ARTS3221 Life Drawing 3
Credit Hours: 3 semester hours
Prerequisites: ARTS2222 Life Drawing 2
Course Description
This course has been designed in an effort to introduce and advance the study of the human figure through the process of drawing. It is a perceptual drawing course that expounds upon and requires a proficiency in the skills introduced in ARTS1101, ARTS2211, and ARTS2221. The goal of the course is to further your perceptual drawing skills, related to representing the human figure through technical exercise and the introduction of new media approaches. Our approach toward the figure will take place under two main topics. The first being an investigation into imperial, observational or perceptual drawing practices and technical material application. The second is a thorough study of visual anatomy. Both of these topics will be supported by a variety of conceptual, formal and technical approaches to introduce, refine or strengthen our approaches towards the figure.
Goals and Objectives
The goals of this course are as follows:
Gain an understanding of basic skeletal and muscular visual anatomy through drawing and quizzes.
Begin to conceptualize the figure based on its visual principles.
Implement and advance drawings skills learned in ART1101.
Learn academic models for representing the figure.
Consider the figure compositionally.
Consider the implications of different media in representing the figure.
Learn the advantages and strengths of different media.
Begin to consider color temperature in addition to value in your representations.
Students who complete this course will be able to:
Draw the human figure, where anatomical knowledge and perceptual knowledge are in full support of one another, resulting in technically sound, confident, well-understood drawings.
Books Needed
Book: Constructive Anatomy by George B. Bridgman. Edward C. Bridgman, 1920
Book: Morpho, Anatomy for Artists by Michel Lauricella. Rocky Nook, 2018
Recommended Text
An Introduction to Perceptual Drawing, Second Edition by Brian Curtis, Published by McGraw-Hill Higher Education, New York, NY, 2001
Suggested Bibliography
Art Fundamentals: Theory and Practice, 11th Edition by Otto G. Ocvirk, Stinson, Wigg, Bone, Cayton. McGraw Hill, 2009
Interaction of Color, Revised and Expanded Edition by Josef Albers. Yale University Press, 2006
The Shape of a Pocket by John Berger. Pantheon Books, 2001
Drawing: Space, Form, and Expression by Wayne Enstice, Melody Peters. Pearson, 2012
Berger on Drawing by John Berger. Occasional Press, 2008
Figure Drawing: The Structure, Anatomy and Expressive Design of Human Form by Nathan Goldstein. Pearson, 2011
Drawing the Human Form: Methods, Sources, Concepts, 2nd Edition by William A. Berry, Prentice Hall, 1994
Drawing Lessons From the Great Masters by Robert Beverly Hale. Watson-Guptill, 1989
Anatomy for the Artist by Jeno Barcsay. Barnes and Noble, 1995
Gray’s Anatomy, 15th Edition by Henry Fray F.R.S. Barnes and Noble, 1995
Materials Needed
1pad of 18”x24” Rough Newsprint Paper
1 pad of 18”x24” White Drawing Paper (Strathmore, Canson, etc.)
Sketchbook (minimum size 11”x8.5” — larger is preferable)
Graphite pencils (8H, 6H, 4H, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B)
Erasers (1 kneaded, 1 gum)
Charcoal Pencils (medium, soft, extra soft)
Hand-held metal pencil sharpener
Compressed charcoal blocks
Vine charcoal (Soft, Medium, Hard)
2 large binder clips
Masonite drawing board approximately 24”x26”
E-Xacto Knife for Sharpening
Course grit sandpaper for fine sharpening
Tacklebox/Artbox to hold drawing supplies
Piece of string (approximately 4-5 feet long)
Plumb bob or another heavy weight to attach to the end of string (an old padlock works well for this)
1 knitting needle or bamboo skewer
1 roll of masking tape (preferably painters tape)