Untitled 7

VA3100 MEETINGS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3RD

FA411 (My Office)

Please bring a brief written statement (half a page to a page) on what you learned this term in VA3100.

It is imperative that you attend your meeting

at the sheduled time.

Meetings cannot be re-scheduled.

8: 30 AM: Devan Burry

9:00 AM: Jill Hartley

9:30 AM: Manuel Gutierriez

10:00 AM: Claire Jeans

10:30 AM: Ellen Tomie

11:00 AM: Kyle Bustin

Visiting Artist Reed Weir

Students can sign up to meet with visiting artist Reed Weir on Thursday, Nov 12 or Friday, November 13, here:

http://www.doodle.com/sw6hzgvxuymy9xzq

Be sure to attend her public lecture on Thursday, November 12 at 7:00 p.m. in Room FA224.

Info on ‘Place’

The PBS series, art:21, includes an episode on ‘Place’:

How does contemporary art address the idea of place? How do artists working today reveal and question commonly held assumptions about land, home, and national identity? The Art:21 documentary “Place” explores these questions through the work of Laurie Anderson, Richard Serra, Sally Mann, Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen, and Pepón Osorio.

More info can be found here.

Drawing and Painting MUCEP Wanted

I encourage anyone in VA3100 who is interested in being the MUCEP for Drawing & Painting to drop off a short resume to Linda ASAP or send it to me by email. Thanks.

Qualifications: must be able to work independently; be responsible, motivated, organized and take initiative preferably taken VA Introductory Painting; woodshop skills, including floor tools some photo, research and computer skills would be an asset.

Responsibilities: maintain still life materials and props; compile and post MSDS (safety) materials; maintain inventory of Painting & Drawing equipment; assist profs with: imagery for presentations, library & internet research, still life set-up, prep, modelling stands, etc. demos for classes; monitor solvent dumps | clean model cloths periodically; other duties as needed.

Project 1: PLACE

PAINTING ON THE THEME OF PLACE

Due Date: Thursday, October 8, 2009

In our course text read the introduction as well as the chapter on ‘Place’. Consider how the theme has been explored by artists in other media and how it might be productively dealt with in the medium of painting. As you read the text keep your Process Diary on hand and jot down ideas, make quick sketches or diagrams, and record thoughts or quotes that might inform your thinking or feed your imagination. Consider multiple approaches and don’t settle on the first idea that occurs to you. You might come back to it later, but the default solution is often not the best one. Do additional reading on the artists mentioned in the text and/or other artists to augment your understanding.

Challenge yourself. Push yourself into new territory. Avoid the temptation to repeat past successes. Take risks even if it means you might fail. The purpose of this course, after all, is to learn. Do some intensive brainstorming to allow for fresh thinking and the possibility of unlikely solutions and new conceptual linkages. Consider what the idea of ‘Place’ means to you, both as an individual or perhaps as a member of a ‘group’. Consider the limitations imposed by a literal approach. Try to find or create meaning on a number of levels. ‘Places’ can be any or all of the following: real, imaginary, mythical, remembered, and so forth. Consider working with a ‘place’ that you are not already familiar with…either a real place or and imagined one. What if you could go anywhere in the world to do your research? Where would it be? What would it be like? Consider the imaginary places that have appeared in literature. Remember, the ‘place’ does not have to be a physical ‘place’.

Assess the time that is available and how much time will be needed to complete the project as you conceive it. They should match. The scale, complexity and technical demands of the work need to fit the time that has been allotted for the project. Do not extend the research phase beyond what is reasonable thereby allowing insufficient time to complete the project as you envision it.

Part of the project includes preparing an 8-minute presentation to be delivered on the due date of October 8. Your work should be completed, set up and ready for discussion before class on that day.

Size: At least 32” on shorter side unless concept dictates otherwise.

Medium: Oil on canvas or multi-media with painting emphasis.

FREE RICE ART QUIZ!

Check out the link on the right of this page and take the Free Rice Art Quiz. For each answer you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated to the United Nations World Food Program.

Rhetorical Devices

A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples

Zen thought

Using Art Materials Safely

Daniel Smith’s Guide to Using Potentially Harmful Art Materials Wisely and Safely

In recent years, artists have become much better informed about the potential hazards of the materials with which they work. Many artists, particularly those who have had allergic reactions or health conditions caused by certain materials, are switching to less toxic media. Others are taking precautions they might not have previously considered. Labeling of art materials has improved considerably, too, spurred by the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act of 1988.

As with other health issues, the art hazards information presented in the media can seem alarming, or focus on one risk while minimizing others. This leaflet looks at the basics of safe materials use and gives some resources for finding more specific information. An awareness of hazards you may have overlooked, common sense, and a resolve to change some bad habits (which is, of course, the hardest part!), can greatly improve your studio safety.

Two excellent books which give specific in-depth information on the whole range of art materials hazards are: The Artistic Complete Health and Safety Guide by Monona Rossol, and Artist Beware by Michael McCann.

Oil Painting

Many painters have switched from oils to watercolors or acrylics. This can be a frustrating transition, and in many cases a switch can be avoided. Simply altering the way you work with oils can substantially reduce the risks associated with the medium. Here are some suggestions for safer oil painting.

