DRAWING & PAINTING

Contemporary Drawing

Life Drawing trains the hand, eye and mind in the timeless pursuit of the figurative image. The human figure challenges the observant artist working with drawing and painting materials on paper as no other form can. Students sharpen their observational skills, enlarge their figurative visual repertoire or engage in provocative self-expression. Through the act of “drawing ourselves” via the model, we engage in a complex dialogue of understanding who we are from the distance and dispassion of an observer. As we try to reveal the truth of what we see before us, we also confront and celebrate the uniqueness of the human form in the psychological and emotional connections resident in no other subject.

Fred Stonehouse
Leslie Smith III

Concepts of Figuration

Courses in figuration encourage creative exploration of the “figurative” transmission of the “human condition.” Anthropological, cultural, socio-political, gender, sexual, racial, and dream-life imaging become primary to the understanding of personal or group identity, place, cultural and familial dynamics, sexuality and gender identification. Figurative painting is open to the use of traditional and extreme image making methods including observational, illusionism, fictive representation or other conceptual premises relevant to the successful presentation of privately held concerns. A faculty of specialists offers instruction emphasizing in-depth technical knowledge and utilizing state-of-the-art print equipment in studios designed and outfitted for specific printing techniques. The program stresses skill and technical command with a major emphasis on the development of ideas and concepts.

Faculty

Comics

How do writing and pictures combine and interact to make the “something new” in sequential art, graphic novels, cartoons, or just plain old comics—the something that makes us want to pick them up and devour them? Comics introduces students to the formal and conceptual processes used in answering this question. Students immerse themselves in drawing, writing, and constant observation of the world, developing abilities as writers and picture-makers. They explore the role comic-making plays in society and how they’re used in planned or spontaneous storytelling. With the use of strong line drawings, students depict a variety of stories through daily activities, weekly assignments, and a final project. All work is done by hand.

Lynda Barry