Here are a few that I have used. They may have come from this list...
Marcia
• Do a drawing of your worldly treasures arranged in an interesting
still-life composition.
• Do a drawing of your worldly treasures as they come to life --
animate them.
• Do a portrait, self-portrait landscape, or still life in which you use
three different media--for example, a wet medium, a dry medium,
collage elements, actual objects.
• Do a portrait, self-portrait, still life, or landscape using a
complementary, analogous, or split-complementary color scheme
(you may use black and white as well).
• Do a drawing of your hands arranged in a variety of poses. You
must carefully plan your composition in order for the separate
units to work together visually.
• Do a color rendering of a still-life arrangement consisting of your
family member's shoes -- try to convey some "sense" of each of
your individual family member's distinct personalities in your
piece.
• Do a drawing of a futuristic cityscape -- i.e. Dallas in the year
2050 (keep in mind the rules of one, two, and three-point
perspective).
• Do a drawing of the demons hiding under your bed, or in your
closet.
• Cut-paper self-portraits, interiors, landscapes;
• Distorted interiors;
• Gridded and distorted self-portraits;
• Illustrations of imaginary places
• Visual puns
• Leger- or Futurist-inspired drawing of an engine or the inside of a
mechanical
object;
• Pop-inspired pieces working with personal symbols or words (Robert
Indiana,
Ed Ruscha);
• Piece that combines Xeroxed body parts (face, hands, feet) with
anatomical
drawings;
• Acrylic painting using analogous or complementary color scheme;
• Piece inspired by the "fortune" from a fortune cookie;
• Metaphorical or symbolic self-portrait superimposed on top of an incised
surface that is mounted to a backing board, resulting in a "textured" back
ground. (I generally have the student cut away eight contour
self-portraits.
They decide how they will arrange the eight incised areas and
whether to bring the images out in the final piece or let them remain as
phantom images/areas of underlying texture.);
• Funky portrait of classmate in environment using thick bold outlines/con
tours, and areas of flat color (David Bates);
• Social commentary piece (currently at work on pieces inspired by events
of
September, 11, 2001) -- experimentation with acetone transfers and gloss
medium transfers to be further developed with text and imagery -- literal,
metaphorical, or symbolic;
• Two-panel piece in which student is asked to physically write across the
sur
faces an excerpt from an account of a most memorable moment -- good, bad,
horrific, terrifying. The direction and spacing of the text are up to the
student.
On one panel, the student is instructed to erase through the text; the
direction
and amount of erasing are left to the student. On the second panel, the
student is instructed to cover over the text with watered-down gesso,
allowing
for some of the text to show through; degree of
transparency/opacity is up to the student. On top of these
prepared surfaces, the student is to superim pose imagery invoked
by the story -- literal, symbolic, or metaphorical;
• Compositions that involve the use of inset imagery (image within
image/detail);
• Compositions on shaped surfaces;
• Compositions arranged radially;
• Color studies with torn pieces of paper (mosaic);
• Compositions that combine illusionary space with flat space;
• Drawing composition that alternates from a simple contour drawing
into a fully rendered drawing at student-designated focal points;
• Three-part piece inspired by work of Jim Dine: in the first piece the
student is asked to render an ordinary object or tool, bigger than
actual size, making it the dominant aspect of the composition.
The student is also directed to blur the distinction between positive
shape and negative space. In the second piece, on a larger surface,
the student is to create three distinct images of the object, while
making the whole piece work. In the third piece, the student has
to include an actual object, though it does not have to be the object
they have been working with. It can be a different object that is
related to it -- literally, metaphorically, or symbolically;
• A composition that denies the boundaries of surface edges -- com
positions that could extend indefinitely beyond edges (Jackson
Pollock, Vija Celmins);
• Compositions that rely on a grid as an organizing principle;
• Composition in which the student uses various neutral tones of
torn papers (with a variety of textures) collaged on a surface to
define areas of a still life. The piece is further refined as the
student superimposes a linear drawing upon the collage with black,
sanguine, or white conté.
• An illness investigated in a variety of graphic forms
including the use of actual x-rays combined into other
imagery as well as prints and pages of a visual journal.
• A series of interiors simplified to contour lines that served as
the basis for a process of investigation of other elements,
most predominately color and space (the assertion and
negation of space).
• A series of works done with encaustic, printmaking, and a
variety of other media, concerned with different approaches
to the picture plane as discussed in the text Drawing: A
Contemporary Approach (Claudia Betti and Teel Sale).
9
• A series of works done in graphite, colored pencil, and
Adobe PhotoShop illustrating aspects of the subject "Roller
Coaster." The investigation increasingly moved away from
illustrative renderings to bold, graphic symbols.
• A series of works done in 2D and low relief as a response
to slide discussion on the work of Jim Dine. The student
investigated a tool (hammer) in a body of work done in a
variety of media, with a variety of techniques as well as
processes. Investigation combined interest in imagery
developed from direct observation as well as engaged in
issues of formal design.
• An illustrated story, "A Boy and A Frog."
• A photographic and illustrative investigation into the subject
"My Little Brother." The student produced a number of
photographs that were strong in composition as well as
technical (processing) ability. He furthered his investigation
into the specific subject by producing a series of illustrations
showing his brother engaged in various pursuits.
• A series of works based on the subject "Skateboards." The
student began painting random pictures of (cartoonish)
characters on broken/discarded skateboards -- two were
brought in as summer assignment work. I encouraged the
student to pursue the idea, but to paint images that were
more relevant to the idea of "skateboard" or his experiences
as a skateboarder.
• A series of works from a student's visual journal.
Sophisticated in terms of development, the book included
text, personal photographs, collage items -- ticket stubs,
product labels, fortunes (fortune cookies), netting, bubble
wrap. Student enhanced the compositions with intimate
illustrations, many figurative and/or based on human
anatomy.
• A series of black-and-white photos that showed strong
evidence of investigation into a number of design elements
and principles. Examples included works showing repeating
shapes/patterns, geometric division of space, and balance.
10
• A series of photos related by subject, portraits and
self-portraits.
• A series of invitations, program covers, and poster designs
