II. NATURE AND SCIENCE

II. NATURE AND SCIENCE
The connection between nature and science has always existed in art –one only has to look at the
drawings of Leonardo, Darwin or Galileo. The scientific method implies a kind of scrutiny or analysis and
when artists use nature as a source, they often become scientists of sorts as they analyze the intricate
details that make up the natural world they are portraying through art. The following projects use the
tradition of botanical drawings and landscape art as a point of departure for imaginative and more
contemporary approaches to the subject.
Project 1: Fantastical Botanical Drawings
Inspired by the elaborate and detailed botanical drawings of the Renaissance, this project involves
inventing your own plant using a collage montage.See Fig 1 & Fig 2 for examples.
Materials: flower and/or plant images from magazines or the internet, White tag or equivalent (similar in
weight to cardstock, 18 x 24”), gluestick, scissors, range of pencils, good quality drawing paper such
as BFK Rives or watercolour paper such as Arches 22 x 30”, set of watercolour paints (travel set works
fine), #12 synthetic sable brush.
i) Look through magazines (or print from the internet) various images of plants and flowers. The larger a
collection you have the more choice and the more elaborate your collage montage can be.
ii) Cut out various plant parts or elements from photographs and rearrange to create your own plant;
you are doing plant grafting with collage. Refer to examples of Renaissance artists such as Maria Sibylla
Merian below. You could include other components of plant such as seed pods or made-up insects.
Glue to White tag. This will be your ‘collage maquette’.
iii) Make a value study from your collage maquette above on a piece of good quality paper using a range
of pencils from B, 2B, 4B, 6B to 8B.
iv) On a piece of watercolour paper, lightly sketch in shapes from your value study and add watercolour
paint to enhance some of the shapes. You are using watercolour as a drawing material in this exercise so
you can leave areas ‘unfinished’ (you don’t need to fill in every shape with paint). Include text in the work
to describe your specimen as was done in the traditional botanical drawings.
Fig 1 Maria Sibylla Merian
Transformations of the insects of Surinam, 1705
Fig. 2 Laura Owens
Untitled, 2004
acrylic, collage and linen
Project 2: Reinventing the Landscape
Artists continually return to the landscape as a source for subject matter. In the following project
you are encouraged to reinvent a landscape into something more unusual and mysterious
as well as taking an approach that is more personal. One of the roles artists have played
throughout the centuries is that of making us question our perceptual expectations and because
landscape is a genre associated with historical traditions, any reinventing of this subject, make
us look twice.
Materials: an image from nature that contains a lot of texture and little empty space (images with
expansive skies wouldn’t be appropriate for example), black ink, bamboo brush, large drawing
paper (approx 5 ft long –use paper that comes in a roll if possible otherwise tape two or three
large sheetes together)
i) Enlarge photograph to scale. Make a one inch grid on photograph and depending on size of
original image, make a corresponding grid on your drawing paper; for example each square on
your drawing paper could be 4” –using paper that comes on a roll gives you the ability to choose
your scale. The purpose of the grid in this case is not so much for accuracy of scale, but rather
to pay attention to the details in each square.
ii) Focus on the textures you observe in each square of the photograph (if possible use a
magnifying glass). Use a brush and ink to create texture ‘marks’ with tip of brush. The entire
drawing should be made out of marks (the shape of the marks is entirely dependent on how
the brush is used: tip for small marks, side for larger marks. See Ugo Rondinone (Fig 3 & 4) for
an example. Research more of his ink work on line if you need more examples. Also look at ink
drawings of Vincent van Gogh.
Fig. 3 Ugo Rondinone,
No. 249, Twentyfirstofseptembertwothousandandone, 2001
ink on paper, 6’7.5” x 9’10”
Fig 4
detail of above
(note abstract nature
of marks)
Project 3: How to Make a Natural Object
This project plays on the concept of the instruction diagram that you might find included with Ikea
furniture or other assemble yourself items. This project makes you really look at nature from the point of
view of a scientist examining a specimen for the first time. This project is inspired in part by the Wallace
Stevens’ poem, ‘Someone Puts a Pineapple Together’. The project includes two drawings: one of
individual components and the other of how to put the object back together.
Materials: natural object (see below, could be same object from previous project), good quality drawing
paper, watercolour pencils and/or watercolour paint, #12 watercolour brush
Drawing #1
i) Find a natural object that you find interesting and that you can take apart into separate sections. Some
examples: pinecone, flower with leaves, seed pod, fruits (you will need a paring knife to take some fruits
apart such as a apple or pineapple).
ii) Take object apart in any way you can (cutting or tearing are obvious examples) and draw individual
components (think about how when you buy certain kinds of equipment such as video camera, you get
a list of all the components that consists of a diagram and written list).
iii) Make a drawing of all the components and label them (see below). Use pencil and watercolour paint
to tint areas.
See Fig 5 for example of drawing that contains several parts.
Drawing #2
i) Figure out what is the best way to put your chosen object together, for example, with a pineapple you
would start with the core and then add the elements back) by gluing or taping or stitching elements back
together as you go.
ii) Make drawings of the piece in process (try for three or four drawings of the object as it gets fully put
together.
iii) The finished drawing should also include a drawing of the natural object put back together (feel free to
show the tape, glue or stitching in your final drawing).
See Fig. 4 for example of a drawing that shows how an object is put together.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5 Simon Evans
Ideas for New Continents 2004
Mixed meda on paper
III. ARCHITECTURE AS STRUCTURE
This section offers a review of perspective ideas in the first section of the book as well as some projects
that use architecture forms, both real and imagined as a source for drawing.
Project 1: Drawing a Section of the Room
The following two projects focus on understanding perspective through ‘sighting’ or learning to see what
is in front of you by using a viewfinder as a form of reference. They are included here because they lead
up to thinking about architectural space in a more abstract way.
Materials: viewfinder (you can make one by taking a 3” x 3” square of paper and cutting out a rectangle
in the middle that is 1” x 1.25” (proportions of the Golden Rectangle), 2B pencil, eraser and sheet of
cartirdge paper.
i) Looking: start by looking at the room through the viewfinder. Try to see the viewfinder edges as
representing the edges of your paper. Imagine all the shapes that you see through the viewfinder are
flat. Look at where certain shapes hit the edge of the viewfinder: are they in the middle? Are they a third
of the way up? Look at the negative shapes. What does the shape beside the one you are looking at
look like? You can also use a pencil as a guideline: Holding the pencil in a horizontal manner with your
arms stretched out is a way to gauge angles; holding your pencil in a vertical manner is a way to gauge
proportion.
ii) Draw a rectangle border (1/2 from edge all the way around) on the piece of cartridge paper
iii) Draw section of room as you see it through the viewfinder. Focus on the abstract rectangles and
shapes that you see.
Fig. 7
Chris Monette Appleton
Dog TV, 2009
Project 2: View from window
This project focuses on using the idea of inside/outside as a basis for a composition.
Materials: pencils (B-4B), eraser, drawing paper 18 x 24” (Cartridge), drawing board and clips.
i) Do a pencil drawing of a view from a window. Use the window as a viewfinder. Include the edges of
window in drawing as a ‘frame’. (see Fig 9)
ii) When looking out the window, first pay attention to the line that forms between the sky and the
buildings and trees. Draw that line first.
iii) Shade in areas to emphasize negative space. Use a range of pencils (B – 4B)
Fig 8
Richard Diebenkorn
Fig 9
Fig 10
Fig 11
Project 3: Abstract Architectural Drawing
This project is inspired by the drawings of the Suprematists, an art movement that focused on
fundamental geometric forms (c. 1915 in Russia).
Materials: 18” ruler, pencils (B-8B), eraser, good quality drawing paper 22 x 30 (BFK Rives,
Maidstone)
i) Draw several horizontal and vertical lines with a ruler. Add some diagonal lines.
ii) Shade in the different quadrilaterals (four-sides shapes) with a range of pencils to create
shapes of varying tones. Leave some shapes the white of the paper.
Fig. 12 Kevin Appel
Light Model: Southeast View 2002
Liquid acrylic ad pencil on paper
22.5 x 30”
Project 4: Interior Space as Source
The project involves the arranging and layering of multiple images from a range of photographic sources.
