Liber Chronicarum

Here's a cool thing: The Liber Chronicarum or Nuremberg Chronicle. It's one of the best documented early printed books to incorporate text and images, predating Durer's Apocolypse. Written in Latin by Hartmann Schedel in 1493, it is a bible paraphrase and history of the world from creation to the final judgement. It's chock full of bizarre theology and illustrations. It was clearly a strong influence on the Retablo de Ciudad Rodrigo, particularly this image which has direct correlations in Bartolome's Chaos panel. You should do an image search, I think you'll like it.

Retablo de Ciudad Rodrigo

I have recently been obsessed with the Retablo de Ciudad Rodrigo, an altarpiece created in 1493 by Fernando Gallego and the Maestro Bartolome. It consists of 26 panels approximately 3' x 4' and it is the jewel of the University of Arizona art collection. Originally, the panels were assembled together in a massive framework that covered the entire wall behind the main altar of the cathedral of the city of Rodrigo, Spain. The framework, or Gothic tracery, has been lost, hence the black lines at the top indicating the frames' original position. This image, The Creation of Eve, was produced by Bartolome and depicts Eve being extracted fully formed from the sleeping figure of Adam. Christ is present in the Garden indicating his existence since the Creation.

Perspective Window

One of my favorite things to teach is the development of one-point linear perspective through the renaissance. This image is of the main window in my studio and it illustrates many of the concepts I include in the lessons, beginning with Brunelleschi and Alberti in 1435. I put white paper on the outside of the window so the image would show up better. The window is about 3' x 4'.

Camera Obscura

Well it has been QUITE some time since I posted anything on this blog and I'm bored this morning so I will post. Over the past year or so I have created several designs for a Camera Obscura and I believe I have finally come up with a very good model. I use this as a way to teach about light, optics, the two-dimensional picture plane, and experimentation during the Renaissance. Here is a picture taken with my digital camera of the image seen from inside my Camera Obscura. I will be posting more on this in the future so stay tuned.

Classroom Mural 2012

This is my final dry erase mural from East Valley High School. This work was executed by students from 9th to 12th grade and it comprises multiple sources. Close reading reveals fine art references (Harunobu, Picasso), pop art (anime, Ralph Steadman, Disney), as well as clip art, found art, sketchbooks and, of course, graffiti. I have absolutely no doubt that every kid involved learned a great deal about art.

Classroom Mural 2011, 10, 09

2011

2010

2009

It's been quite a while since I last posted on this blog and in that time I've gathered some wonderful images. Hopefully this is the first of many to come. This piece is my third classroom mural and it actually comes from last semester. Once again this is a dry erase marker mural on a 4' by 16' whiteboard in my classroom. The drawing was created by my students using a variety of source materials including ideas from their sketchbooks, pop culture images, clip art, and direct observation. This is from a beginning art class and it always starts with my telling the class to "graffiti my white board". That assignment always ends up with a lot of scribble, bad drawing, and some inappropriate content; however, with a little direction the students feel more confident and they begin to incorporate the basic elements of design that we cover in class. By the end, everyone wants to contribute and everyone learns something.

Thinking Out Loud

Does this really need an explanation or descripiton?