<p>New member here, trying to get some information about the dreaded RISD bicycle drawing for my daughter. The assignment says that the drawing "may be realistic or abstract." However almost all of the RISD bikes we've seen (maybe 25) have been realistic. Some are a little quirkier than others, but none depart the realism mode entirely. </p>
<p>Does anyone know any more about this? If she does a more abstract, personalized, or quirky piece will it hurt her chances? Are they really mainly looking for how well she draws from life? Are almost all of the bikes realistic? Her observational drawing skills are good, but she really wants to do something a bit different. </p>
<p>No, it will in fact help her if her bicycle is outrageous and show's a unique perspective. All the awesome bikes i've seen have had elements of realism, but also been very quirky and involve crazy illustration or context, etc. </p>
<p>I'd advise against just doing a macro of the gears or anything similar to that.</p>
<p>Don't go crazy. My daughter's bike was hyper-realistic. It didn't include a whole bike. She got in. She chose what to do with this drawing because it showed a certain ability that was not evident in the rest of her portfolio (including her other pencil drawings, one of which was a self-portrait, sort of).</p>
<p>Over the at at least 30 years that RISD has been requiring this drawing of a bicycle, they've seen everything. I don't think there's any particular formula for success. You've got 320 sq. inches of white paper, and a pencil. Let your imagination go, have fun if you can, but show that you can draw.</p>
<p>The year my daughter started RISD, I went to the room where all the bike drawings from that year's new freshman were displayed. My memory is not precise, but my impression was that about 70% were straight, realistic sketches of a bike (from all sorts of angles and perspectives). Others were riffs on things like Bicycle Playing cards. I seem to remember a wonderful playing card showing a Jack of Spades riding a bike with little bicycles running around the edge of the card. One of my favorites was actually a terrific illustration of a scene with just the glimpse of a bicycle thrown down on the edge of the landscape, definitely not the focus of the drawing, but part of the story. In other words, the other 30% were all over the map.</p>
<p>Tell your daughter to go ahead and do a quirky or personalized drawing if that’s what she wants to do. It’s good to be different; art schools value individualism. However, I would caution her about going too abstract. I think that’s more difficult to pull off because a good part of the reason for the required drawings is for RISD to see if you can draw. </p>
<p>But RISD deliberately gives drawing assignments that can be interpreted in thousands of different ways – just to see what you do with it. The drawings submitted are always all over the map. My favorite one from my son’s freshman class (he’s a junior now) was one of an adorable puppy sitting on a couch and peeking out from under a blanket. Where was the bike? If you looked closely, you could see it in the pattern on the blanket!!! Yes, the artist was admitted.</p>
<p>//But RISD deliberately gives drawing assignments that can be interpreted in thousands of different ways//</p>
<p>Exactly. For example a drawing could be a landscape from the perspective of the rider with just a bit of the fender or front wheel showing and maybe parts of the hands upon the bars.</p>
<p>Concept, concept, concept...it is all about the thought process in the end. What is a bicycle really? Can you communicate THE IDEA through some means other than the most obvious. This is where creativity meets transportation or status.</p>
<p>What if people had wheels instead of feet?</p>
<p>Abstraction should have a unified purpose. For example to what degree can it be distorted until it remains on the fringe of recognition, or how can you show multiple perspectives simultaneously. Think of Duchamps' Nude descending a Staircase. He is studying motion and time, in effect, frames of a motion picture, and compressing the experience to a single moment. If the figure was realistic, the audience's focus might shift to the model. The focus of cubism was geometry, time, and the distortion caused by their confluence. At least this is how I explain it to myself - not sure what an art history prof eould tell you.</p>
<p>Point of view can be interesting, and tell a story. What does a bug see as it is about to be squashed? Or, what are the cultural or personal implications of bike riding. In many countries it is the primary means of communication. Even a pie chart could satisfy the requirement...IF it is concept driven.</p>
<p>Of course, there is nothing wrong with - just drawing a bike to demonstrate significant recognition of form and proportion.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. It's true that the concept is everything. She's had the concept, but was worried about the realistic v. abstract aspect. Her idea isn't abstract, but it is unconventional. Anyway, thanks for the input. I like hearing what everyone's favorites are.</p>
<p>Well, paying3tuitions, there is a place in Providence, kind of up behind Providence Place, where you can get a free bike. That is, I believe there's kind of a bike junkyard where you can pick out a bike with problems and then spend a couple of Saturday mornings putting it together with help and instruction from the folks who run the bikeyard. The end result is that you get a servicable bicycle and you know how to work on it. I'm sorry I don't know more specifics, but if your daughter asks around, I'm sure someone can point her in the right direction, if she's interested.</p>