Materials: interior decorating/architectural magazines, roll of tracing paper, good drawing paper 22 x 30”
(Maidstone), pencils (H, HB), watercolours, #12 watercolour brush
i) With a HB pencil trace several shapes from interior decorating magazines on a 22 x 30” piece of
tracing paper. You can vary the orientation (turn magazine image sideways or upside down and then
trace).
ii) Tape tracing paper to the window. Tape good quality drawing paper on top. Trace elements from
tracing paper onto to good drawing paper with a H pencil.
iii) Take drawing paper off window. Erase lines. Add lines. Erase parts of lines. Your lines will show in the
final drawing and erasing parts of lines is a way to add character to the line.
iv) Use watercolours to paint in some of the shapes. Be sure to leave some empty space.
Fig. 13 Julie Mehretu,
Stadia II, 2004
ink and acrylic on canvas
Project Five: Architecture Construction as Model
Before starting this project, look at some examples of Frank Gehry’s architectural maquettes for
inspiration, in particular his preliminary maquette for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilboa, Spain. The first
maquette for this building was made with black construction paper, glue gun and push pins. The flim
‘Sketches of Frank Gehry’ is also a good accompaniment to this project because you can get to see
how Gehry uses sketches and maquettes to get ideas.
Materials: 2-3 pieces 8.5 x 11” cardstock, scissors, x-acto knife, tape, glue gun (optional), good drawing
paper, pencil, watercolour paint (ultramarine blue), #12 watercolour brush, found objects (optional)
i) Make a 3-D maquette: start by making some folds and cutting slits into pieces of cardstock to create a
three-dimensional structure. Fit another piece of cardstock into slits. Bend, fold and attach with tape.
ii) Make some geometric forms such as cylinders, cubes or tetrahedrons using additional cardstock.
Tape together to form construction.
iii) Feel free to add other materials might have at hand: coffee cups, foil, corrugated cardboard or
anything else that might add visual interest.
iv) Make some pencil sketches of this in a sketchbook.
v) Make monochromatic watercolour (blue works best for this project because it has the greatest range
of values from light to dark) of the sculpture focusing on shapes of light and dark but as you can see by
Fig. 9, this project can also be done in red or any other colour of your choice.This project works best if
you have a single light source such as a swing arm clamp on light that can be attached to a table.
Fig. 14 Frank Gehry
Maquette for Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain
Fig 15 Alexei Leonov
Construction of the Central
Square, 2004
(work being done on buildings that
would soon be part of Russia’s,
manned space port).
Fig. 16 Etienne Zack
I’ve included an image of Etienne Zack’s work in this section because he builds constructions in
his studio and then makes paintings from them.
IV. THE LANGUAGE OF MAPPING
This section refers to to the idea of ‘mapping’ as a verb in the sense of actively using visual images
to portray a place, event or idea. In the BusinessDictionary.com mapping is defined as follows: ‘the
graphical representation of a procedure, process, structure, or system that depicts arrangement of and
relationships among its different components, and traces flows of energy, goods, information, materials,
money, personnel, etc.’ Many contemporary artists are exploring the ways that maps and the process of
‘mapping’ can be used as a source for art projects. A good sourcebook for this section is a book called
Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination by Katharine Harmon (New York: Princeton
Architectural Press, 2004)
Project 1: The Diary Map
In this project you will use visual elements to map your day.
Materials: HB pencil, coloured pencils and/or oil pastels, sketchbook, good drawing paper (Maidstone)
i) Take written notes in your sketchbook of your daily activities from when you wake up until you go to
bed. Underline the most important ones.
ii) Figure out a method of presenting your information: the composition. You can choose a linear style
in a series of horizontal bands or a grid format (horizontal and vertical lines) or it can be radial where
everything radiates from the centre of the composition. For example, a cup of coffee might be the thing
that gets you started for your day, so that might be the centre. Make some pencil marks on your drawing
paper to indicate style of composition you are going to use.
iii) Make drawings that represent various components of your day using coloured pencils or oil pastles
Fig. 2 Nancy Grossman
Tough Line, 1995
Mixed media, 10 x 23”
Fig 17 Sara Fanelli
Map of My Day, 1995
Mixed media, 10 x 23”
Project 2: Map as Background
This project focuses on the map as an abstract drawing and uses it as a starting point for a composition.
Materials: actual maps (if you don’t have maps to work from we have extra here at the school), felt pen
(such as a Sharpie), x-acto knife, white or coloured paper the same size as map
i) Use a map as a background for a drawing. You can use one map or collage together several smaller
maps.
ii) Respond to the lines and shapes on the map as if is an abstract drawing.
iii) Cut out certain shapes. These can be random shapes or specific such as cutting out all the road ways
or body or waters or certain place names.
iv) Mount on a white or coloured background so cut out shapes stand out.
Fig. 18 Guillermo Kuitca
Everything, 2003
Mixed media on canvas
2 panels
305,1 x 165,1 cm each
Fig. 19 Doug Beube
Erosion #9 2009
Fig. 20 Chris Kenny
Project 4: Map as Sculpture
It is an interesting process to turn a map into a sculpture because the very nature of a map is that they
are made to depict a three dimensional landscape. This project brings maps back to their source.
Materials: maps, x-acto knife, scissors, glue, stapler, needle and thread, straight pins and/or paper clips
and/or small safefty pins, drawing paper, watercolour pencils, #12 watercolour brush
i) Cut up maps into different components: focus on elements such as lines and shapes.
ii) Reassemble with tape or glue or you can use any of the following other methods of attachment or a
combination: stapler, sewing with needle and thread, straight pins, paper clips and/or small safety pins.
iii) Make a drawing of this object on good drawing paper using watercolour pencils. Draw with pencils
and then add water to some of your drawn areas.
Fig. 21 Nina Katchadourian
Austria, 1997
Dissected paper road mps, approx 7 x 5”
Project 5: Imagined Maps
Prior to the days when photography became the major source of knowing the world, artists
and scientists often had to imagine what things looked like. This project is based on letting
yourself imagine some places that you have never seen before but you have probably already
created a picture in your head of what they might look like.
Materials: charcoal (vine and compressed), white plastic eraser, drawing paper with a tooth
for charcoal, soft rag
Drawing #1
i) Rub vine charcoal over a surface of drawing paper by dragging it across the surface on its
side. Wipe surface with a soft cloth. Do this a few times to create a medium toned surface.
ii) Make a map drawing of one of the following by imagining what it might look like:
a. the center of the earth
b. the ocean floor
c. the north or south pole
d. a continent such as Africa, Europe or Asia
Use an eraser to draw lines and shapes. Use compressed charcoal to create a variety of
shapes of what you imagine one of the following to look like.
Drawing #2
iii) Do research on the area you chose to draw and see if you can find maps of the area you
drew.
iv) Make another drawing using the same method but this time base your drawing on your
newly acquired information. These two drawings are to be presented together.
Fig. 22 Edward Gorey
The Western Sea
Fig. 23 Leah Evans
Congregation
fabric and thread
V. ORNAMENT AND DECORATION
In the 20th century ornament and decoration has often been an area of interest that was considered to
be outside of the visual arts realm. Recently it has no longer been relegated to craft as more and more
contemporary artists are exploring the use of this surface treatment.
Project 1: Pattern: Symmetry vs. Random
Graph paper provides a great starting point for any project involving pattern because it already has an
imposed pattern on the surface.
Materials: graph paper (8.5 x 11”), ball point pens (black, red and blue), high quality drawing paper,
pencils, watercolours, watercolour brush
i) Take a sheet of graph paper and design a pattern that relates in some way to the graph. You can use
individual squares or many squares. Make a pattern that is symmetrical. One way to do this is do draw
a line down the middle of the page and work on both sides at the same time (when you make a design
on one side of the page repeat the design on the other). Use black pen.
ii) Add shapes to the pattern using blue and red pens to create disorder and an element of randomness
iii) Do several versions of the above project.
iv) Take a sheet of paper and make a grid with two inch squares. Use one of your graph paper
drawings as a model. For this work you can use pencil and watercolour (or coloured pencil).
Fig. 24 Jennifer Bartlett
Untitled (Random changing spacing) 1969
17 x 22”
Fig. 25 Eva Hesse
Detail of Untitled 1967
Drawing on paper
27.8x21.6cm ”
VIII ORNAMENT AND DECORATION
Project 2: Drawing an Era
Many examples of contemporary graphic design use elements from other eras to attract our attention.
This project involves researching a time period or era that you might have particular interest in.
Materials: source design material from a particular era, paper, paint, oil pastels, glue and collage
materials
i) Choose a particular era. The 30’s, the 40’s. Look up fashion, design and other elements from that era.
ii) Create an abstract composition based on the colours, patterns and associations from that era using oil
pastels and collage papers.
Fig. 28 Rex Ray
Chrysotomentum 2005
oil and collage on linen
Fig. 29 & 30
Examples of nostaligc
memorabilia from
different eras.
VI ILLUSTRATION AND NARRATIVE
Illustration and Narrative focuses on the tradition of comic art and book illustration and how these modes
can be reimagined in a contemporary drawing context.
Project 1: Creating Characters, Scenes and a Narrative
This is a multi-leveled project that uses the comic book grid fromat to create a narrative. The characters
and narrative evolve through the process of following the various steps listed below.
Materials: magazines, newsprint, good quality drawing paper 22 x 30” (Maidstone), ruler, pencils,
Sharpies, watercolour, tape, tracing paper
Preliminary Studies
i) The Character. Decide on a character you would like to use. It could be a person, animal or inanimate
object. Make tracings from magazines to develop a ‘character’. Change and alter drawings after you
trace them.
ii) The Format. Divide a piece of newsprint into a grid. You could choose anywhere from four to twelve
panels. Often comic books use a slightly irregular grid for visual interest as you can see by examples in
Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.
ii)i The Background. Decide on the background. Do you want interior or exterior scenes or a combination
of both. Again look for possible background source material from magazines. Make sketches of
backgrounds in your grid. Background selection could effect narrative.
vi) The Narrative. Cut out words from magazines: find12 nouns and 12 verbs, 6 adjectives and 6
adverbs. Arrange words in each of the grid section (think: Magnetic Poetry). Make sentences in each of
the quadrant to create a narrative. Sentences can be short or long.
viii) Developing the Characters. Now that you have the background and the words, you can develop the
character you started in step (i). Characters can be varied grid to grid as follows:
Scale (large to small or small to large)
Position (change position in scene: side, top, middle, bottom)
Point of View (side, front, back)
Activity (standing, sitting, bending, lying)
Limbs: together, apart, one up, one down (all these slight alterations change the feeling of a character)
Expression: happy, sad, serious, playful
Trace photocopies to create variations in characters based on some of the above.
You will notice in both Fig 1 and Fig 2 the characters vary in scale which creates a sense of moving
through space.
Final Drawing
i) Tape newsprint mock-up to window. Tape good quality drawing paper on top and make drawing based
on underlying mock-up with a HB pencil (vary pressure as you draw). Do not add words at this point.
ii) Add various decorative details (stripes, polka dots, dashes) to drawing paper. Erase some drawing
lines. Add pen lines (fine Sharpie).
iii) Watercolour: add watercolour paint to various areas. Use your brush to create flat areas as well as
textured areas. Glaze over areas with an other colour once first layer is dry.
iv) Add handwritten text based on sentences formed by random words in your preliminary studies; in
pencil or pen. Think about what kind of writing you want to use: cursive, print (all caps, lower case, a
combination).
Fig 33
Fig 32
Project 2: Background Incidentals and Ephemera
The drawing elements found in comic art is the focus of this project.
Materials: tracing paper, good quality drawing paper, pencil, 2B black conté crayon, eraser, samples of
comics (especially the old style, handdrawn ones such as Felix the Cat, Fig. 3)
i) Trace backgrounds in comics and leave out all the characters. Backgrounds can include landscape
elements, building and abstract marks.
ii) Make a large scale drawing on good quality drawing paper based on these background tracings. Use
2B black conté crayon and eraser for your drawing (use eraser to create blurred effects)
If you have a favourite comic book use that or else go to this link for a range of high resolution images
from comic book classics: http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/
Fig 34
VI THE BODY
Project 4: The Body Inside Out
We are very familiar with our bodies outer appearance but many of us do not spend much time
thinking about the interior of our bodies. This project focuses on using your imagination and
research to depict the interior of your body. Many of the early medical drawings were done from the
imagination and then compared and contrasted to dissection when that was available.
