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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "AS 212"
COURSE NAME: "Figure Drawing"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2014
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Peter Flaccus
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: M12:30 PM 3:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: This class requires a materials fee of €75/$85 to cover all basic art supplies.)
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Drawing and painting from the nude figure is the traditional basis for training the artist’s eye and hand.  With practice and specific exercises, students learn to depict the forms, proportions, positions and gestures of the human body, while improving their control over line, gesture, light and dark, color, and the depiction of space.  In this course basic pictorial issues are addressed:  structure, movement, material process, narrative and other kinds of content, and most especially, the creation of coherent pictorial space and the articulation of a pictorial idea.

Required materials will be discussed in the first class meeting.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
The consistent element is the availability each week of the nude model from which to draw.  Students must also do a considerable amount of work outside of class time, in the studio at school, at home, or elsewhere.  Reproductions of paintings from diverse historical periods are shown in order to illustrate points concerning the use of the figure in art.  Visits to exhibitions are also scheduled, in order to deepen knowledge of various painting traditions,  and most importantly, to study master works up close and in the flesh.  Group critiques help students develop a language for discussing their own drawings and paintings and those of others.        

The class is characterized by an atmosphere of study and experimentation, working with a certain humility and patience in front of an objective reality.  The aim is to understand and to discover, rather than simply to follow the rigid steps of a traditional academic regime. Students are encouraged to find their own, individual approaches, and no particular style is promoted.      
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Diligent students will leave the course with greatly improved skill in depicting the human figure in space, and with a new understanding of some of the traditions and problems in figure drawing and painting.
TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Portfolio of the semester's workGrading is based on a judgment of the portfolio of drawings created over the semester. The amount of work done is important, since more work means more progress. Commitment, range of experimentation, improvement, resourcefulness, degree of observation, expressiveness, and other aspects of technical skill and artistic quality are considered. 100
   
   

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality shows excellent mastery of the course content. It is characterized by a high level of artistic awareness, skill, originality, improvement, resourcefulness, and commitment, as well as an exceptional quantity of work produced.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the content of the course, with very good quantity of work produced.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance; the work shows awareness of the course content but is very limited in quantity, commitment and skill.
DAt this level of performance the student shows little grasp of the material and has failed to produce much work.
FLittle 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

Students are guided through the five basic units in this course according to a schedule that evolves during the semester.  Each drawing session consists in a focused lesson or series of exercises and often finishes with a longer study.
1.   Structure and proportions of the human body.  We will initiate the course with several sessions devoted to careful observation of proportions and structure of the figure.  During this period the main aim will be achieve rigor in the constant measurement and correction that is basic to a credible depiction of the human figure.  
2.   The figure in space.  All painting and drawing departs from the problem of controlling the illusion of three-dimensions on a flat, two-dimensional surface. Students will execute drawings that specifically address the relationship of the nude figure to an interior space.  This will typically involve attention to the light environment: how the color, intensity, and direction of the light interact with the figure.  
3.  The figure in light and dark.  Techniques for modeling the figure tonally, in a space with  coherent light.                                                                   4. The portrait. When the artist’s intention becomes that of making visible particular physical or even psychological characteristics of an individual, we have entered the realm of the portrait.  Students may  work on a portrait of the model, a portrait of a friend or relative, or even a self-portrait, always drawn from life, never from a photograph.
5.  Drawing (or painting) a life-sized figure.    
6.  (optional) A multi-figure composition.    After students have some practice in working from the nude model, they should be able to combine figures in a more complex composition.  This widens the possibilities of a narrative dimension in the work.   Here, as in the above problems, familiarity with the history of art is indispensable in finding ideas and interesting problems.