Sketchbook Activities - Semester 2
Updated: Apr 8
Master Monday
Instructions:
Read the short article and underline any unfamiliar words.
Then answer the questions in complete sentences.
BYOB: Retrato de la Artista Primavera 2020, 2020
Fridman Gallery
Lucia Hierro, Sufrir o Sofreír, 2019
Courtesy of the artist
Lives and works in New York City
The title of Lucia Hierro’s series of digitally printed still lifes “Bodegón” (2015–present) refers to both the Spanish term for “still life” and the small New York corner shops more typically called bodegas. Bodega staples—an egg-and-cheese sandwich on a roll in hexagonally printed foil; a bottle of Fanta; a bright yellow package of Café Bustelo coffee—fill Hierro’s works, alongside items such as a Yale coffee mug, a Giorgio Morandi painting, and a New York Yankees cap. Altogether, the objects conjure city lives that cross economic and cultural lines.
The works also reconsider the legacy of Dutch still-life painters. It’s easy, Hierro thinks, to admonish the 17th-century artists for portraying objects acquired via conquests—olives from across the Mediterranean, for example, or Chinese porcelain. In Hierro’s aesthetic world, however, these objects and their politics become far more complicated.
Answer the following in complete sentences:
Tell me something you noticed about the artwork or artist.
Ask the artist a question.
Give the artist quality advice.
Technical Tuesday: Grid
Wordy Wednesday
Create a Frayer Model and use one of your Monday underlined words.
Throwback Thursday
Reflect on this week!
What were your accomplishments?
What were your failures?
Master Monday — Artist Reading & Reflection
Artist: Jean Shin
Artwork: Floating MAiZE (2020)Lives & Works: New York City
Directions:
Read the short article below.
Underline any unfamiliar words as you read.
Answer the questions in complete sentences.
Reading: Jean Shin believes that still lifes offer viewers the chance to appreciate the beauty of everyday objects. The form, she said, presents a “preserved and memorialized” reality that depicts the artist’s “systems, culture, and history.” Shin, who is known for her often monumental installations, has mounted dozens of sports trophies atop a long, white plinth; built structures composed entirely of discarded lottery tickets; and made an outdoor sculpture with broken umbrellas.
“I’m interested in engaging participants and communities in the process of collecting large quantities of everyday objects and detritus,” said Shin. “I transform these materials to be in dialogue with larger social concerns and in response to the site’s context.” She recently completed a large-scale installation, Floating MAiZE (2020), for the Winter Garden Atrium at Brookfield Place in New York City. The work repurposes more than 7,000 green Mountain Dew bottles into a sculpture resembling a faux cornfield. Shin connects industrial corn agriculture to high-fructose corn syrup and asks viewers to consider food production, nutrition, and pollution.
Respond:
Tell me one thing you noticed about the artwork or artist.
Ask the artist one thoughtful question.
Give the artist one piece of quality advice.
🔵 Technical Tuesday — Stipple
Create value and texture using stippling only. No lines, no shading — dots only.
🟢 Wordy Wednesday — Frayer Model
Create a Frayer Model using one of the words you underlined on Monday.
Include:
Definition
Synonyms/Antonyms
In a sentence
Drawing
Use the word correctly in a sentence.
🟣 Throwback Thursday — Weekly Reflection
Reflect on this week in your sketchbook:
What were your accomplishments?
What were your failures or challenges?
What will you do differently next week?
🟡 Master Monday — Artist Reading & Reflection
Artist: Daniel Gordon
Artwork: Untitled Still Life (2017) Gallery: Danziger Gallery Lives & Works: New York City
Directions:
Read the article.
Underline unfamiliar words.
Answer in complete sentences.
Reading: Daniel Gordon creates still lifes by collecting images of everyday objects from the internet—fruits, vases, flowers—and reconstructing them in his studio before photographing the final compositions. His work blurs the line between real and digital space, making objects appear both flat and three-dimensional. Misshapen apples might be blue or purple, and onions appear collaged and distorted.
