PAINTING 1
SKETCHBOOK ASSIGNMENTS
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Sketchbooks are an important part of this course
Sketches are the visual thought process of design and composition
Sketches are plans for the organization of art elements
Sketches help improve drawing and observation skills
Sketchbook practices:
 Bring your sketchbook with you to every class and take it home with you every
night.
 Use your sketchbooks for sketching, notes, comments, journaling, and collecting
images.
 Properly adhere images to the sketchbook page. For lightweight paper, use a glue
stick. Points will be deducted from your grade if images are not properly adhered
in your sketchbook when you turn it in. Images should be glued in place prior to
coming to class on the day sketchbooks are due.
 If you get an image from the Internet, make sure it is the full size image, not a
thumbnail.
 Thumbnail sketches must be drawn within a frame.
 If the assignment calls for shading, be sure to use a full range of values,
everything from white to very darks. Contrast is key.
 If an assignment states that a drawing is to be done from direct observation, it
means that you are to draw the object by looking directly at it. You are not to
draw from a photograph or from your imagination.
 Sketchbook assignments are homework assignments. Class time is for studio
time and is generally used for the completion of projects.
 Don't wait until the last minute to do sketchbook assignments. Excuses about
printer problems the night before the assignment is due are not acceptable.
 Turn sketchbook in at the beginning of class on the days assignments are due.
(See below)
 For each day that a sketchbook assignment is late one point will be deducted.
Sketchbooks are due on the first day of the week, usually Mondays.
 Turn sketchbook in at the beginning of class on the days assignments are due.
(See below)
ASSIGNMENTS
Sketchbook # 1
Painting styles
Find an example of each of the following painting styles from
existing paintings: flat, hard-edged; loose (impressionistic);
blended, texture (possibly done with a palette knife).
Sketchbook # 2
Find examples of each style and glue the examples into your
sketchbook. Next to each painting write the name of the artist
and the title of the piece. Indicate which painting style is used.
Cityscape Thumbnails
Research paintings of cityscapes online to see painting of
cityscapes. You are looking examples cityscape paintings
completed by various artists.
Note that although all of the paintings contain buildings and
architectural structures, they are done in very different styles.
Create 3 different thumbnail compositions for your own
cityscape composition. Remember to place the thumbnail
sketches within a frame.
You might try varying the size and shape of the frame.
Sketchbook # 3
Sketchbook # 4
Sketchbook # 5
You can use pictures of buildings for structural ideas and
information, but don't copy your composition from a single
photograph. Consider the crowded, congested feel of a city
with many buildings in a small area. You may wish to convey
that aspect of a city in your own composition. Your
composition need not be in a realistic style. You might keep
the style loose or even somewhat abstracted. Also give
consideration to the background as well as the buildings.
Houseplant
Draw a houseplant (real or artificial) from direct observation.
Use most of the space of your sketchbook page. Using
watercolor or watercolor pencils to apply color with washes.
Add additional value for form and contrast with pencil shading
and/or crosshatching.
Remember to take home watercolor paints or pencils.
Flower painting sketches
Make 3 thumbnail sketches of a flower following the
guidelines on the sheet provided. Give special attention to the
compositional arrangement of each sketch.
Drapery from Direct Observation
Drapery studies are important because artists often have to
draw or paint cloth, in clothing, tablecloths, curtains…
Cloth has unique characteristics. There are many different
textures associated with cloth. The folds of cloth create areas
of highlights and shadow that the artist must learn to capture in
order to make the cloth look like cloth.
Drape a piece of clothing or cloth over a chair, table or some
object. Make sure that there are several folds in the cloth. Draw
the cloth and pencil shade to show the dark and light values in
Sketchbook # 6
Sketchbook # 7
Sketchbook # 8
the folds of the cloth.
Still life Composition of Same Objects
Gather a bunch (at least 5) of like items (pens, scissors, keys
…) Arrange them randomly on a surface to create an
interesting compositional arrangement. The arrangement
should bring the objects together as a composition rather than
just individual objects. From direct observation, draw the
arrangement. Pay attention to the spatial relationships of the
items, both individually and in relation to the surrounding
items. Use watercolor or watercolor pencils to apply color
washes. Add additional shading for form and contrast with
pencil shading and/or crosshatching.
Landscapes in the Impressionist & Post-Impressionist
Styles
Find an example of a landscape painting from 3 of the
following artists: Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Georges
Seurat, Vincent Van Gogh, Camille Pissarro, or Maurice
Prendergast. Glue the examples into your sketchbook. (Don't
use the thumbnail.)
