Art 140 Syllabus

TA: Suzanne Makol

Spring 2014
BB4 & AB2
Week 1: January 23
Drawing
Students will practice drawing with charcoal using different types of line. They will begin to
understand the idea of drawing what you see, not what you think you see. Life drawing is
largely a form of observation.
Materials needed:
Still life objects (set up before class starts).
Newsprint for drawing on
Sketchbooks (for students to use throughout the semester
Vine charcoal
Handouts for students to fill in about types of line
Pencils
15 minutes

Students will draw from the still life (I will set up before class) as they
come in.
10 minutes
To take attendance and get to know each other, we will go around the
room and do introductions. Students will answer the following questions:
Name? Year? Major? Why did you decide to take this class? What is your
previous art experience, either formally or informally (if at all)?
5 minutes
Brief overview of syllabus. Rules: anything turned in late = 10% off.
For the first project, Drawing & Design, you will turn in your sketchbook
with assignments and activities from everyday up until you turn it in
(week 5, Feb 20), and still life drawing made week 4.
15 minutes
Brainstorming: What is a studio? (Talk about what is appropriate for a
studio, and for this class.)
What does a line do?
What can a line look like? (Take turns coming up to the board and draw a
line, different from any previous line drawn)
75-90 minutes Learning vocabulary and putting terms into use.
Most of these sketches will be drawn on a large piece of newsprint, but the
last few of each term will be drawn on a worksheet to put in their packet
for future reference.
Gesture line: each student will take a turn posing for a 30 second
gesture drawing. With gestural lines, we build volumes, break the
object up unto shapes, and capture movement/action with
energetic and loose lines.
Contour line: students will spend 20-30 minutes drawing the still
life using only contour lines. Contour lines outline objects and

details inside. They can also represent any break in color/texture

(i.e. coloring book). Contour lines are much slower and more
precise than gesture lines. They are often continuous, unbroken
lines. You should be looking at the objects more than looking at
your paper.
Volumetric line: students will spend about 15 minutes drawing
from the still life only using volumetric lines. Volumetric lines are
like slices that show the three-dimensional shape of objects
(without shading).
Planographic line (bonus): students will spend about 15 minutes
drawing from the still life with planographic lines. Planographic
lines are a way of abstracting a drawing. Intersecting lines are
drawn coming off the contour lines in a drawing. The intersecting
lines create interesting shapes that can be colored/toned in
different ways.
30-45 minutes Still life drawing, using some skills/vocabulary learned today. Draw in any
style covered today.
10 minutes
End the day with students drawing blind contour drawings of each other
(taking 2-3 turns modeling/drawing) in their sketchbooks. This is a good
way to practice hand-eye coordination.
SKETCHBOOK ASSIGNMENT TO BRING NEXT WEEK:
-draw a still life from your home
-also, read Semiotics of Art Art Vocabulary, pages 29-32 in the packet.
Week 2: January 30
Crazy Collage Day!
Students will each make as many collages as possible to illustrate art vocabulary.
Materials needed:
Computer with projector for PowerPoint
Vocabulary terms printed out and cut
Small pieces of paper to collage onto
Various magazines and other collage materials, some of which are already cut up in
various shapes (organic, geometric, etc.)
Glue sticks
Push pins
Black cut out shapes for sketchbook assignment
45 minutes

Art Vocabulary PowerPoint!

I will show a PowerPoint illustrating most of the vocabulary from the
packet (pages 29-32). Students should already be somewhat familiar from
reading the packet on their own. They should ask questions if they are
unsure about any vocabulary words.

45 minutes

10 minutes
45 minutes
15 minutes

Collaging.
Students will be handed out 1-2 vocabulary terms to put to use in collages.
Each student should illustrate the vocabulary term with at least 5 collages
if they have one word, or at least 3 collages per term if they have 2
vocabulary words. (Separate easy terms so students dont get 2 hard
ones.) After covering the vocabulary word(s) assigned, students will
continue making collages until time is up.
Students will pin their collages on the board. Students will swap
vocabulary words with another student. Students who had 2 words should
switch with a student who only had 1 word.
Use each vocabulary term to discuss a collage. Students will try to select
the collage they belief best illustrates their given vocabulary word.
Introduce Painting Project: briefly describe, and direct students to read
pp. 47-48 of packet.
SKETCHBOOK ASSIGNMENT: black paper collages illustrating one
principle of composition and one illusion of space term. On the back of the
page, write the term and describe how your illustration shows it.
Each student should glue at least 3 of their collages in their sketchbook,
listing a different art vocabulary word that relates to each. On the back of
the page, they should use the vocabulary word to describe/discuss the
collage.