Reduce solvent exposure

When working with oils, the main toxins encountered are the solvents. Many of us have seen artists who have sworn off using lead white, are cautious about cadmiums, and paint wearing latex gloves, but who continue to work with an open can of turpentine nearby. Turpentine, Mineral Spirits, Odorless Mineral Spirits, and Citrus Thinner are all toxic solvents, and can all contribute to long-term health problems. Of them, Odorless Mineral Spirits is the safest, since the aromatic hydrocarbons have been removed. Narcosis-sleepiness and dizziness-is the most frequent symptom of solvent exposure.

Really good ventilation is important when using any of these solvents; exhaust fans and open windows are helpful. If good air movement cannot be provided, a new product on the market, called Nox-Out, may help. Nox-Out is a molecular absorber that works by adhering molecules of solvents or other airborne hazards to small pellets within a closed chamber. It is surprisingly effective, but it must be positioned within about 18″ of the solvent container.

Always use as little solvent as possible. Consider using separate brushes for various colors rather than washing a brush in turpentine before reloading with each different color. Since most oil colors dry slowly, brushes used for separate colors can be used for several days without cleaning. Just wipe off excess paint when necessary.

For washing brushes, use sparing amounts of solvent, or try some of the new non-toxic or less-toxic brush cleaners that are now available. Some oil painters modify their paints only with linseed oil and use baby oil, followed by soap and water, to clean up their brushes, knives and hands.

Always keep containers tightly lidded when you are not actively using them. Painting mediums and varnishes also contain solvents, so take appropriate precautions when using them, too. Read (and heed) label warnings carefully, and ensure adequate ventilation both as you paint or varnish and as the paint or varnish dries.

Alkyd paints and mediums contain solvents, making them more hazardous than conventional oil paints.

New products such as the MAX Grumbacher Oil Colors, which clean up with water, provide further alternatives to oil painters who wish to reduce solvent exposure.

Minimize skin contact with paints and pigments. Some paints contain hazardous pigments. Lead and cadmiums get the most press, but all pigments which contain heavy metals (including cobalt, chromium, manganese and mercury) are toxic to some degree. Daniel Smith paints use low soluble, chemically pure cadmiums which contain less than one part per million soluble cadmium, greatly reducing potential health risks.

It is important to read the labels on your paint tubes. While it’s easy to avoid a paint called Lead White, you may not realize that some Naples Yellow formulations include lead. Most manufacturers now include health labeling on their tubes which will alert you to specific hazardous components.

Latex gloves or protective creams minimize contact and possible absorption of paint or solvents, and have become increasingly popular with artists. They also cut cleanup time.

Although many artists like to mix their own paints, using premixed paints is much safer than grinding and mixing powdered pigments, which are easily airborne. If you do want to mix your own paints, we recommend using a respirator and gloves, and observing scrupulous studio hygiene. Clean your hands with one of the new non-toxic solvents, special hand cleaning soaps, or baby oil followed by soap and water.

Avoid ingesting toxins. It may seem obvious, but eating, drinking and smoking should be avoided while painting. Never store food with studio materials.

Store materials properly

Buy only what is needed for a relatively short period of time. Mark containers with the purchase date, so older inventory can be used first. Read and follow manufacturers’ storage instructions. Store solvents in their original containers or approved safety storage containers with labels. Never store them in glass, in open containers or next to a heat source such as a vent, radiator, furnace or stove.

MindMapping

Mind Mapping/ Concept Mapping:

The general idea:

In short, you will write a lot of different terms and phrases onto a sheet of paper in and link the words together into a sort of “map” or “web” that forms groups from the separate parts. To really let yourself go in this brainstorming technique, use a large piece of paper or tape two pieces together. If you don’t have big paper at the moment, you can get by an 8 1/2 x 11 page as well.

How to do it:

Take your sheet(s) of paper and write your main topic in the center, using a word or two or three. Moving out from the center and filling in the open space any way you are driven to fill it, start to write down, fast, as many related concepts or terms as you can associate with the central topic. Jot them quickly, move into another space, jot some more down, move to another blank, and just keep moving around and jotting. If you run out of similar concepts, jot down opposites, jot down things that are only slightly related, or jot down your grandpa’s name, but try to keep moving and associating. Don’t worry about the (lack of) sense of what you write, for you can chose to keep or toss out these ideas when the activity is over.

*Once the storm has subsided and you are faced with a jumble of terms and phrases, you can start to cluster. Circle terms that seem related and then draw a line connecting the circles. Find some more and circle them and draw more lines to connect them with what you think is closely related. When you run out of terms that associate, start with another term. Look for concepts and terms that might relate to that term. Circle them and then link them with a connecting line. Continue this process until you have found all the associated terms. Some of the terms might end up uncircled, but these “loners” can also be useful to you. (Note: You can use different colored pens/pencils/chalk for this part, if you like. If that’s not possible, try to vary the kind of line you use to encircle the topics; use a wavy line, a straight line, a dashed line, a dotted line, a zigzag line, etc. in order to see what goes with what.)

There! When you stand back and survey your work, you should see a set of clusters, or a big web, or a sort of map: hence the names for this activity. At this point you can start to form conclusions about how to approach your topic. There are about as many possible results to this activity as there are stars in the night sky, so what you do from here will depend on your particular results.