Online course, thumbnails and notans
/Well, folks I'm two weeks into this eight week course and let me tell you I'm truly enjoying the learning process. First week was all about the intro and drawing thumbnails. Here are some examples of my work. The first three photos of thumbnails are all from my photo library and you can see the more I did the better my work. The fourth was a photo the instructor provided in which we were to find a composition, do a thumbnail (5 to 7 shapes) and then paint it in values (3 to 5 values). That's a mantra we're to remember forever... 3 to 5 values, 5 to 7 shapes.
Second week was about (something I knew nothing about) - a notan. My best definition is - a Japanese term referring to the relationship or pattern of the dark and light in a composition, it's either 60% black or 60% white... no other values. I was introduced to Arthur Wesley Dow who in 1912 introduced this concept in a book called: Composition - Understanding Line, Notan and Color. Here are my attempts at this concept.
The second & third photos are the thumbnail beside the notan... so you can see how well I did or didn't do. This is hard for me as I'm using a # 44 knife to create these 'beauties'. But it's also fun and I'm learning tons, so don't feel too sorry for me.
I'll be back after week three and four. Thanks for reading. Ciao.
