Design Foundation
Assignment 5
Popular Music
Color Opacity /Pastel on black paper
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that started and developed in the U.S. throughout the late 1940s and first
part of 1950s. Rock and roll is mainly a blend of African-American genres such as: blues, jump blues, jazz,
and gospel music, mixed with Western swing and country music. While elements of rock and roll can be heard in
blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not obtain its name until the 1950s.
The term "rock and roll" currently has at least two unique meanings, both in conventional usage: referring to the first
wave of music that originated in the U.S. in the 1950s and would later develop into the more encompassing
international style known as "rock music", and as a term simply synonymous with the rock music and culture in the
broad sense. Beyond simply a musical genre, rock and roll, as seen in popular culture, movies and on television,
influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. It went on to generate various sub-genres, often develop the
initially characteristic backbeat, that are now more commonly called simply "rock music" or "rock"
Assignment:
Create a pastel drawing that uses popular music as a central theme.
A black paper allows pastel colors to be seen for what they really are. A bright yellow or orange, for instance, will
appear quite bright indeed when applied to dark paper - whereas the same color applied to a white surface will look
entirely different, perhaps even dark, in contrast to the white background. This circumstance makes black papers
preferable for pastel, especially since pastel is very opaque. This opacity typically ensures that any underlying tone
is ultimately hidden from view by the time that the work is finished, especially in the case of a working method
which involves the dense layering of many colors.
Except in the very early stages of a drawing, try to avoid smudging the pigment with your fingers or any other tool,
since smudging tends to produce thin, muddied colors. There is generally no smudging at all in the later stages of
the work, where color mixing is achieved exclusively through a painstaking process of carefully cross-hatching and
interweaving the marks of color into one another, building layer upon layer. This requires a very delicate touch.
Never apply fixatives to the finished work, since these liquid sprays greatly alter the appearance of pastels and not
for the better - the colors tend to turn much darker than intended, subtle colors and values become lost, and soft
edges are made much sharper. This is apparently because the particles of pigment are compacted by the action of
the liquid, totally changing their reflective properties and subtle interactions with one another.
Materials: pastels, colored pencils, knead eraser and canson black paper
Student examples:
For your sketch book:
a. Create two pencil studies before you start your pastel.
Is it necessary to plan a pastel in thorough detail before you start, or should you let it develop as you go along?
Planning a pastel can be a help as you know exactly what you're going to do, but it could also inhibit spontaneity.
Letting the pastel evolve as you work is very free and lets you be spontaneous, but also leaves you open to the
possibility that the pastel won't go anywhere and you'll end up with a mess. Ultimately the degree to which you plan
out a pastel depends on your personality; some people find it essential and others a hindrance. But regardless of how
detailed you like to plan (or not), there are numerous decisions that have to be made before you to start to draw.
b.
Take a color 4” x 6” digital image of the final painting and place into the sketch book. The digital image of
your painting can be made at the Regis copy center. Make sure your digital image is in focus, squared off
and color and value are comparable to original painting.
Student example:
c.
After you have completed your pastel please write a three page paper that explains the technique,
underlying conceptual base or philosophical position of your work, it will be graded and discussed on
your final critique.
Look over the following ideas and questions in writing your paper. Please incorporate what is appropriated into
your paper.
Objective part
I. Description
You will make observations about what you see. You must be objective. For this part please make no inferences
or express opinions. Become a detective at the scene of the crime. You are going to create a list of what you see.
List only the facts about the artwork.
A. subject matter: landscape, still life, portrait, genre scene, figurative, historical abstract, non-objective
B. Medium: oil, acrylic, pencil, charcoal, pastel, etching, lithograph, silkscreen,
Relief print, collage, mixed media
C. Style: impressionism, expressionism, hard edge, pop art, abstract expressionism, photo-realism,
pointillism
Do you have a style that you can describe? How did you arrive at this style? Is it traditional,
contemporary, avant-garde, realistic, impressionistic, surreal, expressionistic, abstract etc? Explain.
II. Analysis
How your artwork is composed or designed (organized)? This is where your knowledge of the Elements of Art and
the Principles of Design play an important role. The combinations of these, elements and principles help the artist
create the mood of the work or express a particular point of view or message.
1. What is your focal point? How do you use emphasis, dominance and SUBORDINATION?
2. How do you lead the viewer to your focal point? Do you use any of these elements or principles of design to guild
the viewer? size, texture, detail, contrast, direction, value, line, pattern, repetition, shape, unity, variety, etc.
3. How do you use value in your assignment? Contrast, low key, high key
4. How did you use color in your pastel? For example: Monochromatic, complementary, analogous, color triad, split
complement or a combination?
5. What kind of texture did you incorporate? Invented, simulated or actual
6. What colors are using? To what degree is the colors saturated (intense hues) or grayed? Are the colors
complementary or analogous? Is the color used realistically, symbolically or expressively?
7. How are you using harmony, repetition, or contrast in your art piece and with which elements?
8. Explain how do you use direction? Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, circular
9. How do you use repetition and/or pattern and with which elements?
10. How are you using line? Contour, hatching or cross hatching, cross contour, implied line or gesture
11. What kind of shapes are you using? Geometric, organic, symbolic, abstract or combination
12. How are you using size? Constant, large, small, scale, proportion
Subjective part
III. Interpretation
What does this work say to you? You can make guesses and inferences. However, these should be educated guesses
and not just random guesses. Don’t make up meaning, but use what you see to construct and support reasonable
interpretations. You must be able to articulate, or express yourself intelligently using words, and provide insightful
comments as to why you feel the mood or the meaning of the work is? Interpretation is very personal.
Where do your ideas come from? Do your ideas come from pop culture, childhood memories, dreams, culture, and
history?
How did you pick your subject?
Why did you pick this subject?
What is content of your artwork?
What is your pastel about? Keep this short!
IV. Judgment:
Is a particular work of art successful? How do you feel about this piece? Does the work have artistic merit?
Everyone is going to have reasons for liking or disliking a work of art. Saying "I think this is good art" is not
enough. Be sure to support your opinions with specific things you see in the work of art. How you value a work of
art is a personal judgment. But, it is important that you recognize the importance of works of art and their
contribution to the world we live in.
How do you feel about this pastel?
Does your pastel have artistic merit?
What kinds of things do you learn about yourself by making the pastel?
What are some of the surprises that you have discovered while working?
What technical problems did you encounter while creating this pastel?
How/what would you do to improve your pastel?
Student examples: