DRAWING COMMANDS
my collection of art assignments

JANUARY 2020 Art Assignment

Replicate/Disintegrate

Take an image you find compelling.
Make a list of the reasons why you find it compelling (The pattern? Color? Something it reminds you of? Makes you feel?)
Photocopy that image.
Photocopy the photocopy.
Repeat this process until the image ‘disappears.’
Place all your images on a table and look at them collectively.

What is lost in this generative process?
What is uncovered or created?

AUGUST ART ASSIGNMENT

Body as Relic

Record your body.
Draw it, photograph it, photocopy it, cast it, do a “charcoal rubbing” of it, paint your body and make a mark.
Find an earlier record of your body.
And another.
Begin to make a map of your body through time.
What are you noticing /celebrating / questioning in this collection? What story emerges?
Make a shrine that holds this story.

JULY ART ASSIGNMENT

Artist Love Child

Pick an artist that you like.
Describe their work in adjectives (ex: dark, playful, absurd).
Pick another artist you like.
Describe their work.
Take a word from each of these lists and combine them to describe something new.
Make a work that reflects this.

Note: You can also jump start this activity by collaging images of artists work together to begin merging visual vocabularies.

JUNE ART ASSIGNMENT

Copy Cat

Make a shape
Copy the edges of that shape exactly as you see them.
Allow for the imperfection of your hand.
Do it again until you’ve filled the page.
Repeat this until you’ve built a tapestry of patterns.

APRIL ART ASSIGNMENT

Self portrait in threes

Make a portrait of how you see yourself.
Make a portrait of how you think the world sees you.
Make a portrait of how you see your future self.

MARCH ART ASSIGNMENT

Visual Telephone

Find a bunch of images of the natural world.
Find a partner.

Partner one: describe an image to partner two, giving them instructions on how to draw that thing, without saying what it is.

Partner two: attempt to interpret the verbal explanation of the image into charcoal marks on newsprint.

Optional: translate one of these drawings into a sculpture from found objects.

FEBRUARY ART ASSIGNMENT (2019)

Copy An Artist You Like

Select an artist you like.
Take out a book of this artist from the library.
Select one work that speaks to you.
Try to copy this work.
Do it 10 times. Don’t judge what you’ve done.
Look at the results. The difference between your work and theirs is your artistic voice emerging.

JANUARY ART ASSIGNMENT (2019)

Speed Kills the Censor

Make a lot of one thing (drawings, poems, oven mitts, whatever).
Make at least 20.
Put them in a pile.
Don't look at them for a week. 
A week later - decide what is most interesting.

DECEMBER Art Assignment (2017)

Some final work from my CORE II: Line/Mark/Observation students. The project: A Self-portrait in Time. Students were asked to:

Consider Self-Portrait as it relates to:
Your body or physical form
Your surroundings/belongings/family/friends
Your personal philosophy or values
How you identify
Your city

Consider Time as it relates to:
Light/ time of day
Narrative
Deterioration (erasure) /growth
Place - a fixed point
Performance 

Here's what they came up with:

Credit: Diego Banderas

Credit: Rae Kim

Credit: Ariel Lee

OCT-25-2017

Select 20 drawing commands from a list of 100. Create an accordion book that explores the integration of marks. The drawings should work in the narrative format of a book but also as a single work of art when the book is unfolded and laid flat.

OCT-7-2017

Draw a gourd that matches your personality. Think about its posture. Fill the space around it. Use a full range of value.

SEPT-29-2017

Loving these drawings I made my students do based on Sol LeWitt's drawing commands. Directions included:

- Draw your partner's body on the paper
- Take a mark from an object in the room
- Attach your right arm to a pencil using tape. Make a portrait of your partner.
- And so on..

A highly recommended art ice-breaker!