On the first day of class the class does an "icebreaker" which includes the normal introductions: Name, major, etc. The final question of the icebreaker is this:
Picture in your head the first landscape you can remember. (this is probably around age 3 or 4). Describe that to the class as shapes. (rectangular shapes, round, horizontal lines etc.). Give the class enough information to be able to picture it.
The thubnail sketches are an important preparation (keep them small - 1"). At first they are drawn realistically (just to get the idea out) and then gradually they are re-copied, using only flat shapes in black and white (ink or sharpie).
The goal of the project is to get students to think about the GROUND (background) in composition and to become comfortable with abstracting shapes using the principle of ECONOMY.
The reading is from: Ocvirk, Stinson, Wigg, Bone, and Clayton. Art Fundamentals: Theory and Practice. McGraw Hill, 2002. (page 23-27)
Some of the images I show include:
- Richard Diebenkorn landscapes. (some are recognizable as landscape, others like the Ocean Park series are not)
- For figure/ground reversal I show the typical Vase/Face example and things the Annie Leibovitz photograph Susan Sontag, Petra, Jordan 1994.
- Also for basic figure/ground relationships Robert Longo's "Men in the City" series is great.
- And contemporary artist, Wilhelm Sasnal has some good examples in his work.