“My work engages with genres of still life, portraiture, and landscape,” Gordon explains. He enjoys working within established traditions while pushing their boundaries. During lockdown, he began making smaller works he calls Night Pictures, created only during evening hours using household objects.
Respond:
One observation about the artwork or artist
One question for the artist
One piece of quality advice
🔵 Technical Tuesday — Hatching
Use hatching to create value. Focus on direction, spacing, and consistency.
🟢 Wordy Wednesday — Frayer Model
Use a word from Monday.
🟣 Throwback Thursday — Reflection
Accomplishments / Failures
🟡 Master Monday — Artist Reading & Reflection
Artist: Arden Surdam
Artwork: Charcuterie (2019) Gallery: ABXY Lives & Works: Los Angeles
Reading Summary:Arden Surdam’s photography embraces the macabre, featuring food, bodily references, and staged still lifes influenced by Francis Bacon and Eadweard Muybridge. Her work often uses sequences of images to suggest narrative and tension. She is currently previewing her first monograph, Glut.
Respond:
Something you noticed
A question for the artist
Quality advice
🔵 Technical Tuesday — Vertical Lines
Use vertical lines to fill the space and build structure.
🟢 Wordy Wednesday — Frayer Model
🟣 Throwback Thursday — Reflection
🟡 Master Monday — Artist Reading & Reflection
Artist: Stephanie H. Shih
Artwork: Stone Dumpling House (2018) Lives & Works: New York City
Focus: Ceramic sculptures that resemble foods found in East Asian grocery stores, exploring nostalgia, memory, and cultural identity within the Asian American diaspora.
Respond:
One observation
One question
One piece of advice
🔵 Technical Tuesday — Pattern
Create a repeating pattern that fills the page.
🟢 Wordy Wednesday — Frayer Model
🟣 Throwback Thursday — Reflection
🟡 Master Monday — Artist Reading & Reflection
Artist: Guanyu Xu
Artwork: Rooms of Convergence (2018)Lives & Works: Chicago
Focus:Photography, identity, privacy, home, and queerness. Xu uses personal and domestic spaces to challenge repression and document hidden narratives.
Respond:
Observation
Question
Advice
🔵 Technical Tuesday — Contrast
Use high contrast (light vs dark) to create impact.
🟢 Wordy Wednesday — Frayer Model
🟣 Throwback Thursday — Reflection
🟡 Master Monday — Artist Reading & Reflection
Artist: Maria Nepomuceno
Artwork: Xamã I / 3 mulheres (2017)Focus:Fiber sculpture, the body, craft, color, and emotional connection.
Respond:
Observation
Question
Advice
🔵 Technical Tuesday — Harmony
Create a composition that feels unified and harmonious.
🟢 Wordy Wednesday — Frayer Model
🟣 Throwback Thursday — Reflection
🟡 Master Monday — Artist Reading & Reflection
Artist: Tishan Hsu
Artwork: Ooze (1987)Lives & Works: New York City
Focus:Technology, humanity, still life, and shifting societal values.
Respond:
Observation
Question
Advice
🔵 Technical Tuesday — Scale & Proportion
Show size relationships clearly and intentionally.
🟢 Wordy Wednesday — Frayer Model
🟣 Throwback Thursday — Reflection
🟡 Master Monday — Artist Reading & Reflection
Artist: Isaac Julien
Artwork: Still Life Studies Series, No. 5 (2008)Lives & Works: London
Focus:Memento mori, memory, legacy, and preservation through film and photography.
Respond:
Observation
Question
Advice
🔵 Technical Tuesday — Balance
Create a composition that feels visually balanced.
🟢 Wordy Wednesday — Frayer Model
🟣 Throwback Thursday — Reflection
🟡 Master Monday — Artist Reading & Reflection
Artist: Guy Yanai
Artwork: Plant in German Office I (2020)Focus:Domestic interiors, color, grids, and emotional symbolism.
Respond:
Observation
Question
Advice
🔵 Technical Tuesday — Emphasis
Use contrast, scale, or placement to emphasize one focal point.
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