How Computer Art aids traditional Art techniques in Education by Mauro George Brooks.

SHADING: Learners understand the technique of how to shade with pencils and computers.

CHIAROSCURO

This assignment by year 7,

investigates chiaroscuro shading techniques, the one on the left with traditional  pencils and colour pencils and the one to the right with adobe photoshop.

OBSERVATIONAL DRAWING/DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY, THE LEAF ASSIGNMENT, CREATING A COMPOSITION TRADITIONALLY AND DIGITALLY, by Mauro George Brooks.

In the Leaf project, students in year 7 begin by learning how to draw by observation. They use the trusted techniques of blind contour drawing and modified contour drawing. Students are then taught some principles of design composition, for example how line allows the eye to move across negative and positive spaces and how space is defined by edges. Students then create a composition of different leaves on a chosen background.

In the next images students have digitally photographed different leaves and flowers, cropped them using adobe Photoshop, and again created a unique composition.

This last image, from a risk taking student, demonstrates how one leaf (with the knowledge of computer aided design), can be made to look like several different leaves!

Looking at Texture. IGCSE students create texture boards and digital texture boards by Mauro George Brooks

IGCSE students who had been given the title theme of, Urban Decay, create texture boards to discover the different textures that may be found in urban decayed environments. They also did this using digital investigation by photographing urban decayed textures and by finding images on the internet that connected to this theme. 

Using found/mixed media.

Using digital images.

Using digital images.

 

Using found/mixed media.

      

Helping students understand perspective drawing with the aid of CAD. By Mauro George Brooks

Students often find the concepts of perspective drawing hard to do and hard to understand. I find that with some 3D model making and some computer aided design, the theories of perspective drawing can be put into practice with ease.


To begin with students draw the back of another student, it is good observational drawing practice, and, they will need the drawing to place within a perspective 3D model box scene, where the have also drawn a one point perspective view of a room.

      

             

                  Every student gets to make one!

Whilst the assignment is in progress students learn more about perspective
using google sketchup.

Students then begin to understand and attempt 2 Point Perspective.

Students can design their own spaces using CAD.

LAYOUT by hand and by computer by Mauro George Brooks

Learning correct layout techniques can be difficult for a young student. Being able to use a ruler to measure with, and to draw straight lines that are parallel to other lines, can take sometime to master. To help students along the way I show them how to create a simple layout page design by hand, and then show them how to do it with computer. The effects are wonderful and it is a great way to mark the beginning of the academic year in their sketchbooks. 

Can you tell the difference between hand designed and computer aided designs?

Life Observational Drawing and Computer Aided Design by Mauro George Brooks

Life drawing needs focus and to create a realistic drawing students need to observe, for sometime, the object, structure or being they intend to draw. To do this I often tell them that they must not get distracted, they must live and focus in the present and concentrate on what they are doing and not think about the future or the past as they draw. To help them relieve the pressure of long periods of concentration I will use an approach where the computer is introduced. I will ask them to take a photograph of what they are drawing and manipulate it several times in photoshop. This allows them to break from their drawing but it continues the observation familiarizing themselves deeper with the focus. It also allows them to consider new ways of approach the focus or subject matter as the assignment grows.
Below are examples of how this can work. The focus here is the arm, it can also be done with other life set ups.

The final result of drawing.

             

 The Computer Aided Design Images above were created by students who photographed their arms and other student arms

making their own compositions.

The last Image students were shown surrealist art work by Dali and were encouraged to invent their own surrealist images using only their arms.

MY DESIGNS for INDUSTRY- Mauro George Brooks

Here are some of my designs that entered the fashion scenes of Japan.

I was working in association with   Artist Collaboration Project for the Amina Collection @ Japan.  They bought my designs and printed them on various products, like sweat shirts, calendars, sarongs and bed spreads!

Sarong

CALENDAR

DISPLAY

SWEAT SHIRT DISPLAY

BED COVER