Virginia - Shenandoah Valley Artists

[LDiehl]

This is a group in progress by myself and AShifflett7. I thought we needed our own thread, so that we could coordinate without cluttering up that of the Hampton Roads Artists.

Here's the information so-far. To be updated as we come up with it Opinions are welcome.

Where?

Community Activity Center
305 S. Dogwood Dr.
Harrisonburg, VA 22801

When?

A yet to be decided on weeknight, once a week.
Probably from 6-9 PM.

Why?

To provide artists in our area the chance to meet up for seriously study and practice of the classical fundamentals of art: anatomy, perspective, color theory, composition, etc.

Who?

LDiehl and AShifflett7 (so-far). If you're interested, let us know!


Format?

A forum stlye "class" where members take turns teaching and learning. Not a social group for hanging out and making art from the nude figure. We plan to start with warm-ups, followed by that meeting's lecture, excercises, and finally a group critique for the "assignment" last meeting.


How much does it cost?

Nothing! Because we do not plan to hire models and are using a meeting room at the local community center, there is no cost to the artists. All we ask is that you be willing to work hard and help teach.

Who can join?

JMU students, BRCC students, EMU students, artists from the local community: Rockingham County, Augusta County ... you get the idea.

[hito]

Good luck! Glad to see you guys getting things setup locally. Sounds like a good setup too.

[LDiehl]

hito: Thanks! I'm hoping we can get up and running pretty smoothly.

[LDiehl]

To continue brainstorming, here is the list of "lesson" topics I've come up with so-far. I think the key is to break things up into bite-sized bits so we can truly focus on them.

Anatomy:
-Skull
-Bone Structure
-Eyes
-Nose
-Mouth
-Ears
-Face
-Neck
-Torso/Pelvis Front
-Torso/Pelvis Back
-Arm
-Hand
-Leg
-Foot
-Full Figure: Male
-Full Figure: Female
-Drawing Children
-Drawing Babies
-Figure in Action
-Foreshortened Figure
-

Composition:
-Rule of Thirds
-X
-Spiral / Golden Ratio
-

Perspective:
-1 Point
-2 Points
-3 Points
-Figures in Perspective
-Architecture in Perspective
-Inclined and Declined Plains
-


Color Theory:
-

Lighting:
-

Texture:
-Types of Cloth
-Types of Wood
-

As you can see, this is just a start... there's a lot more to go. Add to the list!

[AShifflett7]

Ahh! LDiehl, you're great! Sorry I didn't respond in the other thread earlier, I've been busying with HW and my job. I mentioned the idea to my professor today in class and he said that he'd like to come join us sometime. Also, a person overheard our conversation and gave me her email so I can tell her when and where we will be meeting. Next class I'll try to make an announcement to see who is interested. Maybe we can whip up a few posters too.

Here are a few additions that I've brainstormed:

Anatomy (Or figures):
-Balance
-Rhythm
-Animals
-Blood Vessels (Veins and Arteries)
-Drapery

Composition:
-Root Rectangles

Color Theory:
-Primary, Secondary, Intermediate Hues
-Compliments
-Color Schemes

Texture:
-Types of Metal
-Types of Glass
-Types of Liquids
-Types of Organic Material

I hope this is the kind of stuff you're aiming for. My knowledge on a lot of it is limited, but I want to learn. I picked up a book called "Geometry of Design: Studies in Proportion and Composition", it explains the Golden Ratio and Roots Rectangles. So, I'll be prepared to teach it soon. My fear is since this will be a forum style class then people won't keep up with their responsibilities. I don't want to consistently come to class and say, "Where's Joe-Bob? Hes supposed to teach today!"

[LDiehl]

Ah homework, I vaguely remember the word Good stuff you've added to "the list." I'm excited to hear that you're already found some potential interest in the group.

I share your concern about having the "teacher" not show up for a meeting. You're right, what do we do then? Maybe (and this obviously depends on the # of active members) we could assign the task to more than one person at once, say a group of three. Or, what if everyone was responsible for bringing something useful related to that days topic? If we wanted to be sure everything was covered we'd need to sub-divided the topic and have a couple people take each part... In that case it might be still good to have a designated teacher, this person would do the greatest amount of prep work and then facilitate the class (you know, call on people, kind of lead the discussion, make the "homework" assignment, lead the crit). That might give us the best of both worlds, because is he or she doesn't show, we still have material to work it. In the case of a member that shows for the meeting and isn't prepared, perhaps they would be expected (or expect, I bet all of us will be too busy to do any prep work at some time) to help at the meeting in other ways, for example if we are studying the foot ...they might at some point lend their foot as a prop or something.

What day of the week are you thinking would be the best? As a freelance illustrator any day suits me, but I well remember how tight student schedules can be. I definitely want to rule out the least number of student members possible.


Potential names for the group:

Shenandoah Valley Atelier
Harrisonburg Atelier
Shenandoah Study Studio
Shenandoah Valley Concept Artists
da Vinci's Army (couldn't resist, sorry)
CA.org: Shenandoah Valley Chapter
Illustrator's Forum
Concept Artist Forum
Artist Study Forum
Fundamentals Forum


...There is probably something better than those still lurking in the back of my mind, I'll think some more on it. Essentially, it'd be good to have something catchy (and not too long) and that gives someone who has never heard of us an idea what we're about.

