Level two and three photography post lock down moving forward

1) Completing your Photography bingo tasks. 

Several tasks were placed online for you to complete as basic and quick photos that could even be taken on your cell phone. These didn't need to be great or hugely technical, but even at a 'just complete' level would generate enough evidence for 2.2. Please continue to work on these over the course of the year. 

2) Making these tasks relate back to your kaupapa

If your kaupapa is distilled down to one to two words, how does this then translate into the following:

-Focal point

-Leading lines

-Gestalt

-Space

What have you got as photographic 'drawings' (quick snaps essentially) that actually represents these things from a more abstract point of view?

Sally Mann outside her photo studio on the family farm in Virginia.Credit...Leslye Davis for the The New York Times 2015

-Focal point - eyes of the subject

-Leading lines - blurred and then slowly in focus foliage, the way her hair frames her face on the right-hand side

-Gestalt - by using monochrome (black and white) and by placing the subject in an  over lengthened landscape format, close up, and by using a low aperture number, the gestalt is quite intimate, we are being slowly welcomed into her thoughts

-Space - Because there is texture in those blurred leaves, it feels quite 'full'. However, the clarity of the face gives you a clear understanding of what is positive and what is negative space. 

kaupapa = you are invited into her thoughts. It's an invitation to understand her better.

I make this presumption knowing it is the header image chosen for a story that the subject (Sally Mann) wrote about her own work for the New York Times in 2015. I have used prior knowledge along with my short analysis. 

IOKA 2004, Edith Amituanai, c-type photograph

-Focal point - the girl/subject

-Leading lines - the shadows cast by the doorway onto the ceiling above her head, echoed asymmetrically by the dark tone of the door on the left-hand side. 

-Gestalt - the candid nature of the photograph, the bright colours of the subject contrasted against the grey sombre tones of the room around her, her sideways downcast eyes avoiding the camera and consequently, the viewers gaze, the presumption that she is serving someone tea, a normal household duty presumably. 

-Space - the subject is centrally placed and holding two cups. she rises from the base of the image and 

Kaupapa = Everyday life in Ioka's family. Her role, her place her walking forward into it. 

3) Moving forward with your folio work using the internals to justify it. 

Make sure every time you plan work, your focal point, leading lines, gestalt and use of space all count towards how your kaupapa speaks. These should all originate from the photographers you have already studied. Make it all link together. 

Level Two/Three Painting next steps post lock down

1) Completing your Painting bingo tasks. 

Several tasks were placed online for you to complete as basic and quick drawings. These didn't need to be great or hugely technical, but even at a 'just complete' level would generate enough evidence for 2.2. Please continue to work on these over the course of the year. 

2) Making these tasks relate back to your kaupapa

If your kaupapa is distilled down to one to two words, how does this then translate into the following:

-Line

-Mark-making

-Colour

-Space

What have you got as drawings that actually represents these things from a more abstract point of view?

"On the wire" by Harvey Thomas Dunn 1917 oil on board

Space - eerie

Mark making - patchy, bitsy

Colour - fairly monochrome

Line - undefined, quite smudged. 

kaupapa = World war one and the desperation of the war, hopelessness, the loneliness felt by the average soldier. 

"Les Demoiselles D'Avignon" Picasso, 1906-07, oil on canvas

Space - tilted up, shallow

Mark making - bold, unrefined, not neat, but not messy. Really confident as it is.

Colour - fairly simple, defies the colour theory of warm in front, cool in the back.

Line - sharp and angular

Kaupapa = presentation of prostitutes upfront and in your face (these women were, in fact, prostitutes, who were considered less-than). Their 'primitive' appearance with the tribal mask on one (wouldn't be acceptable in today's climate) speaks to the primitive nature of sex, sexual need/desire and yet societies inability to accept these women or their work as it was. Generally, they were meant to be hidden away not paraded as proud, strong, and right 'there'. Lack of space within the picture space could represent that there is no room to run away from this truth of who they are and where they are. 

3) Moving forward with your folio work using the internals to justify it. 

Make sure every time you plan a work, your lines, marking, colour, space all count towards how your kaupapa speaks. these should all originate from the Artists you have already studied. Make it all link together. 

Wet media works - using water colour to draw with

This idea is around being expressive and showing you have learnt your subject. It takes confidence in your mark-making decisions, as you cant erase them!

The first rendition here would achieve excellence, the other two (which are just additions to the first one) would also be suitable for excellence. any could feature on your folio. 

Natural colours haven't been used, dark, mid and light tones within a triadic colour scheme however, have been used. 

Where the points on the triangle sit are where you find a triadic colour scheme. It is a way of plotting a consistently good colour scheme when you know you want a balance of warm, cool and neutral. 

What can you do with your subject matter that presents these opportunities? This will be evidence for 1.2 and your folio. 

Level one charcoal drawing

Using charcoal can be messy, and gaining detail can feel almost impossible.

You have to remember it is NOT like drawing with pencil. Shade, tone and texture are way more important. 

The images of the cone and cylinder for your 1.2 are done from a mid-tone point of view. this means you add highlights and depth, not mid-tones and depth of tone, like you would if you were starting on plain white paper. 

 

 

For points of detail, use a charcoal pencil. For areas you want whiter than you can achieve with an eraser, use the white charcoal pencils. 

Experiment with the media you have rather than just trying to achieve realistic detail.