Materials: large sheet of drawing paper from a roll of drawing paper (or tape a few pieces of paper
together), coloured pencils, coloured markers, eraser
i, Get somebody to trace your outline on a piece of drawing paper.
ii. Start by drawing the major internal organs and where you imagine them to be. Don’t worry
about getting things right at this point. Just draw them where you think they are. Draw the brain,
esophagus, lungs, brochial tubes, diaphragm, heart, liver, stomach, spleen, small intenstine, large
intestine to start.
iii.Then draw the bones where you think they are.
iv. Find illustrations and diagrams that have the correct placement of the organs and bones and draw
overtop of your original drawing with a darker pencil or coloured markers. Keep your original drawing
marks there.
Fig. 35
VIII. THE EVERYDAY
The ‘everyday’ is concerned with things that are part of life, the ordinary, the unnoticed, as well
as issues surrounding the personal and autobiography. Our lives are made up mostly of everyday
moments. These projects focus on the objects and thoughts that are around us each day.
Project 1: Life is Art
This project is inspired by Rauschenberg who use to take a walk around the block of his studio in New
York and look for something to base his work on for the day ahead. If he didn’t find something in the
first block, then he would walk the second block.
Materials: found objects, medium quality drawing paper (White Tag) i) Go for a walk each day for seven days days. On each walk find one object to be the subject of your
drawing.
ii) When you have accumulated seven objects from seven days, start to draw each object. Use a range
of pencils from HB-8B. Start the drawing by drawing an outline with an HB pencil and then build up the
values. Enlarge object so it takes up at least half of the space of the drawing paper (see examples in
Fig. 36 & 37. You should end up with seven separate pencil drawings.
Fig. 36 & 37 Caleb Speller
from Canadian Muscle series 2010
(from the artists collection of objects that are ‘made in Canada’)
pencil on paper
Project 3: Ordinary Objects
Putting a object in a plastic bag immediately changes its meaning. It goes from being an ordinary object
to becoming an artifact, a museum specimen or material evidence from a crime scene.
Materials: plastic zip-lock, random object that has personal significance to you (such as a Kleenex you
might have used when you were crying or a special object that you have had for years; black and white
conté crayons, high quality drawing paper (BFK Rives), 22 x 30”
i) Put object in plastic bag and place on black paper to draw it.
ii) Cover your sheet of BFK Rives with black using the side of square stick of compressed charcoal or
black chalk pastel (break stick in half for easier coverage of surface).
iii) Start by erasing the lights to give shape to the bag and object. The idea for this drawing is to place as
much emphasis on the bag as the object.
iv) Use white conté to bring out the highlights in the bag and object.
v) Go into surface with black conté to emphasize the darks.
vi) Reinforce dark area around bag and object by adding more charcoal or pastel.
Fig. 38 David Musgrave
Form in a Bag 2004
Graphite on paper
35.5 x 30 cm
Project 4: Creating an Autobiography
This project is based on Sophie Calles’ La Musee Imaginaire and a more recent piece called Exquisite
Pain In La Musee Imaginaire, Sophie Calle inserts objects into a museum display and then creates a
narrative to go along with the objects. Viewers to the museum could read the text as well as listen to
Sophie’s voice telling the stories that accompanied each object. In Exquisite Pain she uses objects to
create a narrative about a loss love.
Materials: personal objects, 10 pieces of medium quality drawing paper (White Tag); pencil and/or pen
i) Choose at least ten objects from your place of residence. They can be anything from kitchen utensils to
clothing to keepsakes.
ii) Make a line drawing of each object using pencil or pen (one object per page) leaving room for text.
iii) For each object create a story (this could be real or ficticious) Write the text below the object. You can
start by describing where the object cam from, for example, a spatula: This was bought at a kitchen
store in Montreal after I just got my first apartment. The wooden handle is slightly worn after 20 years of
use. I have since moved on to other kinds of spatula’s but this remains in the cutlery drawer.
iv) Invent a title for the series
Fig. 39 Sophie Calle
from Exquisite Corpse