Michelle Forsyth, Associate Professor
Painting and Drawing
Fine Arts Department
Washington State University
5072 Fine Arts Center
Pullman WA 99164

Office Hours: by appointment
Office Room #: FA 7015
Office Tel: (509) 335 - 3278

FA 111: Figure Drawing
Fall 2004 - Monday, Wednesday, Friday 3:10 – 4:50

Course Description (From WSU Catalogue):
Prerequisites FA 102, 103, 110.

Objectives:
In this class we will examine ways of tracing lines, recording the movement of our eye by our hand and will examine this act as an extension of our bodies. The drawn mark will stand as a permanent record of our tracing and ultimately of ourselves. Because we will be focusing on drawing the figure, the connection between our act of recording a body with our bodies opens up rich possibilities for exchange. In this class we will begin by looking at how the figure operates in space, we will also examine our own physicality in relation to others, gradually moving inward to focus on our own bodies as subject, recording minute details.

Attendance:
This is a very demanding course. Handouts, critiques, and demonstrations will contribute to each student's formal studio technique and critical facility. Interaction and collaboration with your peers will be an important aspect of the learning process. If you miss more than one class, or arrive late consistently you will not receive an A in this course. Please note that this course requires at least 3 hours of homework per week. The projects take a lot of time and energy and will be impossible to complete unless you work consistently throughout the semester. Please do not arrive late or depart early from class meetings, there is simply too much material to cover in each class and it proves to disruptive and disrespectful to all of us. Absence from a class is not an excuse for skipping a tutorial, reading assignment, or project. You are responsible for completing work.

Please note:
5 absences results in failure of the course.
15% will be deducted from your final grade if you have missed 3 classes
20% will be deducted from your final grade if you have missed 4 classes

The following also counts as 1 absence:
1. Arriving more than 10 minutes late to class 3 times.
2. Leaving early from class without permission.
3. Not participating in class excercises.

Grading Policy:
Because this class focuses on studio production, a substantial portion of your grade is based on attendance and participation. In addition, all work must be submitted for critique on the due date. You must show work during class critiques to receive a grade. Work should be ready to hang by critique date. If you fail to hand your assignments in on time, 4% per week will be subtracted from the grade received. Work submitted by the deadline may be revised for re-evaluation. Resubmitted work must include substantial revision and show considerable improvement and alteration. Resubmission of work at this stage is strongly encouraged, time permitting. The revised grade will be an average of both grades received.

Final Grades will be based on the following factors:
60% Class participation and attendance. Showing up and participating in class discussions and critiques is mandatory.
30% Completion of assignments (see note above Assignments)
10% Final Critique (present all completed assignments, statement of intent and participation

Materials:
(* denotes will need by next class)

Paper:
*Sketchbook at least 11 x 14"
*2 Newsprint Pads 18 x 24 and more as needed
*1 Sketch Pad 18 x 24 and 1 measuring 24 x 36 (como sketch)
1 roll of sketch paper
Black Paper

Drawing Implements:
*Box of Pencils (something like 4H, 2H, B, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B)
*Jumbo Graphite stick
*Charcoal, both stick and willow
*1 Chubby Charcoal
*India Ink and assorted brushes
*Black Markers
White and Black Conte Crayons
White Chalk
White Pastels
A small box of crayons including black and white.

Erasers:
Gum Eraser
Kneaded Eraser

Other:
Magnifying Glass (cheap one)
Various gloves including oven mitt, ski gloves etc. Whatever you have lying around.
Masking Tape
*2 Large Bulldog Clips
*Cardboard for portfolio or Portfolio with Drawing Board (only 22.99)
Metal Ruler
1 piece of Sandpaper
Good quality Pencil Sharpener with metal blade
*Box for drawing supplies

Course Projects:

Because this is a studio class and we will be working primarily from a live model, participation and attendance is mandatory in all class sessions. The exercises created in class are counted towards the participation portion of your overall grade, which accounts for 60%. 30% is accounted for in the following assignments. These assignments are to be completed outside of class time.

Project 1: 50 Expressive Marks
On a few pieces of sketch paper measuring at least 18 x 24, create an archive of 50 expressive marks in different materials. How do the lines you create with marker differ from those you can make with pencil or charcoal? How can these qualities be used to create meaning in drawings?

Project 2: Figure/Ground Relationships
Create 5 continuous line drawings of friends and relatives paying close attention to positive and negative space. Be sure to carefully articulate form in your drawings, taking in a lot of detail. You should spend at least 20 minutes on each drawing.

Project 3: Movement Installation
Carefully draw 5 drawings of body parts onto a semi transparent paper such as Mylar. Then hang the drawings one on top of each other to convey a sense of movement.drawings that describe a sense of movement.

Project 4: Modeling Form
Create one outline 18 x 24 drawing like the ones we did in class this week. Begin with a simple loose contour followed by modeling of form.

