Assignment 3: Discussion and Experimentation
By Saturday, October 10, respond to all three PARTS of this assignment. Submit your responses to the appropriate Discussion Area. Be sure to give the reasoning behind your responses.
Part 1
Study the following three pastel paintings. You are not being asked to duplicate them, just to analyze how they are done. Using your pastels, try the techniques mentioned in the lectures and in these three paintings. Try at least six of the techniques shown in your textbook. Use six of your teapot-teacup thumbnail sketches as basic layouts for each of your compositions. Each week you will be using layouts from your fifty thumbnails as you experiment with each medium. At the end of the course you will create a poster or postcard compiled of all the compositions to showcase your work in this class. Provide a verbal description of the techniques used on each composition.
Be sure to spray them lightly with fixative before scanning. Once these images are scanned place them in one document (DOC or PDF will be fine). Use your name as the first word of your file, and submit three compositions of your most interesting work to the Discussion Area. Think about using some of the compositions you completed as part of your teapot/teacup assignment last week. Submit your work as early as possible to the Discussion Area.
Part 2
Think about the following discussion points. Post your thoughts on any 2 of them in the Discussion Area. Your response should be no more than three paragraphs long. You may then respond to your classmates’ comments by the end of the week and submit your response to the Discussion Area. Try some of the techniques that others liked and report your results. You may also let us know about any new discoveries you have made since your initial response.
1) Of the pastel techniques you tried from the lesson and text, which one do you find most interesting? Why?
2) Did you discover any additional tips or tricks for using these techniques?
3) Did you discover any additional techniques not shown in the lesson or text? Tell us about them.
4) If there is a concept of using pastel, how can it be improved?
5) Share links to demos or tutorials showing pastel techniques. What did you learn from these and how can others benefit?
Part 3
Choose one painting and discuss what message the color or combination of colors tell us about the scene portrayed? In other words, does the color imply mood and/or tell a story or does it come down to a personal preference?
Note: Discuss any challenges you encounter in this assignment or any other assignment in this course in the “Problems and Solutions” Discussion Area. Also share useful tips and tricks and possible solutions to problems posted by your peers in this forum. The “Problems and Solutions” Discussion Area will be present each week. Therefore take advantage of this discussion forum as much as possible.
Gruver Wk1As3 1-6 Teapots
I had fun with this assignment. I had purchased cheap pastels from Hobby Lobby and I’m not entirely pleased with the color values. I think I will have to scrounge up some money and invest in a set that has deeper hues.
Here are the first six thumbnails of the teapot composition project:
Here are my 6 pieces made with dry chalk pastel:
