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Drawing is a personal practice used as a
vehicle for developing visual awareness; a combination of seeing, thinking, and
planning that is relevant to all art disciplines. Drawing not only represents
the visible, but also examines and realizes ideas and emotions.
The Drawing area, which fosters visual
investigation through the practice of drawing, encompasses a variety of courses
representing a range of methods, sources, and dialogues. A full complement of
courses emphasizes the translation and observation of relationships within the
figure and objects in three-dimensional space. Several courses explore the
development and combination of visual ideas along with the application of
differing materials, techniques, and strategies. Previous Course Offerings
Below are previous course offerings for the Drawing area. Students must go to mySMFA to see current course offerings and register. Students in the undergraduate, graduate, Studio, and
Post-Baccalaureate certificate programs may also take Continuing Education
courses for credit.
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| Anatomy of Drawing / DRW 1014 |
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| By reducing the principles of drawing to their simplest common denominators-marks, lines, shapes, values, relationships, perspective, materials, and composition-the magic illusions of the drawn are revealed. Problems with various aspects of the drawing language will be given each week to clarify their power. Everyone can draw, and there are many ways to realize your personal process. Looking at and working from your drawing becomes a vital part of development. Models and props will be used only as catalysts to start the selecting process and activate the possibilities in visual stuff. Drawing is a creative act, not a copying skill! Requirements: energy, enthusiasm, and a willingness to dare. |
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| Drawing for What is Seen and What is Known / DRW 1015 |
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The goal of this course is to technically and conceptually expand your approach to visual problem solving, thereby benefiting work made in all art media. You will learn to draw by direct observation and will learn systems to imitate and represent nature without direct observation. We will begin the semester by drawing from the model in pencil and charcoal and methodically exploring linear techniques designed to reveal your physical response to what has been directly observed by the eye. We will use blind contour line drawing techniques as well as straight-line point-to-point plotting of space and form. Using the model in the second half of the semester, we will explore fixed systems perfected during the Renaissance. Methods will include the use of geometric forms and plains, one- and two-point perspective, and tonal systems for rendering light and shade. Each of these drawing systems will "inform"and reinforce the techniques we studied in the first part of the semester.
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| Beginner Drawing / DRW 1022 |
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| Drawing is a fundamental skill that plays an important role in all areas of visual art. Discover some of its secrets while exploring the key elements and methods that form the foundation of the drawing process. We will investigate the role of line, shape, tonal values, and volume, and experiment with a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional drawing techniques and materials, in a supportive environment that encourages your personal creativity. Working from objects and the figure, you will learn how to estimate shapes, see relationships, and measure proportions. Imagination will be used to develop visualization skills and create personal, inventive images. Structured guidance and in-class demonstrations will let you experiment with the tools that are essential for finding your own voice in the art world. Drawings from this course will be suitable for portfolios. |
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| Introduction to Drawing / DRW 1040 |
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| Figuremania / DRW 1058 |
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| Drawing from the figure is an active process that is simultaneously physical, visual, and emotional. Develop your own style while focusing on the human form as a source for drawings that investigate the relationship between expression, ideas, and subject matter. During the semester, basic techniques will be combined with new strategies that enhance visual memory, sensory awareness, and specific observational skills. We will tap the expressive component of figure drawing by exploring new ways of seeing and creating. You will be encouraged to experiment with new technologies, such as computer-generated images, while working with traditional media, including graphite, charcoal, ink, and pastel. We will look at contemporary and historic drawings through slides and reproductions. This course is suitable for those who have some figure drawing experience and want to continue working from life while investigating alternative sources and methods. |
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| Drawing: Plane Thought / DRW 2005 |
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| Drawing communicates ideas that are not as accessible via other language systems. It has the capacity to process ideas in a way that allows broader concepts to be read at a glance. Through cross-referencing source materials, this course allows you to investigate various ideas synthesized through differing voices, points of view, and research tools. Source material directions will be developed every two weeks by peer groups of three to four students, who will present materials to be processed collaboratively or individually. Because of the time-based nature of the materials, notebook work will be emphasized with the potential for more refined "finished" products. Computers, scanners, and various printers will be available for output, but are not required. This course requires out-of-class work, a commitment to develop ideas, and communication with fellow students outside of designated studio time. |
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| Mixed Media On Paper / DRW 2009 |
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| Anyone would have difficulty defining drawing by today's standards. And to tell the truth, we don't care. The definition is best left to critics and historians who need a word for everything lest their worlds fall apart. To the artist, it is only important that he or she uses whatever means possible to express him or herself. We are attempting, through this course, to bring together ideas from many disciplines that should be seen as languages of expression, and process them in the most powerful way possible. We will also foster a better understanding that all ideas can find a format that best expresses their message. |
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| Intermediate Drawing / DRW 2018 |
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| Learning to draw from observation changes the way we see, and the more we draw the more we need to reconsider our preconceptions and expectations of drawing and ourselves. The goal of this course is to allow our relationship with drawing to grow and to become the basis for continued reflection and production. We will use a variety of materials including charcoal, pencil, ink washes, and collage in order to find the best fit for each individual. The course will begin with exercises that use the figure, studio setups, and our imaginations. As we proceed we will embark on more individualized avenues of exploration based on the work we have accomplished and on our personal goals. |
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| Int-Adv Drawing / DRW 2054 |
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| Vision is not only a function of the eyes but also an awareness of personal sensibilities. Identifying and translating these sensibilities into a tactile vocabulary will provide the direction and pulse of your drawings. This course is for those who have some drawing experience and wish to develop a more individual form of expression. We will use both traditional and non-traditional methods, and a variety of materials, to create drawings from reference, memory, and other sources. The psychology of composition and the power of metaphor will be stressed. Group critiques and curiosity are integral components of this course. |
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| But is It Drawing? / DRW 2064 |
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| Designed for students who have already taken a fundamentals class and are interested in broadening their range of drawing options, this course emphasizes an exploration of materials and processes. A significant amount of in-class time will be devoted to teaching critique techniques. Materials will range from the familiar to the unexpected and you will be encouraged to fully explore specific properties in your own way. Drawings begin from the visual recording of designated objects but you may continue in any direction of interest. Work produced can be either figurative or abstract. As the course progresses, we will expand the options for surface, mark, and meaning until the question has to be asked "But Is It Drawing?" |
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| Transitions: Drawing into Painting / DRW 2075 |
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| The improvement and advancement of your drawing skills may lead to a distinct improvement and enhancement of your painting abilities. We will devote the first part of the semester to linear, structural drawing and the second part to successfully translating drawings into paintings. You will address formal issues of creating a compelling composition by studying spatial structure in classical and modern paintings. We will explore anatomy in terms of proportion and geometric-volumetric rendering of musculature. As the figure is increasingly understood and drawn within a strong compositional structure, we will begin to create tonal, more painterly drawings. These tonal drawings transition into learning classic grisaille, or monochromatic painting often used as an underpainting. The class culminates in a limited palette figurative painting based on drawings and direct observation of the model. |
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| Masks and Mirrors / DRW 2085 |
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| What is portraiture in the twenty-first century? How do you see yourself and others? We will look for new ways to visualize a portrait. What is behind the mask and how much of it do we need to see? What associations, artifacts, symbols, and mediums help define inner life? We examine the perceptual vs. the conceptual and the direct vs. the indirect way of arriving at images to construct an individual. Problems are given as starting points, with work done in class and outside. Class critiques are very important. Materials are whatever works. This course moves into the known and the unknown areas of portraiture; daring, imagination, and work are mandatory. |
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| Drawing Breath / DRW 2601 |
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| Develop images or pieces from senses other than visual-specifically sound, smell, touch, and taste-through weekly exercises. Intensive group critiques are directed to problems in, and potentials for, each student's work, with an emphasis on how drawing can function beyond the Museum School environment as a tool in the process of developing ideas in any and all artistic disciplines. These might include video, film, performance, installation, sculpture, painting, photography, printmaking, and drawing itself. This course is experimental and flexible in format; the shape depends in large part upon the wishes and needs of the students. Drawing as an artistic function will be expansively defined. You must attend regularly and commit to the process. |
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| Location Drawing / DRW 3015 |
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This new course offers an opportunity for advanced students to take their drawing practice outside the studio walls. With an emphasis on observational drawing, we will visit a variety of interior locations throughout the semester, spending two to three weeks at each one. These may include a hospital, a senior citizens' home, a factory, a school, etc. It is intended that all locations will be within reasonable proximity to the Museum School.
As well as facilitating access to venues not easily available to individual students, the course will also encourage students to examine the societal and practical restrictions placed upon this activity when taken into a public arena. Work done is each location may be an end in itself or an opportunity to record information for interpretation in another medium.
Participants in the course need to have solid drawing skills that include figure drawing and a knowledge of perspective. Evidence of this will be required at registration. Students will be asked to adhere to a prescribed code of behavior while on location. Failure to do so will result in removal from the roster. |
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| Interm. - Advanced Drawing / DRW 3060 |
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| Individual imagery grows from a process that is not premeditated and relies on instinct, invention, and honest interpretation. The focus of this course will be to stimulate personal definitions of what may or may not be seen. This is a course for those who wish to challenge their drawing knowledge while provoking a curious attitude toward image making. An investigation of materials will be encouraged and a tactile vocabulary will be emphasized. A model, the room, some objects-even the air-will be used for content and reference. Critiques and class discussions will take place weekly. Attendance is essential for continuity and clarification of ideas. |
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| Long Pose and Portrait Drawing / DRW 3088 |
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| By extending the length of the model's pose, you can explore in much greater depth the technical and expressive possibilities associated with drawing the human form. You will learn fine tonal rendering skills using traditional drawing materials to more completely express your visual world. We will explore the essential anatomical forms of the human body and their simpler geometrically expressed counterparts. More technical approaches to drawing will be explored, with an emphasis on the constructive use of erasing to redirect and further develop drawings. Through regular class critique and group discussion, you will learn to recognize what your completed work means in relation to your perceived intentions. Showing past examples of non-Western, Renaissance, and contemporary works of art, we will see how artists succeeded in the use of technique to express and expand the intentions of their visual inquiry. Discussion of contemporary and past artistic movements will help clarify your own artistic position. |
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| Advanced Studio Visits / DRW 3601 |
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| Individual studio visits for graduate, fifth-year, post-baccalaureate, and advanced undergraduate students comprise the course. This consultation, which can be regular meetings or a single visit, presents an opportunity to continue an instrumental relationship already begun in Review Boards, midterm critiques, and previous classes. |
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| Expressive Gesture: Drawing Animals / DRW 4005 |
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| Drawing animals from life is invaluable for building skills of observation and spontaneous expression. In this intermediate-level workshop, we will work directly from animals at the Franklin Park Zoo, and then spend sessions in the studio to develop our field sketches into more complete drawings. A zoologist will assist us in exploring a range of animals, and you will develop a series of studies focusing on one species of your choice. We will also review the depiction of animals in art from antiquity to the present. Experimentation in drawing methods and media will be encouraged. Franklin Park Zoo group entry fees are included during the field trips. |
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| 21st Century Drawing / DRW 4006 |
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| Readily available, inexpensive materials such as paper, cloth, thread, scrap, or found materials provide artists with the simple and immediate ability to respond to their environment. During and after the 1960s, when works on paper earned a renewed currency, artists used the immediacy of the materials to expressively address relevant issues of the day through a very personal or political lens. Using papers and cloth-both recycled and art materials-together with a variety of drawing media, we will develop our ideas through an exploration of the material, spatial, and social aspects of collage and print techniques. We will also investigate the role of narrative and of chance operations. There will be suggested readings, group and individual assignments, visiting artists, discussions, critiques, and gallery visits. This class may be taken in conjunction with PAI 4046-C1, Painting in the 21st Century, for 3.0 credits (register for DRW 4101-C1). |
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| Figure Drawing / DRW 4013 |
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| Learn different fundamental approaches that, if mastered, contribute to dynamic figure drawings. Each class focuses on a skill to be developed (gesture, contour, structure, form) by observing nude models in various poses, settings, and light conditions. Short lectures are followed by demonstrations, after which you will incorporate the skill into your drawing repertoire as the instructor works with you individually. Each class becomes a building block for the next; which when used together propel you to new levels of skill and mastery. We introduce new media, problems, and experiments as the semester advances and you develop their own unique approaches to drawing the nude. |
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| Drawing/Thoughts in Black and White and Color / DRW 4015 |
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| This class approaches drawing as a means to develop the confidence and ability to execute one?s ideas at a relatively high performance level, using primarily black and white media. Drawing is the medium least impeded by technical considerations. The intent is to exploit those characteristics associated with drawing (rawness, directness, spontaneity, economy of means, sensitivity of touch, thoughtfulness, etc,) into a method of creating a personal statement via a progression of visual ideas put down on paper directly. The course will include some experimentation in digital media and encourages the creation of ones own ?models.? |
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| 2-D INTO 3-D/3-D INTO 2-D / DRW 4025 |
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| We combine Mark Cooper's sculpture class with Bill Flynn's drawing class to stress how the two disciplines are intrinsically connected and how they can inform the visual thinking process. The two classes will be given similar problems, then brought together to discuss their solutions, exchange ideas, and create the next problem. You will switch studios and media to experiment with the possibilities and transformations that happen when ideas change dimension. We will make work using a variety of materials. Artists from the past to the present will be discussed (DaVinci, Oldenberg, Christo, Gehry, and others). This class demands a sense of wonder in a search for infinite possibilities. |
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| Exiperimental Life Drawing: The Figure and Beyond / DRW 4031 |
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| This intensive is open to individuals at any level and will focus on figure drawing as an experimental medium. We will use the figure as a focus and also as a point of departure. We will explore a variety of approaches for developing your own personal connections to drawing and content. Representation, abstraction, and expressionist and conceptual possibilities will be discussed. We will look at different ways of using drawing to expand creativity and enhance risk-taking. Experimentation, process, materials, and learning to critique will be emphasized in this fun, supportive, yet challenging course. |
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| Visual Perception / DRW 4032 |
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| Presented in the format of digital image projection, this course is designed to improve and fine tune your understanding of visual recording and perception of two-dimensional space. The course covers the importance of format as it relates to its subject: size, shape, and dimension; understanding and recording divisions of two-dimensional space; relationships between negative and positive space; the complexity of subdivisions and how they relate to the whole; the interaction between negative and positive forms; perspective and its role in two-dimensional space; the role of light in fostering the drama of space and emotions; the relationship of forms and their differences in manufactured objects and nature; the influence of color and its effects on space and the subject and emotional content of an image; the language and reading of mark making; and icons and visual symbols. |
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| PerceptionBuilding:ADrawingWorkshop / DRW 4095 |
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| When drawing, the complexity of an object's volume, values, and texture, and the difficulty in judging the relative scale and the position of its parts, can seem overwhelming at times. With the belief that everyone can learn to capture the outside world representationally through careful observation, this course aims to exercise and develop the act of seeing. The problems of capturing a three-dimensional object in a two-dimensional plane seem to arise when memory interferes with the act of seeing. As we draw a familiar object, our memory takes over from observation and we draw what we think, rather than what we see. The course will develop and enrich practical skills and examine the foundations of drawing. This will involve various structured perceptual exercises from still life, landscape, and model, using a range of techniques and materials and encouraging critical awareness and trust of the eye-hand coordination process. Exercises will be covered at the pace of each individual. |
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| Drawing Independant Study / DRW 4098 |
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| Drawing the Urban Landscape / DRW 4130 |
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| The history of Boston is made up of extraordinary stories. The streets, buildings, public art, parks, and dwellers of the city offer clues to and evidence of those amazing tales. Through drawing, we will attempt to discover, express, and recreate the clues and stories of the urban landscape. For the first two months of the semester, we will visit a site a short walk or trolley ride from the Museum School (Olmsted's Beacon's Gate, Brookline Village, Government Center, and the West End). After reviewing the history of the site, we will use a variety of drawing exercises-sketching, mapping, deconstructing the cityscape-to examine how the site resonates today. Through these drawing experiences, you will be confronted by a variety of social and environmental issues, which you will be encouraged to address by further defining your subject and by developing additional drawing strategies. This course is open to beginning through advanced students. Instruction will focus on drawing, though more advanced students may use a medium of their choice. |
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