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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "AS 110-2"
COURSE NAME: "Drawing - Rome Sketchbook"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2022
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: William Pettit
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: TH 12:30-3:15 PM (Please note that this class cannot be taken remotely)
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course makes use of the unparalleled resource that is the city of Rome itself; each class meets at a different site around the city. Students work in sketchbook form, creating over the course of the term a diary of visual encounters. Instruction, apart from brief discussions of the sites themselves, focuses on efficient visual note taking: the quick description of form, awareness of light and the development of volume in space. With practice and growing experience, students become capable of producing drawings governed by conscious intention.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

Rome Sketchbook, like many studio art courses, is based on the experience of Rome and working in a community of artists. This is an adaptation to the normal course, reconsidering recommended social distancing in how we use physical and digital SPACE. 

As Rome Sketchbook normally relies on the city and the landscape, we are not dependent on an indoor studio space: Nature is our studio. But, we are not sure about Italian laws regarding on site classes. Furthermore, a large part of the course involves individual and group critiques, and these will be complicated if safe distancing is to be respected.  We anticipate remote lessons and assignments, so these are accounted in this syllabus, and will either mandatory or optional, depending. 

This way, the course becomes topic-based, rather than site-based. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, students will be encouraged to adapt to various drawings and learning environments. One of the most important things art classes do is teach students to be resourceful and creative. Rome sites will still be used as models, but students will be encouraged to work in similar situations according to the/their circumstances. Classes will take place in person whenever possible, and be supplemented by outside assignments. 

The course content, outlined below, is divided into four sections, and each section is broken down into three lessons. Each lesson has a topic and relative in-class options and out-of-class assignments. Each section has an associated research assignment (described below) and a group critique, one of each every three weeks. 

The schedule may be subject to change as the semester unfolds. 
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
This course makes use of the unparalleled resource that is the city of Rome itself; each class meets at a different site around the city. Students work in sketchbook form, creating over the course of the term a diary of visual encounters. Instruction, apart from brief discussions of the sites themselves, focuses on efficient visual note taking: the quick description of form, awareness of light and the development of volume in space. With practice and growing experience, students become capable of producing drawings governed by conscious intention.
TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Portfolio 50%
Midterm review 15%
Research Assignment 15%
Attendance and Participation 20%
   

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality shows excellent mastery of the course content along with exceptional levels of technical skill, artistic awareness, originality, resourcefulness, commitment, quantity of work and improvement. There has been excellent collaboration and leadership in group projects, and there have been no attendance problems.
BA highly competent level of performance with work that directly addresses the content of the course, with a good quantity of work produced.
CAn acceptable level of performance: the work shows awareness of the course content, but is very limited in quantity, quality, commitment and skill.
DThe student lacks a coherent grasp of the course material and has failed to produce much work.
FNegligent in attendance, academic honesty, engagement with the course content, or production of work.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE

1.     Introduction/ Understanding Eyes and Hands

 

Part 1. Materials and Use

Form: What are pencils and paper? 

How does one draw?

physical relationship between hand and materials 

Content: What does one draw (and NOT draw)?

On-site option: Studio

Assignment: Self Portrait

 

Part 2. Relating to Space

Being in Space: setting up, comfort and composition

Translating Space: 3D to 2D, simple perspective

On site option: Castel Sant’Angelo gardens

Assignment: drawing straight lines: vertical, horizontal, diagonal; perspective drawing

 

Part 3. Action and Research

How fast or how slow can I draw? Gesture drawing and blind contour

Hand and Mind

Listening and Acting = Reacting

On-site option: Studio or outdoor studio

Assignment: Fast and slow drawings, Blind contour

 

Research Assignment on Natural Environment and Cultural Artifacts (see description below)

Group Critique 

 

2.     Space/ Understanding and Using Environments

 

Part 1: The Natural Environment: Landscape

research and catalog/villa di Livia 

deep space and atmosphere

On site option: Gianicolo

Assignment: Homemade pigments and tools and drawings

 

Part 2: Architecture Environments

How does architecture relate to the natural world? 

Line and tone, organic and inorganic

Painting vs Drawing, John Singer Sargent

On site Option: Piazza Navona

Assignment: Tonal Drawing; lines and no lines

 

Part 3: Interior Environments

Working with light, working with sound

Static and narrative space, Leonardo

On site option: studio, San Giovanni dei Fiorentini

Assignment: Blanket Fort drawing

 

Research Assignment on Environmental art, Land art, or ecological art. 

Group Critique

 

3.     Home and Hearth/ Understanding Use

 

Part 1: Mortal and Immortal: The Still Life, or Natura Morta (dead nature)

Working with light, working with time

Caravaggio and Photography

On site option: studio, Galleria Corsini

Assignment: Still Life: Living and dead drawings

 

Part 2: Sustainable vs Disposable. 

Yard and garden foraging and inventory, Urban foraging 

Residue, trash, and the remnants of consumption. 

Arte Povera

On site option: studio/GNAM

Assignment: Homemade tools and pigments /charcoal and ink

 

Part 3: Cooking. 

The Kitchen as Studio

Cultural narratives of availability and use

The kitchen as vernacular architecture

Temperature/texture and patience/anticipation

On site option: Jewish Ghetto

Assignment: Fabric Dyes and basic color

 

Research Assignment on Cooking and Color (see description)

Group Critique

 

 

 

4.     Figuring The Other/ Understanding the Human Form

 

Part 1: The Gesture

Work from the model

Translating movement, timed and untimed drawings

Musical chairs and Matisse

On site option: Ponte Sant’Angelo

Assignment: On site gesture drawings

 

Part 2: The Gaze

The purpose of portraiture

Possession, place, class, race

The place (environment) of portraiture

Caricatures

On site option: Museo di Roma a Trastevere

Assignment: Portraits

 

Part 3: The Figure in Space

Uniting Gesture and Gaze in Space

3D space and experience

On site Option: Galleria Borghese

Assignment: continuous, multi-page drawings

 

Research Assignment on an Artist (see description)

Group Critique