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Final assignment: dazzle me with your skills
Arts & Activities, June, 2004 by Geri Greenman
Over the years I've adopted a strong belief that, although it's interesting to give my drawing students a little quiz concerning terms such as value, chiaroscuro, lifting, and the grades and intensity of graphite, it's far more important to test their skill level and what they've gleaned from my beginning drawing class. I've often said that if my students can't draw or paint when I'm not in the room with them, then they haven't learned a thing.
This multifaceted drawing "assignment" has grown out of years of developing and tweaking, and is now my practical, final drawing performance--a "show me" final assignment.
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This final exam--for want of a better term--is the only such assignment that I repeat year after year. There are two reasons for this: (1) these culminating drawings never look remotely similar to others done in the past, and (2) each is a reliable gauge of the student's abilities--understanding of how to compose space; visual acuity in choosing images; understanding of color; technique (in terms of sensation of texture); degree of difficulty; effort, and commitment of seeing the assignment through to a logical conclusion. All of these issues are brought to the forefront in this assignment.
My students are prepared for this culminating experience in several ways: the first week of the semester, I show my drawing classes slides of some of the best "finals" over the years, pointing out that many of these student works have graced the cover of our school's art and literary magazine, and the invitation for our school's annual student-art show.
Twice a semester, there is what I call a "photo check," in which I check in at least 10 different pictures and/or illustrations the students have chosen with the final exam in mind. I suggest that they choose pictures that are large and colorful, as well as appropriate for class; ultimately, they use only three to five pictures from their collection. Oftentimes there is a lot of trading between the students, and some try to sweet-talk me into giving up some really great images that I have saved. If they promise to work very hard to create a work that is worthy of that special imagery, sometimes I let them have the photo.
The last three weeks of the semester, all outside homework is suspended because the students need extra time--including many after-school hours--to do their very best. All other class work is also completed before we start this assignment. Our focus is solely on the final exam (worth 20 percent of their entire semester grade). Yes, this assignment takes quite a commitment. Many students have told me that their calculus final was easier than this final. But, they admit it's a lot more exciting and fun. And, as a bonus, they end up with a spectacular piece.
Once the students have selected their pictures, they cut them up and rearrange them in a collage so that they look nothing like they did originally. Collage, a big influence on this assignment, is not new to my students. It is a viable technique that we use in many of our courses and assignments. Thank you Picasso, Gris and Braque!
Next, the kids take a piece of window plastic, tape it onto the back of their finished collage and proceed to grid it off in 2" x 2" squares. Once their grid is clean and uniform, I give them 18" x 24" newsprint or manila paper.
Because it's so important for the students to understand every step in the process, when the students are finished with the grid, I use one of their collages to demonstrate the next step on the blackboard.
First, a single square in the grid is chosen to serve as the focal point. (This square will cause everything else to become distorted.) Continuing the demonstration, I draw a rectangle on the board to represent the piece of newsprint/manila paper.
"The general location is then selected within this rectangle for the focal-point square. In this location, an arbitrary shape, representing this square, is then drawn (typically a squarish shape, and large in relation to the rectangle).
A line is then drawn on either side and at the top and bottom of the arbitrary shape to the edge of the rectangle. (Note: If the square chosen to be enlarged is at the top or bottom of a collage it would, of course, be at the top or bottom on the newsprint/manila paper as well.) I call this "bordering it off."
The rows of squares on either side (top and bottom) of the chosen square are then counted, and lines are drawn indicating all of them. Of course, there are the same number of shapes, but they're no longer squares. The main, enlarged square is X-ed off and drawn from the collage into the enlarged shape on the paper, and the other shapes are then drawn from the collage onto the paper as well. This can give the students some trouble, but it does work if they grid it off on the plastic and into the corresponding shape on their paper.
Everything becomes distorted, and many students complain that they don't want to distort it. I tell them that it's part of the assignment, and that it helps alter the imagery so people don't recognize the original images. Besides, these kids are so good at copying most anything that it is another, bigger challenge for them. If they continue to complain, I tell them they can create a perfect copy on their own time just for themselves. I reemphasize that they need to distort to satisfy this assignment.