[AShifflett7]

I think the group lecture idea is best, and fits what we had idealized in beginning (A FORUM based class).

I'm not sure which day of the week. I think we should plan on Fridays for now, but be flexible. If we get poor turnout then lets step back and reconsider. I'm going to talk to some people at school and anyone else I can find to see what they think and I'll report back to you. Making posters will be a great way to communicate what we're doing, and appeal to the people we want. I'll start whipping up some sketches over the weekend and post them here. I can also print them off for free at school (We haven this nice 10x14 paper, I believe). If you have any ideas post them too.

[LDiehl]

A quick question AShifflett7. What is your first name? Talking about the group with some people has made me realize I don't know it.

So here's a little something I whipped up today. I made the real file 10"x14" @ 300 dpi. Obviously I'm just guessing on some of this info.

[AShifflett7]

Hahahaha! That's awesome! My name is Aaron Shifflett, by the way.

[LDiehl]

Glad you like it Aaron (you've got the same name as my little brother). I was trying to come up with something more serious, but this idea was just too amusing to pass up. I'm interested to see what you come up with as well.

Any more thoughts on a name? We really need to pick one and stick with it, so that we don't confuse anyone.

[AShifflett7]

Heh, not surprising, "Aaron" is so great that it's used for both genders.

I'm having some trouble coming up with ideas, it's such a large field we're trying to portray in one image. I think taking one of the theories, like the golden ratio, and using it in the poster, but still show where the golden rectangles/spiral are. Or making a unique color wheel to show color theory. Things like that. I'm trying to take a day off work this week so I can do some artwork but still have time for exams and school (so the poster will be my project).

Also, your poster is great. Da Vinci is one of the great masters, he definitely represents what we're doing. It's funny too. I still think we should consider it.

[LDiehl]

I wasn't saying not to use this poster, just welcoming you to come up with one too. We don't need to have an "official" poster or anything. Heck, we can have a dozen different ones, as long as the information and group name are kept consistent. I think all of the ideas you listed are valid. A more design-oriented approach might to make a digital collage of some of the different aspects.

[AShifflett7]

Ack, sorry for not responding. My participation on this is going to be very limited for the next week, but after that I'm completely free. I'll be brainstorming ideas in the meantime, but I won't be able to do a lot like make a poster or lecture.

[LDiehl]

I understand. Given that JMU is wrapping up in the next week too, I don't think trying to rush a first meeting in during exam week is a good idea anyway. This actually might be a good thing though. As soon as you and other students are "free" for the summer we can really kick this into high gear. We might not have as many members as if we'd started mid-semester (as many students, JMU at least, do go home for the summer), but I think it will be a good way to get all of the kinks worked out with a more manageable group before Fall Semester 2007.

[AShifflett7]

My last exam is on Monday so by Tuesday I'll scan a few sketches for a poster or something. I still don't have much of an idea about a name. I kind of like the ring to "Illustrator's Atelier". It's not as stale as "Harrisonburg Atelier", and using the word "forum" might confuse some people who don't know what an actual "forum" is.

[AShifflett7]

Also, we should make a facebook group or something to get the word out.

[LDiehl]

Hmmm, I guess you could argue that most people don't know what a atelier is either. We definitely don't want to confuse or mislead with the title, or exclude possible members needlessly. For that reason the word "illustrator's" might turn some area artists off from jointing (who would otherwise be valuable members). -Ones that don't think of themselves as illustrators, but rather artists in a broader sense. Given that, using the words "Art" or "Artists" in the name would probably be the best route.

Here is a bit more brain storming:

Art Study Forum
Art Study Group
Artists' Study Group
Artists' Study Studio (eh, bad acronym)
Shenandoah Artist Atelier
Shenandoah Artist Studio
The Artists' Workspace
The Artists' Workroom
The Artists' Study
Art Work

[AShifflett7]

Artist's Guild

[LDiehl]

I can't quite say I get the joke... but I sense something afoot.

I think Artist's Guild brings to mind something a bit too commercial for a non-profit group (at least to me).

[AShifflett7]

I'm putting together a poster now. It's being done traditionally since I don't have much experience in any programs, but I can scan it or whatever. A progress picture will posted tomorrow.

[LDiehl]

Aaron, I do hope you haven't shelved the poster. I'd be interested in seeing what you've come up with so-far. I must apologize for not spending more time on this whole thing. I've been busy with projects for clients and my own artwork (as well as business stuff) ...the usual.

I vote for Art Study Forum as a name, for a couple of reasons: it's not too long, it's not overly complicated or hard to understand, it conveys the message that we gather to study art, and it has our favored format, the forum, right in the title. What do you think?

Let's see, maybe it would help to have more specific things to work on. What are the things that need to happen before we can have a first meeting?

-Decisively choose a group name.

-Nail down what time and what day the meetings should be held, we're thinking 6-9 on an evening one night a week, but we need to pick a day of the week.

-Make some sort of tentative or starter "curriculum" and any other handouts that might be useful to give to interested artists on the first day.

-Decide the best way to use the first meeting. I mean we aren't going to have any teaching going on until we know what we're doing organizationally... and we're not going to be organized unless we know what we need to do.

-Make and print off a couple varieties of posters.

-Distribute posters around where they can be seen.

-Post the group meeting schedule on appropriate community-event type websites/bulletins.


There are probably a number of other things too... any you can think of?