Monday, May 4, 2015

Smithsonian Sketching Group: Perspective



I went again last Tuesday to what they call "Sketch and Discover" at the Smithsonian American Art Gallery/National Portrait Gallery.  The assignment was to draw something showing perspective.  We talked briefly about various kinds of perspective.  Linear perspective where objects in the background are smaller than those in the foreground;  atmospheric perspective objects in the background are less clear than those in the foreground; color perspective where saturation of colors is less in the background than in the foreground (and I also think actual colors:  warm colors move forward and cool colors move back), and planar perspective, where overlapping planes create a sense of depth.  I was fascinated by an assemblage by Nam June Paik, "Untitled (robot)."  It is also known as a "Paaikbot."   It includes portable tvs, a movie camera, a tv, record players for "45"s, a large speaker and radios.  It has real personality and Paik did make a cartoon face on the screen.  My sketch of it is above.

I took a picture of the piece, but there were too many reflections, so I lifted a better picture off the web that shows how it looks when it is plugged in:


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