Digital Drawings
Part One: Photoshop Brushes
Start by making a new file that is 1000 x 1000 pixels, rgb color. Experiment with a variety of photoshop brushes. Use a variety of blending modes and even layers to make your image. Don't forget that the eraser also uses brushes. You will also need to install custom brushes that you find on the web, and even make your own. For more on how to do this, read these tutorials:
There are many, many more sites for brushes. Google it and see!
Digital Drawing (part one)
Use the drawing and painting tools in Photoshop to create an original drawing that does not contain any photographic references. That is, you may drop in a scanned drawing or photograph to use as a guide, but the final version may not have that layer visible. Your file should have the following characteristics.
size: 1000 x 1000 pixels
RGB color
You must use at least ten different brushes
You must create at least one custom brush (define brush)
You must use different blending modes and opacities for brushes
You must find, download and install at least one brush from the web.
Make a subfolder named "drawings" in your "working files" folder. Save this psd file as "drawing01.psd". There aren't any formal or conceptual requirements for this project.
What you need to do:
Download some brushes.
Make at least one custom brush.
Make a digital drawing, and save the .psd file.
What you need to turn in:
Your digital drawing (optimized). Save it as drawing_astudent01.jpg.
What I will be grading:
You get credit for turning in your digital drawing.
Part Two-A Different Approach
Use the drawing and painting tools in Photoshop to create another original drawing that does not contain any photographic references. All the same rules apply, but this time, you must make the drawing as different as possible from your first drawing. As the technique that you're using is exactly the same, your changes will be strictly formal and conceptual.
How different is different? Think about these characteristics:
Color: warm, cool, muted, intense, bright, dark
Texture: smooth, rough, uneven, consistent, glossy, matte, regular, varied
Line: angular, smooth, regular, broken, dotted, pointy, curved
Shape: geometric, round, square, triangular, irregular, coarse, fine, biomorphic
Tone: dark, light, medium, contrasty, consistent
Composition: central, all-over, top-heavy, bottom-heavy, rule of thirds
Subject: animal, abstract, realistic, human, symbolic, geometric
Emotion: angry, funny, sad, creepy, boring, etc.
And many, many more...
So if your first drawing was black and white, angular, geometric and abstract...What will this one be? Think about how formal and conceptual elements interact. How is a "cool" color convey and emotional content of "cool"?
I would probably be beneficial to take some time to list all the formal attributes of the first drawing, so you know what you're going for (we will do some of this in class). Then, you could make a second list of all the opposites of those attributes. Remember, you're trying to make this second drawing as different from the first drawing as possible. Save this psd file as "drawing02.psd". The only technical requirements are that you have created at least one new custom brush of your own, and downloaded at least one of someone else's. The only formal consideration is that you make this drawing as different as possible from the first drawing.
What you need to do:
Make a second digital drawing, and save the .psd file.
What you need to turn in:
Your second digital drawing (optimized). Save it as "drawing_astudent02.jpg"
What I will be grading:
You get credit for turning in your digital drawing. Although you will eventually be graded on how different this drawing is from the first drawing, that grade will come later. For now, just do your best.
Part Three-More Differenter, Most Differentest
By now we should have two drawings from everybody. We will look at these as a group to see which ones are most different.
Your goal is to end up with two very different drawings. They don't have to be lovely, although if they were both good drawings, that's even better (if both are lovely, they're too similar!). But they do have to be very different. Look at the two you have made and make a list (on a piece of paper, with a pencil or a pen--not just in your head!) of the characteristics of each of your drawings. What do you need to do to end up with two very different drawings? Your options are:
Throw out one of your drawings and make a new one to take its place.
Throw out both of your drawings and start from scratch.
Adjust one of your drawings.
Adjust both of your drawings.
Nothing-you already got it.
Although the last option is clearly the easiest option, it is seldom the right one. Adjusting one or both, or making one new one are the most common solutions.
When you have arrived at a very different pair, paste them up side by side into one document, and turn it in.
What you need to do:
Make a list of characteristics of your two drawings
Adjust or recreate until you have two very different drawings.
Paste the two drawings into a side-by-side format. Here's an example.
What you need to turn in:
Your side-by-side pasteup of your two finished drawings. Save it as "drawings_astudent.jpg. Note the letter "s" on the end of "drawing".
What I will be grading:
Technical Skills: Student can download and install custom brushes from the web, create custom brushes from scanned or downloaded imagery, apply a variety of blending modes to brushes.
Formal Skills: Student can create two drawings that share very few formal characteristics.
Conceptual Skills: Student can manipulate formal elements to create very different conceptual or emotional elements in a digital drawing.
Here are some examples from previous classes.