Assignment #1

Dia De Los Muertos Project

Your first assignment will be based on art related to Dia De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead. Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday and is typically celebrated from October 31st through November 2nd. The holiday focuses on the gathering of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. Traditions associated with the holiday include building altars called ofrendas, honoring the dead using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the deceased, and visiting graves with these as gifts. What I find most interesting about Day of the Dead celebrations is that the tone is often quite humorous and much of the art associated with this event reflects this. In other words, during this celebration, people try to remember the departed by reflecting on the joy that they brought into the world. Although the  craftsmanship of your artwork should be high, I will expect the overall attitude of the painting to be light-hearted in nature. 

Objective: Create a painting  that is based on the imagery and spirit of Day of the Dead holiday art.

Note: Although I will show you many examples or Day of the Dead art throughout this presentation, I would also suggest that you research on your own. 

Periods 1 -2: 

• The first step will be to create a backround for your painting. This step is the easiest and you should remain loose and experimental during this part. 
• Using the Reeves tube watercolors, mix large quantities of whatever colors you wish. You can limit yourself to a few colors or try to incorporate as many as possible... it is up to you. 
• Create a random and experimental background. Cover the entire area and leave nothing blank. Let the colors mix and blend. Play with individual areas and experiment with different ways of applying the watercolor. You will learn a lot about its nature this way. 
• Before you beign, watch the following youtube video on wet in wet technique for watercolor:

• Now that you have watched the video, I would like you to use this technique, or something close to it, in order to create your background. Use the example on the right as a guide (ignore the sugar skulls and flower imagery for now and simply focus on the background):
• Note: Mixing colors that are opposite on the color wheel such as blue and orange will produce muddy, greyish colors. You may want to select colors that are close to each other on the color wheel. 
• Note: You do not need to wet the entire paper like she does in the video. Only wet the areas you are going to be working in.

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Periods 3-4:

• Now it is time to start developing the foreground imagery. Typically, Day of the Dead artwork involves skeletons, sugar skulls, and flowers such as in the example on the left.
• We will start with skulls. Remember, all of your initial drawings should be completed on seperate sheets of drawing paper and you will tranfer them later to the project paper that has your watercolor background.
• First, learn how to illustrate skulls. Google "how to draw skulls step by step". 
• Select a style or even several styles you are interested and begin drawing in pencil. Remember, draw each skull on a seperate sheet of paper. 
• Draw four or five skulls of different sizes. Keep in mind your project paper is very large. It does not matter to me whether or not they are all in the same style. 
• Typically, sugar skulls are heavily decorated. Do not worry about color or decorating them with flowers and designs at this point; that will come later. Remember, keep it light-hearted (don't get evil on me).
• Here are some examples:

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Periods 5-6:

• Now that we have skulls down its time to move to skeletons. Remember, all of your initial drawings should be completed on seperate sheets of drawing paper and you will tranfer them later to the project paper that has your watercolor background.
• Google "how to draw skeletons step by step." Select a style that fits you. Keep it simple. We are not looking for heavily detailed drawings here. Learn how to illustrate a skeleton in a fun and creative way. 
• Draw them in various positions. You may want to have them singing, dancing, playing instruments, etc. Be sure to take that into consideration. What do you want to have them doing? Are you going to tell a story?
• Here are some more examples:

Persiods 7:

• Its time for the third element, flowers. Research flower designs. 
• Draw out different size flowers. Decorate your sugar skulls if you have not already done so. 
• Note: You may or may not want to use your practice flower drawings to transfer. It may be easier to free-hand them into place later. But, I want you to find types of flower drawings that interest you and have them ready to go for the final draft. 
• Here are some more examples:   

Periods 8 - 9:

• It is now time to begin the final draft. The first step in this process is drawing. You will draw, or transfer directly onto your final draft paper. You will now have to make decisions about the narrative of the picture. In other words, what is the story? Why are all these elements being put together the way they are? You do not have to incorporate all of the visual elements we drew. 
• Note: It is not easy to erase pencil off of watercolor. Draw lightly and with a purpose. This is why I assigned a lot of practice drawing before-hand. 
• Use the example below as a guide to how the final product will look. Remember, you are advanced so use the example below as only a basic guide. 

Periods 10 - ?:

• It is now time to paint your foreground imagery with tempera. You may use any and all colors you wish. 
• Use only the open paints. Make sure you shake each color thoroughly. 
• Important: Be precise when painting. If you work into the background it will change the complextion of the art. Use small tip brushes and be patient to ensure precision. 
• Very Important: Take a photo each day until we complete this project. Part of your grade will be putting together a journal of this project.

Assignment #2

Dia De Los Muertos Mirror

Since you have chosen to take advanced art, I would assume that you have an interest in pursuing a career in the arts. Many jobs in the field of visual art involve marketing and selling one's own work. It is very important that artists and designers take into considerations what their clients will want. Therefore, we will take advantage of the fact that Halloween is upon us and we just completed a project that relates very closely to it. Many people love to decorate their houses for halloween and will spend a lot of money to do so. 
You will create an etched mirror, based upon Day of the Dead imagery, that we will sell at Haunted High. After cost, if your mirror sells, you will keep all profit.
 
Objective: To create an etched mirror, based on a Day of the Dead theme, that has strong potential for resale. 

Note: Your design should be based on what you think will turn a profit... it should not be created for your own personal interests. I will be basing the majority of your project grade on this concept. Think about what people might want when they decorate their homes for halloween. 

Periods 1 - 4:

• Create a design on 12 x 12" paper using pencil
• Paint design using black watercolor. 
• Prep for transfer if time permits. 

Assignment #3

Cartoon Portrait

This may be the most challenging project you will have this year. We will be combining two projects from Beginning Art, the Self-Portrait and the Cartoon Painting. You will need to develop a cartoon likeness of yourself. We will begin with a series of drawings. Then, we will apply color and experiment with these drawings. Finally, you will execute a finished portrait of your cartoon likeness using tempera paints. 

Objective: To paint a convincing, cartoon style self-portrait. 

Note: The key to cartooning is to decide early on a style, and then exagerate your key features in your caricature. Then, you must be committed to drawing in this style throughout. You should use a mirror or a picture of yourself throughout the entire process.

Periods 1 - 4: 

• Research. Google search cartooning basics. Look at various styles and practice the appropriate techniques. 
• It will probably take you several tries before you get a result your happy with. You'll know it's a good result when people look at your drawing and say "hey, that's you!!!." Begin with a basic pencil sketches focusing only on your head and face.  

• Once you've accomplished this task, create some more pencil sketches until you produce a convincing full-length portrait.