Project 5: Shadow Drawings
Create a series of 5 drawings of shadows cast from figures on 18 x 18 pieces of paper. You can make the shapes more interesting by using objects and architectural elements for them to fall onto. Also, try to pay careful attention to the framing of your drawings, creating ambiguous positive/negative space.

Project 6: Large-Scale Drawing
Finish Large-scale drawing by Wednesday.

Project 7: Viewfinder Drawings
Create 2 drawings using relief modeling. Start by making light, contour drawings that have an interesting composition, such as looking down your leg or arm, using a viewfinder. Each drawing should take at least 20 minutes to complete and should include the background.

Project 8: Skeleton Drawings
Study hand out and complete 2 drawings from the skeleton to be completed by next Monday.

Project 9: Skin Studies
Create four 1" x 1" pencil drawings of your skin at a 1:1 ratio. You should spend at least 20 minutes on each drawing. After these drawings are complete, pick one and enlarge it to 36 x 36 inches using charcoal. Make sure to get as much detail as possible in the finished drawing.

Final Project: Found Space Narrative
One large 36 x 48 drawing using narrative.

Course Schedule:

Week 1: Experimenting with your materials
Drawing is unique and operates differently from other media, such as painting where the ground tends to be completely covered, in that the drawn mark is in constant dialogue with the ground it rests on. A mark on paper immediately transforms the surface and energizes it. In the first few classes we will examine our materials through expressive mark making. We will also examine the importance of keen observation and will focus on seeing large forms first.

Monday August 23 : Introduction.
Guidelines for class, materials list, goals and expectations of the class.
Discussion: How do we define drawing and what does it mean to make drawings of the human form.

Wednesday August 25: What is line and how does it describe?
The importance of keen observation. We will create blind contour drawings of others in class.

Friday August 27: About Looking
The importance of keen observation. We will create blind contour drawings of others in class.

Homework for the week:
Project 1:
On a few pieces of sketch paper measuring at least 18 x 24, create an archive of 50 expressive marks in different materials. How do the lines you create with marker differ from those you can make with pencil or charcoal? How can these qualities be used to create meaning in drawings?

Reading for the week:
Furlong, William. "Claude Heath interviewed". What is Drawing? (London: Blackdog Publishing, 2003), 19 - 25.

Questions to think about for Monday's Critique:
How is gesture important in your drawings?
What are the relationships between the body, gesture and mark?
What is it that makes a mark 'expressive'?
How do marks work to evoke emotional states?
How do marks convey meaning?

Week 2: Using Line to Describe Figure/Ground Relationships
We will look at the body within spatial environments and an learn how to use the environment as a measuring device. Also, please note that a body exists within a this space which provides the context for the figure. We should be using the entire page in these exercises.

Monday August 30
Critique and Discussion

Wednesday September 1
Experiments in form and figure/ground relationships. We will complete several outline and shillouette drawings in class. We will also create some continuous line drawings.

Friday September 3
Contour drawings of the figure in space in charcoal on newsprint. Then we will begin one in india/sumi ink using your roll of sketch paper. Cut a piece of sketch paper measuring 24 x 36 or larger for the longer pose.

Homework for the week:
Project 2: Create 5 continuous line drawings of friends and relatives paying close attention to positive and negative space. Be sure to carefully articulate form in your drawings, taking in a lot of detail. You should spend at least 20 minutes on each drawing.

Reading for the week:
Elkins, James. "Bodily Forms in Abstraction". Pictures of the Body   (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999), 13 - 18.

Questions to think about for Monday's Critique:
Is your work dependent on particular kinds of movement?
If we think of drawing as performance, does it help us to understand the process any better?
Is seeing as much an act of the body as of the eyes?
What is the relationship of movement to drawing?

Week 3: Integrating the figure into space
In the next few classes we will examine methods for creating spatial illusion and learn how to incorporate the figure seamlessly within spatial environments. We will examine techniques of foreshortening and perspective as they relate to the human form.

Monday September 6
Labor Day - Holiday

Wednesday September 8
Contour drawings in class in charcoal on newsprint. Exploration of angles.

Friday September 10
Continue long pose drawing.

There is no homework or readings this week. Be prepared to discuss last week's homework and reading on Monday.

Week 4: Movement and Time
Drawing can be seen as the act of recording a point as it moves through space, recording the movement of the eyes as it travels over form. The direction, velocity, weight, rhythm, pace and inflection of line stand as the record of the artist's action. In the next few classes we examine these ideas through the production of drawings that examine the time, pace, rhythm and movement of the model in space.

Monday September 13
Critique

Wednesday September 15
We will begin gesture drawings. 2 Minute drawings of the model moving.

Friday September 17
Drawings of the walking model.

Homework for the week:
Project 3: Create 5 18 x 24 drawings that describe a sense of movement.

Reading for the week :
Berry, William A. "Motion and Rhythm". Drawing the Human Form   (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1994), 58 - 68.

