acrylic paint – Brittany Spencer // Papermaking & Graphic Design

Design I // Value

March 28, 2017March 26, 2017brittanyspencerLeave a comment

For Design I’s fourth project, we focused on value. Students chose a photograph, magazine ad, or calendar photo, and were challenged to extract color from their chosen area, leaving only value. They painted 20–25% of the photo with white, black, and grey acrylic paint, following the original values so closely that their painted shape fit seamlessly on top of its unpainted photograph. This challenge was much like a “paint-by-number” activity. If a well-done solution is photographed or Xeroxed in black and white, it should be difficult to distinguish the area painted in greys from the original.

Below are some of the pieces that were submitted. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

Section4_Janae-Shannon_Value — by Janae Shannon

Section4_Kimberly-Kazmark_Value — by Kimberly Kazmark

Section4_Lexi-Bennett_Value — by Lexi Bennett

Section4_Paige-Davis_Value — by Paige Davis

Section5_Samantha-Marshall_Value — by Samantha Marshall

Section5_Laken-Beasley_Value — by Laken Beasley

Section5_Wes-Edgeworth_Value — by Wes Edgeworth

Design I // Value

January 24, 2017January 23, 2017brittanyspencerLeave a comment

Fall 2016: For Design I’s fifth project, we focused on value. Students chose a photograph, magazine ad, or calendar photo, and were challenged to extract color from their chosen area, leaving only value. They painted 20–25% of the photo with white, black, and grey acrylic paint, following the original values so closely that their painted shape fit seamlessly on top of its unpainted photograph. This challenge was much like a “paint-by-number” activity. If a well-done solution is photographed or Xeroxed in black and white, it should be difficult to distinguish the area painted in greys from the original.

Below are some of the pieces that were submitted. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

ashtyn-carpenter_value — by Ashtyn Carpenter

haley-lawrence_value — by Haley Lawrence

karleigh-harfst_value — by Karleigh Harfst

Design I // Texture

January 20, 2017January 17, 2017brittanyspencerLeave a comment

Fall 2016: For Design I’s fourth project, we focused on texture. Students collected an assortment of black and white textures including…
• found (photography, magazines, books)
• rubbed (charcoal rubbing of physical texture on paper)
• created (using a range of mediums to invent a texture).

Then they collaged and glued them together into a quilt block pattern of their choice. They had to be precise and mindful of their workmanship. Since they were working with a grid and pattern, slight mistakes would be noticeable.

Below are some of the composition sets that were submitted. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

ashtyn-carpenter_texture — by Ashtyn Carpenter

karleigh-harfst_texture — by Karleigh Harfst

marykatherine-swindoll_texture — by Mary Katherine Swindoll

meghan-norman_texture — by Meghan Norman

melissa-sones_texture — by Melissa Sones

Design I // Stop Motion Animation Final

September 6, 2016September 1, 2016brittanyspencerLeave a comment

For my Spring 2016 Design I class, I decided to do something different for their final project to focus on time and motion. When I was a graduate student and instructor of record at Louisiana Tech University, my Basic Design class produced stop motion animation films for their final project. With technology speeding ahead these days, I thought it was time to bring this project to Mississippi State University.

Students had to produce a one-minute stop motion animation consisting of photography and sound. Creativity wise, the sky was the limit! The best video-editing software available to them were Apple iMovie and Windows Movie Maker. The more frames per second that were compiled, the smoother the video appeared. To put this into perspective, the Wallace & Gromit 30-minute shorts were shot close to 20 frames per second, adding up to be around 35,000 shots per video. That’s a bit extreme for my students, so they were encouraged to place at least two frames per second. We also watched short films by Disney and Tim Burton, and the hilarious YouTube classic “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On“.

It was a challenge for students to work on an art project of this scale, especially if they were new to video-editing software. However, they were very proud of themselves for figuring out such a feat. We had a lot of fun in both sections eating snacks and watching everyone’s videos, and celebrating the end of another school year!

Below are some examples of what was submitted. So turn up your audio and be entertained by these one-minute shorts!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

Design I // Space & Perspective Final

September 5, 2016September 1, 2016brittanyspencerLeave a comment

For Fall 2015 Design I’s sixth and final project, we focused on value. Students drew a complex shape incorporating only 90° angles, and had to turn it into a 3D form, rotating and moving it through space using acrylic paint. For tough angles that were harder to imagine, they downloaded apps such as Think 3D and SketchUp, or built their shape the old-fashioned way with Legos and turned the shape in hand. They implemented the one-point perspective system of drawing to exaggerate their forms at particular angles. It is a mind-boggling assignment, and challenges students to think beyond what they have done on a flat surface. As always, craftsmanship is important and the image must include a full range of grey scale values.

Below are some of the pieces that were submitted. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

Annie-Kesler_Perspective — by Annie Kesler

Christine-Smith_Perspective — by Christine Smith

Hannah-McCain_Perspective — by Hannah McCain

Jessi-Holloway_Perspective — by Jessi Holloway

Kaitlynn-Harness_Perspective — by Kaitlynn Harness

Wrenn-Parrish_Perspective — by Wrenn Parrish

Zynettra-Woodard_Perspective — by Zynettra Woodard

Design I // Value

September 3, 2016September 1, 2016brittanyspencerLeave a comment

For Design I’s fifth project, we focused on value. Students chose a photograph, magazine ad, or calendar photo, and were challenged to extract color from their chosen area, leaving only value. They painted 20–25% of the photo with white, black, and grey acrylic paint, following the original values so closely that their painted shape fit seamlessly on top of its unpainted photograph. This challenge was much like a “paint-by-number” activity. If a well-done solution is photographed or Xeroxed in black and white, it should be difficult to distinguish the area painted in greys from the original.

Below are some of the pieces that were submitted. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

Fall 2015 // 1 section