AP Art: Calligraphy Art

We are beginning a collaborative project Calligraphy Art this week. The word calligraphy literally means beautiful writing. Before the invention of the printing press some 500 years ago, it was the way books were made. Each copy was handwritten out by a scribe working in a scriptorium. The hand writing was done with quill and ink onto materials like vellum or parchment. Today with the introduction of the internet, computers and modern communication, we are constantly influenced by the different styles of lettering and typefaces.

Students will choose a word and illustrate the word in a way that expresses it’s meaning. The letters should include the following principles of design: Emphasis, Spacial Balance and Unity, Expressive meaning in addition they may contain movement, rhythm and pattern. Students will write a short essay that describes the word used plus how and where you have used the principles of design. Here are some examples by Retna (below) and Jose Parla with JR (above).

Digital Media: Flextangles

In Digital Media we will be working with the STEAM projects Flextangles and taking them to the next level with digital media.  The Flextangle template is in the assignment drive or here online and we will use digital media such as digital drawing and photography to create our Flextangles in Adobe Photoshop.  The completed Flextangle should have 4 separate lines of images that correspond like a kaleidoscope.  We will design them then print and construct them as 3D objects.  The final product will be due on Thursday April 7.  Above is an example of what they look like and below is a video showing how they work from Babble Dabble Do.

Here is a demonstration that I created in class using street art I photographed in Brooklyn.  As you can see below the sections need to correspond to work properly as a 3D object.

Each student should use ORIGINAL images (your photographs) or drawings to create a creative flextangle in Photoshop one layer at a time.  When you are finished be sure to use the text tool and add your name in as well the we will print them out and assemble them in class later in the week. The last step is to follow the steps on the template and make it a 3D object which will be graded on Wednesday 1/17

The demonstration I made in class using photographs of street art that I took at 5 Pointz in Queens can be seen above, think of a fun and interesting way that you can design a flextangle that reflects your interests!

Drawing: Alphonse Mucha and the Zentangle

We began drawing in our sketchbooks today with a great drawing method known as the Zentangle which fills in space with different textures and patterns.  The specific type of pattern we learned is based on the great Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939).  We began by drawing out our name is a design font or script and filling in areas around it using Zentangle patterns such as the Mucha pattern shown in the video above.  This finished design will be due on Tuesday and will count as the first grade of the year.  Below is a great tribute painting to Alphonse Mucha by the street artist Mear One from La Brea, Los Angeles.

Media and Art Honor Society: Spring field trip

This Friday is our Media & Art Honor Society spring field trip and one of the show's we'll be seeing is JR's.  Above is a great video showing how he did the Times Square pasting last week.  Make sure you have you permission slip and check by tomorrow if you plan on joining us, it should be fun and informative!