Drawing from Life

Limit: 12

This studio art class will focus on drawing from everyday life. This course's goal is to develop drawing and visual perception skills along with a critical consideration of content and context. Students will sketch what they see on campus, in buses, in shopping malls, and anywhere else people congregate. We will also draw from live models during class time and hold class discussions on student work. Students are encouraged to experiment with materials and ideas and are not confined to realistic representation, even though analytical strategies are expected. We will also examine works of some figurative artists such as Lucien Freud, Otto Dix, and Alice Neel, as well as more contemporary artists like Kiki Smith, Jordan Casteel, Jenny Saville, and Kerry James Marshall.

Students will use their sketches to create 4 large thematic drawing projects on high-quality paper--one of which will be a thematic self-portrait. Students will also be responsible for maintaining a daily sketchbook of their drawings outside of class. In addition, each student will give a class presentation on one figurative artist of their choice.