ART 1100: Foundations Drawing Syllabus

University of Nebraska at Omaha, College of Communication, Fine Arts & Media, Department of Art & Art History

This is the general syllabus for Art 1100: Foundations Drawing at the UNO School of the Arts.  This work is licensed under a CC-BY 4.0 Creative Commons license. 

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Foundation Drawing for Art 1100 © 2022 by Amy Haney is licensed under CC BY 4.0

This is an introduction to the essential tools of art making through an active exploration of drawing mediums and design concepts. The focus is on the development of conceptual ideas and technical skills used in studio practice. The course will have a strong emphasis on drawing from observation.

Competencies, Standards, Goals: 

1. Understand the strong factors of visual representation.
2. Draw with a variety of media.
3. Understand two dimensional design elements and principles.
4. Develop an awareness of critical and aesthetic issues through reading, writing and discussion.
5. Develop the manual, visual and conceptual skills necessary for drawing and visual communication.
6. Form connections with historical art periods and a variety of work from other artists.

Student Learning Outcomes: This course is based on visual perception, observational drawing skills, and creativity.

1. Activities include a variety of drawing techniques, from quick sketches to drawings that take several hours to complete.
2. Students will learn to use a variety of dry media such as charcoal, conté crayon, pencil, and pastels, along with other mediums such as ink and paint.
3. Drawing from observation will provide an understanding of proportions, perspective, measuring and plumb and level approaches.
4. Students will establish a working knowledge of successful compositions.
5. Observational and creative assignments both focus on visual problem solving.
6. Reading and writing activities will center on appropriate use of vocabulary associated with design elements and principles, aesthetics and critical thinking.

Performance Assessment: Students will create a series of complex drawings. They will develop value and color studies that focus on drawing and design concepts, and representationalism and the illusion of space. All work will be presents in a portfolio evaluation along with digital documentation. Students are required to defend their artwork through written and spoken presentation. Students will participate in critiques in which they articulate their understanding of the formal elements, materials, techniques, and concepts present in their work and the process. Students will explore various artists, movements and genres to find kinship in contemporary and historical art. They must articulate possible interpretations of their work through historical and contemporary critical constructs.

Course Content & Objectives: This is a beginning studio course focusing on the foundation drawing skills and concepts central to the creation of two-dimensional art. We will experiment with materials, methods, and ideas as we engage in a perceptual and observational studio practice. Students will learn a variety of techniques in wet and dry media. Students will learn how to use basic traditional drafting tools such as the t-square, triangle, and compass. Students will learn the fundamentals of observational drawing, including the accurate description of figure/ground relationships, linear perspective, line quality, foreshortening, texture, and the illusion of space. The student will deal with compositional concerns like balance, positive and negative space, and the elements of art and design. Basic color theory will be explored.

By the end of this course each student will:

1. Understand basic drawing techniques with materials such as pen/brush and ink, charcoal, conté crayon and graphite.
2. Fundamentally understand linear perspective and be able to use it in their work.
3. Be able to manipulate formal elements in order to create a believable illusion of space within a drawing or painting.
4. Carefully observe an object in space and accurately produce that subject onto paper.
5. Use drawing tools and techniques in creating artwork.
6. Have knowledge and understanding of formal issues found in different applications of visual elements that can communicate various narratives to an audience.
7. Develop a knowledge of applicable vocabulary to articulate descriptions of their work in relation to contemporary and historical artistic practices.
8. Have understanding of how to present and document their work professionally.

The student’s dedication to their development and consistent, thoughtful engagement with the concepts and methods presented in class will be apparent in the increasing quality of the work throughout the semester and will be used as criteria for grading.

ASSIGNMENTS:

Contour line drawing: Object

Find three objects of sentimental value to draw as a still life object. Create a viewfinder by cutting up a 4”x6” viewfinder, which in turn will be used to correctly center the composition in the picture plane. Draw contour lines (outlines), as well as the perceived shadows, reflections of light and details of the object. Absolutely no shading is allowed.

Perspective value drawing: Perspective

Take a photograph of a room that you either spend a lot of time in, or has sentimental value. Print photograph in black and white and utilizing perspective techniques, create an accurate depiction of the room. Begin this drawing by identifying the horizon line and determining the vanishing points, draw contour lines of all objects within the room and apply value scale accordingly to the original photograph.

Graphite transfer drawing: Mode of transportation

Do you have a vehicle that you always dreamed of but couldn’t have? Do you have a vehicle that you spent a lot of memorable time in with family or friends that you always will cherish? Is it a bicycle? A boat? An airplane or a car? Find a photograph or locate an image of that transportation vehicle and print it in black and white on a full letter sized paper. Make sure the image fills out the entirety of the paper. Transfer the image utilizing a graphite transfer technique and complete the drawing by applying textures and value scales to the drawing. Add a corresponding background around the vehicle to give the image a narrative context.

Grid charcoal: Portrait

Photograph yourself or someone close to you and print it on a full letter sized black and white piece of paper. Draw a ½” grid on the printout and create a 1” grid on your 18”x24” drawing paper. Leave 2” borders on top and bottom and 1” borders on left and write and draw within the center of the paper, leaving a 16”x20” grid the drawing area. Reference your photograph and draw one square at a time until you produce an accurate drawing of you or the person you selected. Shade the drawing with charcoal to create a dramatic, moody, high contrast image. Reference artists such as Frida Kahlo for portraiture and Caravaggio to get an idea of this high contrast, chiaroscuro technique.

Ink brush painting: Landscape

Produce a landscape ink wash painting using sumi-e or india ink. The landscape must clearly display your knowledge of foreground, middle ground, and background elements, along with atmospheric perspective to illustrate depth. Start the drawing from observation, then complete the landscape from the reference photo printed in high resolution. The landscape should be based on a personal sentimental relationship with the particular location.

Charcoal and Conté Crayon drawing: Create a narrative

Combine various elements learned in the previous assignments; scenery, machinery, portraiture, and narrative. Your image will be based on personal history or fictional tale. Use gray toned paper for this project, your drawing media will be charcoal and conté crayon. The paper will be your mid tones, while contrast will be developed with your media. Value will be achieved with black, gray, and white charcoal and/or conté.  This assignment is open to creative interpretation.

It is vitally important that you spend time really looking at all types of art in order to better inform your own practice.

http://www.googleartproject.com/ (Links to an external site.) – allows you view paintings in museums all over the world. Excellent zoom feature on most paintings allowing close study.