Sketching Finals

Final Exam
Do not miss sketching tomorrow, Tuesday. This will be our last session. You should be prepared with your large format sketchbook (8x11), and your kit of tools. We will adjourn to a suitable location for a sketching exam. No pressure. One purpose of analytical sketching is to awaken and sharpen your ability to see and convey spatial observations quickly and richly. We are documentarians of concept and phenomenon. With this in mind, you will be given 90 minutes to compose and sketch a scene accurately using techniques learned in the class; Measure, Contour, Figure Ground, Planar Development, Wandering Line, Tone, Depth Cues, Color, Horizons. You will employ the drawing tools used on class; soft lead pencils, vine charcoal, charcoal pencils, bamboo stylus with ink, water color, acrylic wash. You cannot possibly use all the techniques or all the tools. Part of the problem is in the choosing. To be successful, remember that this course has the following fundamental goals and objectives: freehand drawing skill development, hand-eye acuity, active thinking through drawing. The goal of the exercises and your practice is to be able to draw what you see rather than what you ‘think you see’. You will remove this sketch from your book and turn it in at the end of class with your name on the back.

Portfolio
Following the syllabus, at the end of the term, a portfolio of work must be prepared by each student. However, we will depart from the syllabus; you will be NOT be expected to submit two print copies (A3 format). Please do not print!

The paper size will be legal, 8.5x14. There is no preference, landscape or portrait, rotate sketches to fit. You will submit a .PDF copy and a properly saved InDesign package on a CD, DVD or a USB flash drive. The scans included in the portfolio, should be full-size digital scans of these drawings at minimum 300dpi. This will be submitted no later than April 16, the document day.

Choose at least one but no more than three sketches from each week of the semester. You do not have to include the exercises from class as they should be posted to the blog already. The portfolio is a selection of your best work. The portfolio shall proceed in chronological order. The layout of each page should be simple. It must include a single drawing, full size (or as close as possible if you have large works). The drawing should be centered on the page. Each drawing should have a caption indicating the location of the drawing, the date of the drawing, and listing techniques that were employed. On the first page, include a brief introduction to your work. This shall be two (or so) paragraphs, one of which may be a quote. You may use this sentence as a prompt if you like: One of the purposes of analytical sketching is to cause you to come to a realization of the operative value of sketching in the creative processes we rely on as designers.

Important. Please be sure to export your InDesign file to piece using high quality print preset. Choose pages, not layouts.