type

Intaglio (in-TAL-ee-oh):

Intaglio printing is the opposite of relief printing. The plate is inked, and the surface is wiped clean, so ink remains in the etched groves. Dampened paper is pressed onto the plate under great pressure - to force the paper into the groves. The ink in the groves transfers onto the paper.

This process can be done by cutting groves into the plate, or a resin can be applied to the matrix. Paper is placed on top of the matrix, and a drawing is done. Where the artist has drawn, the resin transfers onto the paper - leaving the metal plate exposed. The plate is soaked in acid, and the exposed areas are etched. The longer the plate is left in the acid, the deeper the groves, and the darker the printed area.

 

Printed Circuit Board

Click to learn how to aluminum foil and white vinegar

Planographic Printing:

The artist paints ink onto a flat unetched metal plate. Paper is pressed onto the plate. This creates a single onetime print.
 

Lithography:

Johann Alois Senefelder (1771–1834) was a German actor and playwright. Her invented lithography in 1796. VIDEO

Lithography is a planographic processes of printing  that uses a limestone matrix. The name comes from litho for stone - and graph to draw. The artist draws onto the stone with grease. Water is pored on the stone, and it's absorbed where there is no grease. An oil-based ink is applied to the surface. It's repelled by the water, and sticks to the grease.

Lithographs produce tiny dots of color, and trick the eye into seeing continuous tones.


Giclée Printing:

The word giclée (zhee-clay) is derived from the French word "gicler" to spray. Giclée is a process of sprayed ink. The resolution is far greater because when the ink is sprayed onto paper or canvass, and the colors blend together creating continuous tones.
 

Collage

Wangechi Mutu
 

PHOTOGRAPHY

Documentary Photography:

TANK MAN VIDEO

Photo by Jeff Widener (Associated Press), June 5, 1989.

The image is one of the most famous symbols of the 20th century. An anonymous man stopped a column of tanks in Beijing after the Chinese military forcibly removed protestors from Tiananmen Square the day before. See World Press Photos for more like this.

DOROTHEA LANGE (1895-1965)
Stock Photos
World Press Photos of the Year   Ami Vitale   Sacha Dean Bïyan - www.sachabiyan.com/flash.htm

 

Ashes and Snow by Canadian artist Gregory Colbert is an installation of photographic artworks, films, and a novel in letters that travels in the Nomadic Museum, a temporary structure built exclusively to house the exhibition. The work explores the shared poetic sensibilities of human beings and animals. To date, Ashes and Snow has attracted more than 10 million visitors, making it the most attended exhibition by a living artist in history.
 

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CONCRETE PHOTOGRAPHY

Erika Blumenfeld

Erica photographs light.

Tom Shannon

The painter and the pendulum

 

Francis Bacon:

Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion

RADIOLAB - ON MEMORY

http://www.joeandoe.com

Wangechi Mutu

 

FUNNY

Pulitzer Prize Editorial Cartooning

 

CHILD PRODIGY

Marla Olmstead

Alexandra Nechita

 

EBOOKS

 

THE PRACTICE & SCIENCE OF DRAWING
BY HAROLD SPEED