3rd Thurdsay is evolving
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The new formats sound great, and I am sure there will be a lot to be had out of them (sadly cannot make use of the fall critique, as I will be traveling right on that very day). Third Thursday though had a few winning elements. One was the prompt, which was always surprising and unusual and forced you to think out of the box in a pretty unique way (other challenges only have one word, so no real narrative). The second was the deadline - a fundamental element of getting things done (for me at least). And third, the fact that nearly half of the submissions were discussed in the forum during the weeks leading to third Thursday, with a lot of really useful critique and exchange on a common basis.
I am sad to see these things go - hopefully we can keep some of that going on in the forum in one way or other - the community here is one of the great aspects of SVS, which also makes it different from any other online offering out there.With regard to prompts, BTW, I have bought a copy of the "Sparkbook" by Cedric Hohnstadt, which contains about 150 illustration prompts somewhat similar to the Third Thursday prompts...an alternative resource for making relevant portfolio pieces, if need be...
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I'd echo a lot of what @Chip-Valecek and @smceccarelli have said about the unique points about 3rd Thursday - the prompt was really useful in that it challenged you to think of a story. It's so easy left to your own devices, just to fall into drawing cute character sketches, or something 'easy'...whereas 3rd Thursday made you think of a story and a solution to a particular set of visual circumstances. I don't know of any other art challenge that is similar like that... And also, it brought us all together in the forums, working on the same challenge...seeing how others approach the same problem in a different way is really interesting, and fun to help each other out.
It's entirely possible that I'd be in a minority of one about this idea, but if you did something like an 'SVS Challenge' - just posting a prompt here, no critique or winners, just giving us a 3rd Thursday-style monthly prompt/challenge/theme to work on if we want to...well maybe I'd be the only one, but I'd still like that
Having said all that, the new formats sound fantastic too - will be good to have more teaching/direct feedback options - and I'll look forward to what is decided....
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I agree about all working towards a finished illustration using an interesting prompt. That is what our classes will consist of. It will be like 3rd thursday on steroids. You will get feedback on all aspects of the project starting with how to go about it, doing the thumbnails, rough sketch, color study, and final art.
This kind of project will happen in all of the illusrtration 1, 2, and 3 classes.
BTW, you guys can keep doing prompts like 3rd thursday on the forums if you want as well. Just agree on a subject and illustrate it. : )
