Street Art Unit-Lesson 1 -April 7

We will be looking at the art work of some fairley (sic) 😊 famous street artists, such as Shepard Fairey (hence the pun), STIK, and the twins duo OsGemeos.  Check them each out on their websites:

http://www.artnet.com/artists/shepard-fairey/3   or  http://obeygiant.com

http://stik.org/

http://www.osgemeos.com.br/projetos/?lang=en

The goal of this unit if for you to develop your own collection of signature images.  You will 1. practice different creative processes and image development strategies; 2. consider the role of visual culture on public and private audiences; and 3. work to refine your pencil and paper artmaking skills.  Riverside has a HUGE storage container in the back-parking lot of the school that we are hoping to paint over with your imagery – street art style. Maybe in a month or so?  Let’s stay social distancing for a while and develop some great sketchbook work.  Please use a pencil and eraser, refine your lines using your eraser, add dark lines with markers if you have them, or dark, hard pencil lines, and colour with pencil crayons, markers, or paint if you have.

Lesson 1:

You will need:  Your sketchbook, pencil, eraser, and optional: black marker and coloured pencils/markers/or paints.

Most popular street art is the graffiti tag.  It’s a simple way to start.  Writing one’s name in graffiti style is a great way to warm up to the methods of enlarging, modifying and elaborating imagery.  So the intention for today’s lesson is for you to design and draw your name in graffiti style.

Please watch the video on how to design your name, graffiti style:

YOutube video “How to Draw Graffiti Letters – Jack in Graffiti Lettering | MAT”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXm8LqHP5zw

Now, in your sketchbook, and USING THE ENTIRE PAGE, design your graffiti name.

1. Start with guidelines in a shape or curve formation.
2. Rough line in your letters.
3. Now, go back and make your letters into shapes. Add shadows
4. After sketching in your idea go back and edit by embellishing your work, that is add some intricate embellishments inside, around, and/or through the letters.

Check out how Ben Knight and Katie So’s embellished theirs:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OZXqyx8_tY&feature=youtu.be

5. Now clean-up/refine your drawing. Cleanup stage: after you have drafted with pencil and lots of sketchy sketch lines you want to overdraw with marker of a darker pencil line to make the edited, refined version of your line work. When you are Cleaning up your sketch with your edited version also consider the KIND OF LINES you use in various place.  Thick or thin? Smooth or rough?

In this drawing all the lines here are the same width (not good):

Whereas in this one the lines VARY in thickness (much better) :

6. Embellish the final drawing with colour, if you can.

Self assessment checklist:

/10

That’s it!  How was it?  Share the results with me by photographing it and emailing it to me. My email address is jacollins@sd43.bc.ca    Give me some words on how this lesson went for you.

Take care and look after others as well as yourself.