Academic Catalog

ART 4A: FUNDAMENTALS IN DRAWING

Foothill College Course Outline of Record

Foothill College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Summer 2023
Units: 4
Hours: 3 lecture, 3 laboratory per week (72 total per quarter)
Degree & Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Area I: Humanities
Transferable: CSU/UC
Grade Type: Letter Grade Only
Repeatability: Not Repeatable

Student Learning Outcomes

  • A successful student will be able to use proficient drawing skills in representational chiaroscuro and line drawing exercises.
  • A successful student will be able to understand and use appropriate drawing terminology in class discussions, critiques, assessments and reflections.

Description

In this beginning-level drawing course, students will analyze form and incorporate value, the concepts of light and shadow patterns, perspective, proportion, and composition in the practice of drawing. In-depth theory and practice of charcoal drawing. Great works of historical drawings will be studied in relation to value, line, form, space, and composition.

Course Objectives

The student will be able to:

  1. Recognize and describe works of drawings which distinguish different types of lines
  2. Analyze how artists use light and shadow to create depth of space by examining great works of drawing throughout history, including the progression of form and space
  3. Examine the development of linear perspective through the study of historical and contemporary important works of drawing
  4. Identify the various uses of texture and explain how texture is related to the overall meaning and purpose of the drawing
  5. Compare great works in terms of composition and how the composition contributes to our perception and meaning of the drawing
  6. Examine use of the content and context in great works of drawing in written format
  7. Describe the use of drawing media throughout history, including how the use of different media results in establishing the overall expressive and conceptual meaning of the work
  8. Evaluate and critique class drawing perceptual projects using relevant terminology in oral or written formats
  9. Examine and describe contemporary developments, trends, materials, and approaches in drawing
  10. Measure and draw proportions from observation

Course Content

  1. History of line - contour, cross contour, and gesture
    1. Analyze great works by artists, such as Dominque Ingres, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Richard Diebenkorn, Ellsworth Kelly, August Rodin, Egon Schiele, Rapheal, Kathe Kollwitz, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Henri Matisse, Honore Daumier, Gioviani Domenico Tiepolo, Alberto Giacometi, David Hockney, and Shantell Martin
    2. Application of the concepts of line in a drawing exercise
  2. History of value
    1. Analyze and application of shadow pattern concepts: form shadow, core shadow, cast shadow, halftone, highlight, and reflected shadow
    2. Analyze chiaroscuro and great works by William Bailey, Henry Moore, Lucien Freud, Giorgio Morandi, Sidney Goodman, Walter Murch, Jasper Johns, George Seurat, Claudio Bravo, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Peter Paul Rubens, John Singer Sargent, Vincent Van Gogh, and Charles White
    3. Application of the concepts of shadow and light to create the illusion of form in drawing exercise
  3. History of linear perspective
    1. Analyze great works by artists, such as Jacopo Bellini, Raphael, Albrecht Durer, Giorgio de Chirico, Edward Hopper, Leonardo da Vinci, and Stephen Wiltshire
    2. Application of the concepts of linear perspective
      1. One-point perspective
      2. Two-point perspective
      3. Foreshortening
  4. Visual texture
    1. Analyze great works by artists, such as Chuck Close, Jan van Eyck, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Claudio Bravo, and Catherine O'Donnell
    2. Application of the concepts of visual or invented drawn texture
  5. Composition concepts
    1. Analyze great works by such artists as Edward Hopper, Philip Pearlstein, Mary Cassatt, Wayne Thiebaud, Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Rene Magritte
    2. Application of asymmetrical balance, positive and negative space, directional lines, sighting, measuring, alignment, and movement in concept sketches or thumbnail sketches
  6. Content and context
    1. Analyze contemporary great works by contemporary artists, such as William Kentridge, Antonio Lopez Garcia, Joo Lee Kang, and Shantell Martin
    2. Application and practice using metaphor, personal meaning, and symbolism in a drawing
  7. Drawing media
    1. Analyze great works of drawings by artists, such as Edgar Degas, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Jim Dine, and Peter Paul Rubens
    2. Application and practice using traditional drawing media by various artists throughout history in drawing exercises
  8. Critique
    1. Analyze and critique great works of drawings from history in written formats
    2. Examine and describe contemporary developments, trends, materials, and approaches in drawing artists, such as Cy Twombly

Lab Content

  1. Assignments and exercises that explore a range of line applications, such as contour, cross contour, and gesture sketching
  2. Assignments and exercises related to form, chiaroscuro, shading techniques-hatching, cross-hatching, and the additive and subtractive method of drawing
  3. Assignments that use the application of linear perspective
  4. Application of texture in a drawing exercise or assignment
  5. Exercises that use compositional rules, such as asymmetrical balance, directional eye movement, visual weight, overlapping space, and problem-solving conceptual thumbnail sketches
  6. Observation exercises that use measuring proportions, sighting, checking symmetry, and alignment techniques
  7. Exercises use the application of drawing media and tools, such as traditional drawing media by various artists throughout history
  8. Exercises that have students make drawing revisions or corrections
  9. Critiques and evaluation of drawing assignments and exercises

Special Facilities and/or Equipment

1. Easel, drawing horse, or 24" x 36" table space for each student.
2. When taught via Foothill Global Access: ongoing access to computer with email software and capabilities; email address; JavaScript-enabled internet browsing software.

Method(s) of Evaluation

Methods of Evaluation may include but are not limited to the following:

Portfolio review: each drawing will be evaluated for technical ability, craftsmanship, and personal creative and conceptual approaches
Written or oral critiques
Written essays, field-trip papers, or quizzes
Written participation in lectures of historical and contemporary drawings
Drawing revisions

Method(s) of Instruction

Methods of Instruction may include but are not limited to the following:

Lecture
Discussion
Electronic discussions/chat
Laboratory
Demonstration
Critique

Representative Text(s) and Other Materials

Curtis, Brian. Drawing from Observation. 2009.

Goldstein, Nathan. The Art of Responsive Drawing, 6th ed.. 2005.

Aristides, Juliette. Beginning Drawing Atelier: An Instructional Sketchbook. 2019.

Sale, Teel. Drawing a Contemporary Approach. 2007.

Although some of these texts are older than the suggested "5 years or newer" standard, they remain seminal texts in this area of study.

Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing, and Outside of Class Assignments

Copy of a master charcoal drawing or contemporary drawing: research the artwork, the artist, the style, subject matter, content, and context; write an essay or paper describing the artwork; write a self critique describing the process of making an artist copy or study.

Discipline(s)

Art