Project 2 - Generative Drawing

Lucy will assign you a set of instructions written by a colleague in the class. Follow their instructions and produce 4 all-over drawings according to their instructions. You should interpret the instructions as is, and seek no consultation from the author (your classmate). If you deviated from the instructions, make sure you provide in text the steps that you added or adjusted.

Before you begin, take some time to identify which parts of the instructions contain variables and which parts are deterministic; consider how you can experiment with the ambiguous parts of the instructions to produce differences across your 4 drawings. Introduce variations on the instruction that would help build your interests and narrative.

The drawings should be 18 x 24in., arranged however you choose.
Materials are limited to charcoal, conte and heavy stock paper, such as Stonehenge or similar.

Pin-up your edited instructions (if any) and your drawings by 8:30am in class on Monday, 09/27.

Exercise 2 - Generative Drawing

Drawing by observation is almost always an abstraction of reality. But some drawings do not originate from reality. They emerge from the fabrication of rules and worlds. These drawings can simulate qualities or mimic characteristics of objects to provide some grounding for familiarity, yet they are not derived from any real thing or phenomenon. This week, we will be looking at drawing rules and instructions for fabricating effects. How can we make a drawing recipe for someone to follow? How do we recreate qualities and characteristics?

We are going to deviate from drawing from life to drawing from rules. Define 1 key characteristic from your set of 16 drawings from Strange Sets, and write in text a set of rules to reproduce the characteristic. For example, wood bark that looks "rough" would need descriptions to guide how to reproduce the roughness with line and tone. Be as specific as you possibly can when describing the drawing process and notice what aspects of your instructions are more open to interpretation, and which aspects are highly specific. Realize that your instructions not only describe the characteristic you choose, but the rules can also fundamentally shape and add to the characteristic. The instructions need not be limited to formal qualities - you may include constraints such as time, material, condition for drawing, etc.

Follow your set of rules and produce 1 allover composition. An allover composition would be one that fills the entire drawing surface, that includes some repetitive element and defy the orientation of the drawing surface (there shouldn't be only one orientation to look at it). The drawing should be 18x 24in.

Materials are limited to charcoal, conte and heavy stock paper, such as Stonehenge or similar.

Present your instructions as a text document, with steps. Pin-up your rules and your drawing by 8:30am in class on Tuesday, 09/21.