HW Assignment- 5 Artists of Inspiration (40 pts.)

Art Major II

Assignment Goal:

As you develop your own artistic style, it’s important to familiarize yourself with a variety of contemporary artists (current, working artists) to get inspired. You will do some research and exploration online or elsewhere to find “artists of inspiration.” Look for artists whose work you admire for any reason whatsoever, and may want to emulate. Maybe you like the overall aesthetic of their work. Maybe you want to explore collage, and one artist’s collage style really stands out to you as something you want to mimic. While you will never directly copy the work of a particular artist, you will use methods, techniques, and composition ideas that are inspired by other artists for the last few projects you create in this course.

Directions:

1.  Search for 5 different artists that inspire you. They must be contemporary working artists (i.e. not Picasso, Frida Kahlo, etc.). Search for “visual” artists only, who work in 2D or 3D media. Do not use filmmakers, musicians, writers, performance artists, etc. You may include 3D animators, b/c you can find still images. These websites are a good place to start searching:

·  http://www.ebsqart.com/

·  http://www.pinterest.com/all/art/

·  http://www.deviantart.com/browse/all/?offset=0

2.  Explore a variety of artistic styles! All of your chosen artists should specialize in different media. For example, don’t choose more than 1 colored pencil artist, or one photographer. If two of your artists exclusively work in one medium most of the time (for example, acrylic paint) one of the artists should use it in a mixed-media context. You also want to explore different genres, styles and subject matters. For example, don’t choose 3 expressive portrait artists. Mix it up! The variety of the artists you choose will be factored into your grade (-1 pt. minimum per infraction).

a.  Media variety:

·  Drawing: colored pencils, graphite, charcoal, chalk pastels, oil pastels

·  Painting: watercolor, acrylics, oils

·  Collage: mixed media

·  Digital: computer-based art

·  Photography

·  Printmaking

·  Sculpture: ceramics, metals, mixed media

·  Installation art

·  Environmental art

·  Other media not listed here

b.  Subject matter variety:

·  Landscape

·  Portraiture

·  Abstraction

·  Architecture

·  Still-life

·  Other subject matter not listed here

c.  Aesthetic variety:

·  Imitationalism

·  Formalism

·  Emotionalism

b.  Genre/Style variety:

·  Realism, illustration, graphic arts, expressive art, mixed media, conceptual art, etc.

3.  OUTLINE OF CRITERIA: Designate at least one single page in your creative journal to each of your artists. You may use a double-page spread if you want more room. Each artist’s page will be graded according to these criteria:

1 pt. / Name of artist
1 pt. / “Heading” – should specify category of artistic style (i.e. Abstraction, Photography, Landscape art, Still-life art, Portraiture, Collage, etc.)
1 pt. / Short written explanation about why you chose this artist and what aspects of his/her artwork you might utilize in your artwork
1 pt. / At least one sample artwork from the artist (printed in color, attached perminently to the page)
2pts. / Idea for an original piece of artwork you could create utilizing a stylistic element or technique from the artist. This should be accomplished in a thumbnail-size area of the page no smaller than 2x2” (proportions do not have to be a square, and the thumbnail can be as large as you choose).
Do not simply create a quick pencil thumbnail sketch. This should look like a mini finished piece of artwork. You must use a medium/media that best represents what the finished piece would look like. If the artist of inspiration uses a media that isn’t possible for you to use, substitute something with a similar aesthetic quality. For example, if you find a Batik artist (a type of fabric dying), you could use watercolor or India Ink to dye fabric instead of Batik dyes, and it would look similar.
1 pt. / Short written explanation of the intent of your original artwork
1 pt. / Craftsmanship of the page; Effort; Overall layout

Examples (your layout does not have to look like this, but you may use this template):

Student Examples:

HW Assignment – 5 Artists of Inspiration

Grading Rubric (40 pts.)

Name: ______Due: ______

CRITERIA / SCORE / POINTS / COMMENTS
Artist #1 / 8
Artist #2 / 8
Artist #3 / 8
Artist #4 / 8
Artist #5 / 8
Lateness / -4 pts. per day / Subtract approx.10% for each class period the assignment is late
Total Points / 40