OFFICE HOURS: before class or by appointment

OPTIONAL TEXT: "Experimental Drawing" by Robert Kaupelis, and a blank (unlined) journal or large sketchbook, Handouts & Reference Bibliography

ATTENDANCE POLICY: The work for days missed is expected to be made up.

COURSE GOALS AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Experimentation encourages innovation, stimulates creativity, and provides new ideas for art making. In this class, we will incorpoate traditional drawing techniques and explore new drawing concepts, methods, and materials. We will focus on experimentation as a vehicle for expanding ideas about image making and the process of constructing a drawing. Students will work from the model provided and develop individual projects in consultation with the instructor. In addition, the class will examine many twentieth-century artists and art movements as we seek new ways to"make our mark." Previous drawing experience is recommended. Bring sketchbook and drawing materials to the first class.

This course encourages you to discover and develop an original combination using a drawing medium and your imagination, intuition, and experience to exploring various ways of seeing, both visually and conceptually. In studio projects we will create imaginative, fantasy, or dream works, and experiment with abstractions based on realism as well as sounds, ideas, and words. We study the relationship of medium to subject while working with a variety of media, including charcoal, pencil, pastel, ink, watercolor, acrylic washes, gesso, and gels, and experiment with unconventional media such as natural pigments, textural elements, and found materials to augment our drawing techniques.

The student will acquire critical skills to evaluate drawing in most available media. The student will acquire additional skills in the materials and techniques of drawing. Drawing is a learned skill. This class offers a theoretical curriculum and a design curriculum, where evaluative skills are as important as acquired expressive skills. Beginning Drawing, students will be expected to learn the basics of a classical drawing curriculum, line, mass building, values, composition, perspective and 3-dimensional representation. They will also learn the basics of non-objective and experimental drawing.

CLASS ASSIGNMENTS: For every assigned drawing day inside class there will be an additional drawing required outside class in the sketchbook. Each drawing assignment will explore part of the techniques and goals of experimental drawing, historically and explore the possible steps towards creativity. There will be class demonstrations on the practical aspects of drawing -- including: charcoal, graphite, Conté, ink as well as oil and watercolor crayon and mixed media. The class and instructor on a regular basis will conduct constructive critiques.

IN CLASS ADDITIONS: The daily work will be digitally photographed (for those students amenable) and put online together with the class notes. These will allow a running review of all the student daily work, and provide a resource for the students to show their work, as well.

MATERIALS LIST: