Drawing is the foundation of art. It informs the artist’s mind, brings rigour to observation and underpins work in any discipline. It can be used for many purposes: to inform, to explore ideas, to record or for its own sake.
Aims:
The Drawing Course explores and teaches drawing in all its forms and enables students to use it to inform work in other disciplines or as an end in itself. All students wishing to energise their art through a period of guided drawing activity will benefit from this course. Students will learn to draw in a variety of ways, be challenged to work with new materials and on different scales.
Content:
The course begins with a series of short projects where students explore different approaches to drawing. The abstract language of mark, line, tone and composition will be married to a pursuit of form, space and light. Initially students have subject material presented to them – still life, life models, locations around Edinburgh. As the course develops, students start to set their own subject challenges through ambitious projects that develop over weeks into substantial bodies of work. They also consider more complex ideas of emphasis, feeling and meaning as they develop and strengthen their own drawing.
Students are supported throughout the course by a process of constructive assessment. They will develop confidence in appraising their own work, engage in frequent discussions with their tutor and encourage each other through regular reviews and group critiques of projects.
Outcomes:
Students can expect to complete the course with a large body of work. Along with resolved drawings, students will have learned to use drawing as a tool, how to use drawing to develop an idea and make finished work. Work from the final project will be exhibited at the School’s Summer Exhibition.
