syllabus

Drawing III • Spring 2011
Micheels Hall 287

ART 300-001

Tuesday/Thursday • 2:30 – 5:30 pm

Final Exam:

Tuesday, May 17, 10:00 – 11:50 am



Amy Fichter
Associate Professor

Applied Arts 306B

Office hours:

Mondays, 12:10 – 2:10 pm

& by appointment

ext. 5335

fichtera@uwstout.edu

PreRequisites
:
Students must have completed Drawing I (ART 100) and Drawing II (ART 200) before participating in Drawing III (ART 300).



Course Description/Objectives:
  • In this course you will assume the role of contemporary artist that uses drawing as his/her primary medium.
  • You will look at drawings made by other contemporary artists, read about their processes and work, and explore how your work exists within that dialogue.
  • You will learn what it means to conduct research in the field of visual arts.
  • You will create drawings and discuss them in order to develop a burgeoning artist’s voice. What is the artist’s role in society today? What issues concern you? How can you use drawing to communicate complex thought/artistic understanding?
  • During the first half of the course, you will create drawings based upon instructor-guided assignments.
  • The second half of the semester will be dedicated to student-directed visual/creative research that results in a small, but consistent, body of work that is made up of a reasonable but challenging number of drawings (will vary according to scale, medium, intent, etc.).
  • 
In addition to drawing, you will also participate actively in written and verbal communication about drawing. This will happen through weekly blog posts and comments as well as through class critiques.
  • You will also be expected to document your research throughout the semester. This can happen through blog posts, a sketchbook, or another relevant method. This will include such things as recording source material, keeping track of ideas, experimenting with imagery, showing your thought process as the semester progresses. A presentation-worthy version of this will be handed in/exhibited at the end of the semester.
  • You are expected to spend six hours per week outside of class on work related to this course.

Evaluations & Expectations:

I expect you:
  • Be in class. Class time will be reserved for showing examples of contemporary artists’ work, discussion of reading material, group critiques, and for drawing. Any research for drawing needs to be done outside of class. Being absent or not working on drawings during class will count against your final grade.
  • Finish all assigned drawings, projects, research documentation, and writing assignments.
  • Create a final body of work based on your conceptual and visual concerns.
  • Engage in meaningful discussion about your own and other students’ drawings.
  • Participate in the end-of-semester class exhibition (including installation and take-down).
  • Blog assignments/weekly reflections.

Attendance
It’s important that you are in class—the class happens because all of you are here working together.

Let me know via e-mail if you can’t make it to class.

Rely on your classmates to show you drawings and notes you may have missed.


After 3 absences, your grade will be lowered.
After 7 absences, you will fail the class.



Grading Policy

Your grade will be based on the quality and thoughtfulness of your drawings, written assignments, class participation (including participation in the end-of-semester exhibition), and research document.

Your grade will also be affected by such “subjective” qualities as these:

1. Are you present?

2. In mind as well as body?
3. Open to suggestions?

4. Helpful in class discussions?

5. Awake during class/lecture time?



For most of the semester I am your coach/advocate. I will encourage, support, and challenge you in order for you to become a better artist.

During midterm and final grading (and in other critique sessions), my role shifts from advocate to judge. It is then my job to give you a fair and accurate gauge of where your work and class participation fit within the standards and expectations of the university and of the larger art & design professional community.

Save and document all your drawings from the semester.



Materials:
Materials will vary by individual. The following materials represent possible choices for drawing surfaces/substrates and drawing media.

Each student will need some kind of digital camera for gathering source images.

Traditional and Non-traditional Drawing Surfaces & Substrates
Drawing papers (sheets or rolls)
Watercolor papers
Printmaking papers
Commercially tinted papers
Illustration boards
Prepared paper surfaces (gesso, blackboard spray, etc.)
Photographs and photocopies
Frosted mylar and acetate sheets
Vellum
Canvas and other fabrics
Glass and Plexiglas
Acrylic medium sheets (handmade)
Metal
Raw and prepared wood
Wall surfaces and found surfaces

Traditional and Non-traditional Drawing Media
Graphite pencils
Graphite sticks
Graphite powder
Silverpoint
Charcoal pencils
Carbon pencils
Vine charcoal
Compressed charcoal
Powdered charcoal
Conte crayon
Colored pencil
Colored pencil sticks
Chalk pastels
Chalk pastel pencils
Oil pastels
Ink
Ink wash
Ink pens
Watercolor
China markers
Litho pencils
Litho crayons
Acrylics/acrylic washes
Gouache
Mixed Media
Oil paint washes
Wax
Coffee and tea washes
Dirt, mud, and clay
Smoke and/or soot
Photocopy toner
Rust
Body fluids


Additional Materials for Drawing and Related Processes
Erasers—Pink Pearl, kneaded, plastic, and tube erasers
Sandpaper
Steel wool
Odorless solvents
Mineral spirits
Colorless blender
Metal sppon
Bone folder
Burnishing tools
Cotton fabric
Cotton balls
Drafting/masking tape
Scissors/x-acto knife
Gloves/safety glasses
Digital inkjet glossy photo paper
Acrylic gloss medium



Text:
Art Lessons: Meditations on the Creative Life by Deborah J. Haynes
Available at Instructional Resource Services

Art Education Artifacts:
The course objectives of this course meet:
•Wisconsin Standard 1: The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches.
• UW Stout School of Education Domain 1a: Demonstrating knowledge of content and pedagogy.
• Wisconsin Standard 9: The teacher is a reflective practitioner.
Portfolio Artifact: best work as determined by student and professor
• Art education students will be required to reflect in writing on this artifact.
• Art education students will be required to upload papers and digital images of their studio works into their e-portfolios.