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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "AS 110"
COURSE NAME: "Drawing - Rome Sketchbook"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Summer Session II 2016
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Roberto Caracciolo
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: TTH 9:00 AM 12:45 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS: by appointment

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:

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 creating a record of their experiences and of the sites they are seeing. The beginning of each class meeting is dedicated to a brief discussion of the  site, and the presentation of an issue to be addressed in drawing. Some of the basic drawing issues addressed in specific lessons include: centering the subject on the page, the uses and the values 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 and so on. 

Additional information:
1. The course involves working from direct observation. Working from photographs is not permitted.
2. The course may include visits involving an entry fee.  These visits are held to a minimum and should not cost you more than a total of 25 Euro over the session.
3. The core activity is drawing directly from observation. You will not be able to meet the requirements of the course without working many hours outside of class.
4. The class meets rain or shine.
5. The course is meant to be a framework allowing very free individual artistic choices. The lessons are meant to help students get started, but there is always room for creative alternatives.
6. Students must come to class on time because that is when the site is explained, and the day's drawing problem and other announcements are given. 
7. Students need to dress appropriately: proper footware, no bare shoulders and no very short skirts allowed in churches, hats and sunscreen.
8. Be sure to plan your morning itinerary in order to arrive promptly at the site at 9:00. Be alert for announcements of changes to the preliminary schedule below.

Materials:
Students buy their own art supplies. You need a bound or spiral bound (not glued) notebook not less than 24 x 34 cm. If wanted also a smaller notebook of 12 x 24 cm. The drawing instruments are preferably a variety of pencils, or soft, dark graphite, but other tools are welcome too. You will need erasers and a pencil sharpener. Ink, pens and brushes are fine, but optional. Soft charcoal or pastel are not recommended, as the image quickly degrades in the sketchbook, even when you use fixative.

There is no textbook. 

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), Arte Tre in Via del Fiume near Via Ripetta and the Piazza del Popolo. Drawing supplies are commonly found in stationary stores (cartolerie); Moleskin books which are useful for smaller skatchbboks can be found within the Feltrinelli bookstores.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

LEARNING OUTCOMES: 
By the end of the course students should be more visually alert to their surroundings, capable of careful observation, familiar with significant sites in Rome, and capable of representing what they see in both quick sketches and longer studies. They will have acquired skill using various technical approaches to drawing and knowledge about some traditions in drawing and painting.

TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
SketchbookGRADING POLICY -ASSESSMENT METHODS: Assignment Guidelines Weight Completed sketchbook of drawings done over the term Grading is based on a judgment of the contents of the sketchbook created over the semester. Quantity of work produced is of great importance as is improvement. Producing a large body of work by itself is a guarantee of progress. Commitment, range of experimentation, resourcefulness, inventiveness, expressiveness, acuity of observation, concision, complexity, spatial clarity, and other aspects of technical skill and artistic quality are also considered. 100 -ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: A Work 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. The student has the capacity to initiate and carry out artistic projects that communicate specific intentions. B Highly competent level of performance with work that directly addresses the content of the course, with a good quantity of work produced. C An acceptable level of performance: the work shows awareness of the course content, but is very limited in quantity, quality, commitment and skill. D The student lacks a coherent grasp of the course material and has failed to produce much work. F Negligent in attendance, academic honesty, engagement with the course content, or production of work. -ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS: Attendance is required (unjustified absences will erode the grade: for example an A- will become a B+). 100% of Grade

-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 proble
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 ____________

SCHEDULE


PROVISIONAL SCHEDULE day by day, but stay alert for changes:   
1. (Tuesday July 5) Introduction. Meet (this time only) at JCU Art Studio, Largo dei Fiorentini, 1. Lesson: two opposed languages of drawing, line vs. tonal value. Sketching on the Castel Sant’Angelo bridge.
2. (Thursday July 7) 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 turn left up a little pathway called the Clivio di Rocca Savella leading from the river to the Aventine hill. Past the famous orange grove you will find the big parking lot of S. Sabina. Wait there.) No bare shoulders or shorts in this or other churches. Lesson devoted to solving problems of perspective.

 

Assignment 1st week: Set up a small still life, possibly including a book or another geometric form, and draw from different points of view.

3. (Tues. July 12) Meet at Palazzo Altemps, a museum of classical sculpture located outside the curved end of Piazza Navona. The entrance is in Piazza Sant’Apollonia 48, just off of Corso Rinascimento. Drawing the large sarcophagus and other statues from antiquity. Entry fee 13 Euro. Faster line drawings.

4. (Thurs. July 14) Meet at the Galleria Nazionale at Palazzo Massimo in Piazza dei Cinquecento (in front of Termini train station). Same ticket as for the Altemps museum. Slower drawing from original Greek statues and from Roman frescoes paying attention to atmospheric perspective.

Assignment 2nd week: Antiquity and ruins (going to the Forum or inside the Pantheon).

 

5. (Tues. July 19)  Meet by the fountain of the Triton in Piazza Barberini. We will be looking at the Baroque by seeing the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa by Bernini and San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane by Borromini.

6. (Thurs. July 21) Meet in Piazza del Campidoglio. We will be drawing in the Piazza (designed by Michelangelo) and thenin the capitoline Museum looking at Baroque painting (bring Euro 2 for the entrance).

 

Assignment 3rd week: Looking at statues (in churches) or fountains (Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona or of the Turtles in Piazza Mattei)

 

7. (Tues. July 26) Meet at the Campidoglio (the piazza of the Capitoline Hill, up the big stairs to the south of Piazza Venezia. Lesson: view-finding, looking down upon the forum and on the city.
8. (Thurs. July 28) 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.

 

Assignment 4th week: Rome views (such as in Trastevere the courtyard of Santa Cecilia or Santa Maria in Trastevere).

 

9. (Tues. August 2) Orto Botanico; meet at Guarini entry, and we walk from there. Entry fee 6 Euro. Suggesting forms instead of being able to describe them, observation of nature.
10. (Thurs. August 4) Final meeting at JCU Art Studio, Largo dei Fiorentini, 1. Group critique  

11. (Friday August 5) Appointments made for individual meetings that take the place of a final exam. 

 

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


PROVISIONAL SCHEDULE day by day, but stay alert for changes:   
1. (Tuesday July 5) Introduction. Meet (this time only) at JCU Art Studio, Largo dei Fiorentini, 1. Lesson: two opposed languages of drawing, line vs. tonal value. Sketching on the Castel Sant’Angelo bridge.
2. (Thursday July 7) 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 turn left up a little pathway called the Clivio di Rocca Savella leading from the river to the Aventine hill. Past the famous orange grove you will find the big parking lot of S. Sabina. Wait there.) No bare shoulders or shorts in this or other churches. Lesson devoted to solving problems of perspective.

 

Assignment 1st week: Set up a small still life, possibly including a book or another geometric form, and draw from different points of view.


3. (Tues. July 12) Meet at Palazzo Altemps, a museum of classical sculpture located outside the curved end of Piazza Navona. The entrance is in Piazza Sant’Apollonia 48, just off of Corso Rinascimento. Drawing the large sarcophagus and other statues from antiquity. Entry fee 13 Euro. Faster line drawings.

4. (Thurs. July 14) Meet at the Galleria Nazionale at Palazzo Massimo in Piazza dei Cinquecento (in front of Termini train station). Same ticket as for the Altemps museum. Slower drawing from original Greek statues and from Roman frescoes paying attention to atmospheric perspective.

Assignment 2nd week: Antiquity and ruins (going to the Forum or inside the Pantheon).

 

5. (Tues. July 19)  Meet by the fountain of the Triton in Piazza Barberini. We will be looking at the Baroque by seeing the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa by Bernini and San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane by Borromini.

6. (Thurs. July 21) Meet in Piazza del Campidoglio. We will be drawing in the Piazza (designed by Michelangelo) and thenin the capitoline Museum looking at Baroque painting (bring Euro 2 for the entrance).

 

Assignment 3rd week: Looking at statues (in churches) or fountains (Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona or of the Turtles in Piazza Mattei)

 

7. (Tues. July 26) Meet at the Campidoglio (the piazza of the Capitoline Hill, up the big stairs to the south of Piazza Venezia. Lesson: view-finding, looking down upon the forum and on the city.
8. (Thurs. July 28) 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.

 

Assignment 4th week: Rome views (such as in Trastevere the courtyard of Santa Cecilia or Santa Maria in Trastevere).

 

9. (Tues. August 2) Orto Botanico; meet at Guarini entry, and we walk from there. Entry fee 6 Euro. Suggesting forms instead of being able to describe them, observation of nature.
10. (Thurs. August 4) Final meeting at JCU Art Studio, Largo dei Fiorentini, 1. Group critique  

11. (Friday August 5) Appointments made for individual meetings that take the place of a final exam.