Next to each example write the name of the painting and the
artist. Also write a few comments about the characteristics of
that artist's style. For example you might note things like the
artist's use of color, the type of brush strokes used, the linear
and/or textural qualities in the painting, the compositional
arrangement, the space created within the painting…
Drawing an Object from Different Points of View
(All 3 drawings will be on the same page)
Choose an object such as a shoe, purse, pinecone, tea kettle….
Observe and study the object for its contours, edges, textures…
Set up the object and, from direct observation, make a
continuous contour drawing of that object. Be sure to included
edges as well as interior creases, shadows, folds, seams…
Rearrange the object so that you are seeing it from a different
point of view. Do another continuous contour drawing on the
same page. The second drawing can overlap the first.
For the 3rd drawing, focus on one small detail or area of the
object. Do a continuous contour drawing of that area or detail.
Again, put it on the same page as the first two drawings. It can
also overlap. Add value & color with watercolor washes.
Sketchbook # 9
Sketchbook # 10
Sketchbook # 11
Sketchbook # 12
Sketchbook # 13
Overlapping bottles
For this assignment you will be
using a variety of bottles in
different shapes and sizes. You
will be drawing one bottle at a
time from direct observation.
Starting at the bottom of your
page, begin drawing a bottle
using the contour line method.
Then do the same thing with
another bottle. Continue drawing bottle to fill your page
with bottle shapes. Go over all of your pencil lines with
permanent black marker. Apply color to the drawing using
watercolor washes
Clouds
Find photographs that include clouds. Look for different
types of clouds; fluffy cumulus, dark storm clouds…(They
can be personal photos or from a magazine.) Using a
variety of media, draw at least 3 thumbnail sketches of
clouds. (Draw each thumbnail from a different photo.) The
objective of this assignment is to experiment with a variety
of ways to depict the forms of clouds. Use a different
painting style (flat, blended, loose, washes, subtractive
painting …) for each thumbnail.
Watercolor wash techniques
For this sketchbook assignment you will be practicing
some watercolor techniques as preparation for the
watercolor paintings that will be done in class. The
provided handout explains each of these techniques. These
will be done on watercolor paper which will be provided.
You will be practicing the techniques of flat, graded, and
gravitational washes, and the wet-in-wet technique.
You will also be practicing the following lift-off and
textural techniques: tissue blotting, scraping, salt
application, plastic wrap application, spattering, and
stamping.
The finished washes should be labeled and glued into your
sketchbook.
Stones
Gather several small stones. Arrange them on a surface.
The stones should be touching or overlapping. Draw the
stones arrangement, enlarging it fill the sketchbook page.
Use watercolor washes and either pencil shading or
crosshatching to indicate value and form.
Black & White Watercolor study
Complete the black & white watercolor study. Find
Sketchbook # 14
Sketchbook # 15
Sketchbook # 16
Sketchbook # 17
Sketchbook # 18
interesting b and white photography that has good ranges
of values. Use only black and white watercolor to complete
this assignment.
Remember to take home watercolor paints or pencils.
Composition with a Grouping of Figures
For this assignment you will be creating three different
thumbnail compositions in which figures are the dominant
focus. On the Painting I website is a PowerPoint
presentation with examples of such compositions. Your
composition may be of a narrative or genre nature. In either
case, the figure should be placed in the appropriate setting,
which will be an integral part of the composition. The
figures can be realistic or stylistically drawn. Indicate
general colors for each composition with watercolor
washes or colored pencil.
Tree Painting from Direct Observation
From direct observation, sketch a tree in your yard or
neighborhood. Observe the details of the tree, its shape, its
leaves, the negative spaces surrounding and within the tree.
Do a simple contour drawing of the tree. Lay in the colors
and values of the tree using watercolor. Remember to keep
the watercolor fluid and transparent. Work in layers,
building the values from light to dark.
Self Portrait in Mirror
Hold a small mirror in your hand (the one you don’t draw
with) so that you can see at least most of the feature of your
face. Draw your hand, the mirror and your face reflected in
the mirror. Apply values and shadows with pencil shading
and/or watercolor washes.
Gloves
Arrange a pair of gloves on a surface. The gloves should
overlap in at least one location. Using most of the
sketchbook page. Draw the gloves. Add value and shadows
with pencil shading and/or watercolor washes.
Surrealistic Composition
Look at examples of the surrealistic works of artists such as
Dali, Chagall, and Magritte. Note that they consist of
realistic, recognizable images in unusual, inexplicable
arrangements or settings. Make a sketch for your own
surrealistic composition. Rough in color using watercolor
washes and/or watercolor colored pencils. (These can be
checked out from the art room.)