Week 3: February 6
Surrealist Games Day!
Materials needed:
Small pieces of paper cut to the same size (squares?)
Pencils
Pens
Markers
India ink
Paper for folded exquisite corpse
Pages from books (for poems)
Magazines
Glue sticks
Xacto knives
Cutting mats
10 minutes

15 minutes

As students come in, they will pick one noun and one adjective from 2
bowls at the front of the room. They will write the two words on a blank
page in their sketchbooks. On the NEXT PAGE they will illustrate the
phrase.
Brief history/discussion about surrealist games.
Exquisite corpse (Monkey Jello).
Students will take turns writing either a phrase/sentence in response to a

20 minutes

5 minutes

drawing, or making a drawing in response to text. They may only look at

the previous page, and must write/draw on the next (blank) page.
The rest of the day will be like a workshop with stations for each surrealist
game. Students will be broken up into even groups that will switch
between each station.
Soufflage
Students will drip India ink on pieces of paper, letting the ink drip around,
even helping it move somewhat randomly with straws.
Exquisite corpse: folded paper
Students will fold a sheet of paper into thirds: head, torso, and legs. Each
student will draw one section, leaving small guidelines to the next section,
and folding over their section so it cannot be seen.
Cubomania
Students will choose one page from a magazine (already ripped out to the
size of the paper) and cut it into cubes (like a grid, using xacto knives and
rulers), then put it back together, jumbled up.
Poem from words of a book page torn out. Either circle, underline, and
highlight your selected words, or black out all other words.
Switch one ink soufflage drawing with another student. Finish the
drawing.
Throughout the day, students should be pinning their work on the board.
Now we will have an informal critique. We will not discuss the pieces
critically, because they are meant to be fun experiments. Instead we will
talk about their value, and anything interesting that came up in the
process. Each student should take their work down, and paste at least one
image from each station into their notebooks (this is important for the
portfolio review!)
Introduce painting project. Students should read the project description
on pages 47-48.
SKETCHBOOK ASSIGNMENT: 5 blind contour drawings.
If anyone wants to bring a particular item for next weeks still life, do it!

Week 4: February 13
Still life day
Materials needed:
Large drawing paper
Charcoal
Pencils
Still life setup
Lights (for dramatic lighting)
Painting proposal handouts
10 minutes
5 minutes

Create a value scale in your sketchbook with 10 values from light to dark.
Explain painting project more; hand out proposal sheet, due next week!

140 minutes
(2 hours, 30
minutes)

5 minutes

The bulk of the day will be drawing from the still life. Students should
choose a section to focus on, and fill the entire page. Students should try to
realistically capture the proportions, details (towards the end if theres
time) and light and shadow of the scene. About halfway through the day,
students should take a break and walk around to see what their neighbors
work looks like. Students may also use this time to individually consult
with me about painting ideas.
Remind students to bring painting proposal next week. No Andy Warhol,
please! It almost never turns out well!!! You may think its easy, but thats
not necessarily true, and you may be disappointed.

Skip due to Krannert Reflection?? (SKETCHBOOK ASSIGNMENT: create a drawing that

shows texture.)
Week 5: February 20
One last drawing/design activity (reducing still life to black/white, no grey?)
Turn in: sketchbooks, final still life drawing, for grading. Make sure your name is on
EVERYTHING, including your sketchbook and all loose drawings. (Check for all sketchbook
assignments as part of Project 1 grade.) Have students open their sketchbook to their
favorite page, go around the room and take a look. Critique of still life drawings. Talk about
drawing skills learned?
Week 6: February 27
Beginning to paint!
Students will be introduced to color mixing and how to use the paint.
Activities:
Mix 10 variations on one tertiary color (i.e. purple).
Now make 3 tints, 3 tones, 3 shades of your color.
Practicing different brush techniques: wet vs. dry brush.
Practice making smooth lines and rough lines.
Paint a simple shape on a colored background, letting some of the underpaint come
through.
After practicing with the paint, students should begin painting on their canvas. Ideally,
their entire canvas should be painted with a rough underpainting by the end of today.
Week 7: March 6
Painting work day!
Week 8: March 13
Painting work day!
Introduce final project. Hand out final project guidelines/options. Students may meet
individually to discuss ideas for final project.
Week 9: March 20
Painting work day!

Students will meet individually with me to discuss final project.

Hand out final project proposal, due next week.
Week 10: April 3
Painting Critique
Presentation to the class about final project proposals.
Week 11: April 10
Begin/sketch for final project. By the end of today, it you should have a clear idea of what
you have to do in the next 2 weeks!
Week 12: April 17
Work day for final project. Peer critique in last 20 minutes in groups of 3-4.
Week 13: April 24
Last day in class to work on final project!
Week 14: May 1
Set up final pieces for critique.
Final critique!
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