Questions to think about for Monday's Critique:
How does time play into your drawing or other art making?
How can we sense time in your drawings?
How is a quick gesture different from a slow one?
Do you think it is important to spend a long time on a drawing for it to appear finished? Why or why not.

Week 5: Value and Line
Value is one of the most expressive of all the art elements. With it you can not only describe form and develop spatial qualities, but it can also be used to convey emotion and mood in your drawings. This week we will use value along with line in our drawings to develop our ideas.

Monday September 20
Critique

Wednesday September 22
We will do some gesture drawings to warm up and then focus on white on white and white on black to articulate value and form.

Friday September 24
Long Pose white on black drawing.

Homework for the week:
Project 4: Create one outline 18 x 24 drawing like the ones we did in class this week. Begin with a simple loose contour followed by modeling of form.

Questions to think about for Monday's Critique:
What is interesting or unusual about your own working processes?
What happens during the making of drawings?
To what extent can drawing reveal thinking processes?
How much can a finished drawing tell us about its evolution?

Week 6: Figure/ Ground Relationships
Developing a good understanding of figure/ground relationships is crucial to portraying the figure. Figurative or Positive space is generally though of as the space the form occupies and ground or negative space is what surround that figure. We are conditioned to seeing positive space, but we should also give equal attention to the negative space in our drawings. In manipulating this space successfully you can often create a more dynamic spatial experience where that space becomes more ambiguous. In the next few classes we will examine how to develop a strong sense of positive and negative space through a series of in class exercises.

Monday September 27
Critique

Wednesday September 29
Studies with value and developing dynamic figure ground relationships

Friday October 1
Studies with value and developing dynamic figure ground relationships

Homework for the week:
Project 5: Create a series of 5 drawings of shadows cast from figures on 18 x 18 pieces of paper. You can make the shapes more interesting by using objects and architectural elements for them to fall onto. Also, try to pay careful attention to the framing of your drawings, creating ambiguous positive/negative space.

Questions to think about for Monday's Critique:
What role does ambiguity, or uncertainty, play in your work?
What is it about 'loose' sketching that makes it so good for working out ideas?
What is the role of recognition in the reading of drawings?
How does ambiguity in art relate to scientific notions of uncertainty or 'fuzziness'?

Week 7: Relief and Shadow
This week we will focus on creating three-dimensional form through the use of modeling.

Monday October 4
Critique

Wednesday October 6
Warm-ups 1 and 5 minute poses. Then we will begin relief modeling - 10 and 20 minute poses.

Releif Modeling:
Relief modeling is created by making the the greater density shadows in the parts of the body that are furthest from you. You should create your drawing using the lightest tonal values in the areas that are closest to you. You will describe value with what you perceve as sculptural form. This drawing will work best if you work up from a light contour and "sculpt" the larger areas first and add more subtle changes as time permits.

Friday October 8
Continue drawing from long pose from last week.

Homework for the week:
Project 6: Finish Large-scale drawing by Wednesday.

Readings for the week:
Ackerman, Diane. "The Skin Has Eyes". A Natural History of the Senses. (New York: Vintage, 1990), 94-96.
Bachelard, Gaston. "Miniature". The Poetics of Space. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1958), 148-196.

Questions to think about for Monday's Critique:
Is your drawing dependant on your understanding of space?
If so, do you have more than one way of thinking about space?
How can we sense space in your drawings?
How does your sense of space change during the making of drawings?

Week 8: Modeling Continued
This week we will continue modeling.

Monday October 11
Complete large, long pose drawing for next class.

Wednesday October 13
Modeling

Friday October 15
Modeling

Homework for the week:
Project 7: Create 2 drawings using relief modeling. Start by making light, contour drawings that have an interesting composition, such as looking down your leg or arm, using a viewfinder. Each drawing should take at least 20 minutes to complete and should include the background.

Week 9: Beneath the Skin
In a life drawing class we work primarily from observation, yet a basic understanding of what composes the human body is often helpful to understanding it's form. In the next few classes we will look at how artists have used anatomy to understand human form. Because we cannot actually look beneath the skin without cutting into it we will work from schematic diagrams as source material. We will also discuss the problems and advantages of a more anatomical approach to figure drawing.

Monday October 18
Critique

Wednesday October 20
Relief modeling of form, 5 - 20 minute poses using charcoal and conte on newsprint

Friday October 22
Shadow modeling of form 30 minute poses with dramatic lighting. Experiment with materials of your choice.

Homework for the week:
Project 8: Study hand out and complete 2 drawings from the skeleton to be completed by next Monday.

Reading for the week :
"Cut Flesh" from James Elkins Pictures of the Body and study the handouts on anatomy.

Questions to think about for Monday's Critique:
To what extent do you think figure drawing is dominated by observational skills?
Do you think that being familiar with anatomy helps or hinders your ability to see?
Is drawing dominated by photographic ways of seeing?
What do your figure drawings say about desire?
What can drawing express that cannot be expressed by other media?