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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "AS 110-1"
COURSE NAME: "Drawing - Rome Sketchbook"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall Semester 2012
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Flaccus Peter
HOURS: T 12:30-15:15
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The course aims to make use of the unparalleled resource that is the city of Rome in an introduction to basic issues in the discipline of drawing. The mental concentration required while drawing gives students a direct, concrete understanding of the forms being observed--forms that are, in this case, of great historical, cultural and artistic interest. Instruction focuses on efficient visual note-taking: the quick rendering of form and volume in space, the depiction of light, the suggestion of complexity and energy using basic drawing strategies. Students are always encouraged to find their own personal techniques and styles of observation.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
Each class meets at a different site of historical and visual interest around Rome. Students make drawings from observation in their sketchbooks both in and out of class, thus creating a record of their experiences. The beginning of each class meeting is dedicated to a brief discussion of the relevant features of the site, and the presentation of a specific issue to be addressed in drawing. Some of the basic drawing issues include: the cultivation of line, rendering form in light and dark, creating space and visual drama through various kinds of contrast, practical advice on perspective, specifying point of view, creating atmosphere, faces and figures from classical statuary, organization of the page, and so on.

MATERIALS: Students must provide their own sketchbooks, which should be bound like books and have dimensions not less than 24 x 34 cm. Bigger is better than smaller. Ring-type and glued sketchbooks quickly lose their pages, and don’t hold up over the term. The drawing instruments are up to you. At least you should have a variety of pencils, soft, dark graphite, erasers and a pencil sharpener. Ink, pens and brushes are fine, but optional. I don’t recommend your using soft charcoal or pastel, as the image quickly degrades in the sketchbook, even when you use fixative. Don’t use ball-point pens, magic markers, or colored pencils.

Sketchbooks and drawing supplies can be found in stationery stores (cartolerie), or in art supply stores. Poggi (two locations, one in Trastevere on Via Merry del Val, just off Viale Trastevere, and the other on Via Pie’ di Marmo, near the Pantheon) has a good supply of all possible materials.

Another required piece of equipment is a map of Rome, so that you can get to the meeting places on time. There is no textbook. Class meetings will be held at the sites listed below. We meet rain or shine. Be sure to plan your morning itinerary in order to arrive promptly at the site at 10:30. (Be alert for announcements of changes to this schedule.) Some sites require entry fees; the total for the semester should not exceed 30 euros.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students will learn to see more acutely and will increase their ability to communicate in drawing what they see.
TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
The completed sketchbook will contain all the class exercises plus work outside of class 100

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
Grading is based on a judgment of the contents of the sketchbook created over the semester. Quantity of work produced is paramount, since producing a large body of work by itself practically guarantees progress. Commitment, range of experimentation, improvement, and artistic quality are also considered.
Assessment Guidelines for assigning main letter grades: A, B, C, D, and F:
A: Work of this quality shows excellent mastery of the course content. It is characterized by artistic awareness and skill, originality, improvement, resourcefulness, commitment and exceptional quantity of work. Work of this level shows acuteness in both seeing and the capacity to communicate that seeing, and demonstrates curiosity and autonomy in self-directed work.
B: This is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the content of the course, with very good quantity of work produced.
C: This is an acceptable level of performance; the work shows awareness of the course content, but is very limited in quantity, commitment and skill. D: This level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material, and has failed to produce much work.
F: Little or no sign of life.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Attendance is required.
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

SCHEDULE (This schedule is provisional, stay alert for changes that may be announced): 

1. (Tuesday Sept. 4) Introduction. Meet (this time only) at art studio, Largo dei Fiorentini, 1. Lesson: two opposed languages of drawing, line vs. tonal value.                                              
2. (Sept. 11) Meet at the Campidoglio (the piazza of the Capitoline Hill, up the big stairs to the south of P.zza Venezia. Entry fee if bad weather. Lesson: view-finding, thumbnail sketches.                                                             
3.  (Sept. 18) Meet at Santa Sabina on the Aventino. (From school walk to the other side of the river at Tiber Island, then continue south past S. Maria in Cosmedin; after the main street leading to the Circo Massimo you will find a little pathway called the Clivio di Rocca Savella leading up from the river to the Aventine hill; first you come to the famous orange grove, and then the big parking lot of S. Sabina.) No bare shoulders or shorts in this or other churches. Lesson devoted to solving problems of perspective.                                                                  
4. (Sept. 25)   Meet at Ponte Sant’Angelo, far end. Drawing focuses on the Baroque, the figure.                                                    
5. (Oct. 2)  Meet at entry to S. Peter's Square. Lesson involves conveying large outdoor urban space.                                                                                                                                          
6. (Oct. 9)  Meet at Guarini entry; we will go by public transportation to the Centrale Montemartini, in Via Ostiense. Bring bus tickets. Lesson regards light and dark contrast. Entry fee.                                                                                                                                                
7. (Oct. 16)  Orto Botanico; meet at Guarini entry, and we walk from there. Entry fee 6 euros. "Scribble drawings"; observation of nature.                                                                               
8. (Oct. 23) Meet at Palazzo Altemps; this is a museum of classical sculpture located in the block just north of Piazza Navona. The entrance is in a piazza off Corso Rinascimento and parallel to Via Zanardelli. Entry fee 7 euros.  Drawing the large sarcophagus, etc.                                                9. (Oct. 30) Meet at Piazza Mattei (the “Turtle Fountain”). Off Via Arenula, near Largo Argentina, take Via dei Falegnami. A series of figure drawing exercises.                                                                                                                                            
10. (Nov. 6)  Meet at Trajan's Market. Past Piazza Venezia, past Trajan's Column, and up the steps. Drawing lesson on clarifying point of view: looking up and looking down. Entry fee.                                                               
11. (Nov. 13) Meet at Guarini entry, and we walk from there to Tiber Island. Problems in cityscape, landscape, riverscape, water, atmosphere.                                                                
12. (Nov. 20) Meet at Guarini entry; we’ll go up the Gianicolo to Bramante’s Tempietto at S. Pietro in Montorio. Drawing architecture, round forms in perspective, also views over the city.                                                                                                                  
13. (Nov. 27) Meet at Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza, on Corso del Rinascimento, one block east of P.zza Navona. Drawing Baroque architecture.                                                                                                                                                   
14. (December 4) Final meeting at art studio, Largo dei Fiorentini. Group critique. Appointments made for individual meetings that take the place of a final exam.