ADVANCED FIGURE DRAWING 422

Spring 2016.
Instructor: Brian Alfred
Assistant Professor of Art
Tuesday/Thursday 2:30-5:30
Office hours Wed 1-2 by appointment
bwa104@psu.edu

Drawing and seeing the figure from life and from mediated images via very
different materials and techniques. We will push the boundaries of how we think
of drawing the figure and
the methods of creating drawings. Readings and presentations will accompany
the work done in class in order to enrich the diversity of approach in representing
the figure. There will be both historical references and investigation into ways the
figure is represented in current contemporary practice.

No phones or earbuds may be out during class. Use of phones are allowed only
during breaks, and only in hallways.

Grading Criteria:
1. Attendance (Required. More than three absences will lower your grade one letter
each absence unless you have legitimate reasons. If you become ill or find yourself
falling behind, contact me immediately, not after your time of difficulty.)
2. Effort
3. Improvement
4. Quality of presentation

Generally speaking, letter grades are a reflection of your achievements:

A indicates exceptional achievement

B indicates extensive achievement
C indicates acceptable achievement
D indicates minimal achievement
F indicates inadequate achievement

Materials List:

Drawing materials as follows. The more you have the more variety you will have
while working:

Pencils 6B, 4B, 2B, B, HB

Sharpie Fine Point Marker, Sharpie Magnum (Black)
Assorted Charcoal
Watercolor Set / brushes
Colored Pencils
Erasers
Collage materials
X-acto knife
Black fluid acrylic paint

Drawing surfaces. Youll mainly need newsprint for exercises, nice quality
draeing paper for finished drawings and watercolor paper for water media work.

Watercolor Pad 18 x 24 (can be larger)

Newsprint 500 sheet ream 24 x 36 (Blick has an affordable version)
Drawing Pad 18 x 24 at least 30 sheets
High Quality drawing paper 24 x 36 or larger (at least 5 sheets)

Sketchbook for outside class.

Having these materials is essential for you to make quality work.

Source:
DickBlick.com utrechtart.com

Or, compare prices at Uncle Elis and/or PSU student book store. They both
offer 20% discounts with this syllabus. They do tend to be MUCH more
expesive than ordering from Blick or Utrecht online.

Cleanup:
All hazardous waste materials must be disposed of in the proper receptacles.
Classroom sinks are to be used for studio/class project cleanup. Please do not
use drinking fountains or restroom sinks to clean brushes. Masking tape is the
only tape/adhesive appropriate for use on chalkboards.

Safety Information:
Students in the School of Visual Arts may find themselves working in the shop or
in their studios or classrooms using a variety of power and hand held
equipment, which may cause injury. Students should use the shop only after
having received an orientation in the use of such equipment and when
supervised by faculty or shop personnel. Should any injuries occur, in the shop,
studios, or classrooms in the School of Visual Arts please report them to Matt
Olson, Shop Supervisor, Room 108-A Visual Arts Building, Phone: 814-865-
3962, email: mjo5165@psu.edu

Calendar:

IMPORTANT: The exercises you see below for each class are for a portion of
the class. There will be devoted time for everyone to work on drawings of their
own direction as well. Exercises are for pushing boundaries and comfort zones
of your intuitive way of working to broaden your scope of approaches to your
own work.
Critiques will often be held at different points throughout the classes.

Week 1

1/12 Introduction to Art 422.

Homework: Secure materials. If you communicate through social
media, please connect to Penn State SoVAs page(s).

1/14 Presentation: Picassos legacy of invention with the figure.

Warm up Materials walk through / quick sketch exercises.

Week 2

1/19 Drawing With Your Eyes Closed a day of blind drawing.

1/21 Linear Play experimentation with line in relation to the figure

(Sue Williams)

Week 3

1/26 Shapes and Form describing the figure through the creation of
shapes and form (Anthony Gormley)

1/28 Museum Mile drawing from images within the Palmer Museum

Week 4

2/2 Soft Glow exploring the use of blending or effects to create a

softness in drawing (Will Cotton)

2/4 Express Yourself creating drawings with a focus on expressive

gesture (Jackson Pollock, Joan Mitchell)

Week 5

2/9 Get Sharp a dedicated day to drawing with only Sharpies

(Margret Killagen, Barry McGee)

2/11 Left Out drawing with your left hand. (Lefties, its your lucky day)
(Helen OLeary)
Week 6

2/16 Powerful Stories thinking of storytelling, narrative and allegory in

drawing the figure (Kara Walker)

2/18 Fluid Faces pairing up to create watercolor portraits of a

classmate (Elizabeth Peyton)

Week 7

2/23 Collage Barrage bring in scraps and old drawings and assorted
papers for collage drawing (Aurturo Herrera)

2/25 All in Together Now giant class collaborative drawing. Bring a

plastic cup, a couple paint brushes and black acrylic paint.
(additional acrylic colors encouraged if you have them) (Robin
Rhode)

Week 8

3/1 LUNCH BREAK fluid (think watercolor) drawings made from

various beverages. Bring in some of your favorite drinks that have
a variety of colors. (Marcel Dzama)

3/3 MIDTERM CRITIQUES individual meetings to discuss progress

Week 9

3/8 SPRING BREAK NO CLASSES

3/10 SPRING BREAK NO CLASSES

Week 10

3/15 Feel The Music bringing an element to music to your drawing

(John Cage, Christian Marclay, Jennie C. Jones)

3/17 Fresh Air drawing from life at the HUB while listening to Terry
Gross (NPR)
Week 11

3/22 Projection Project drawing with light and pattern from projection
on the model (Bridget Riley, Sarah Morris)

3/24 Department Drawing drawing figures in other departments

(ceramics, sculpture, new media)

Week 12

3/29 Digital Demo introduction to making digital drawings (photoshop,

illustrator, etc.) (Paul Chan, William Kentridge)

3/31 Perform-input using an element of performance into your drawing

Week 13

4/5 Take Out making drawings by erasures

4/7 Lets Make It Better (or dont mess up my drawing) completed

drawings will be handed off to a classmate and theyll add their
two cents. And vice versa. (Robert Rauchenberg)

Week 14

4/12 Collaboration Drawing pair up with classmate and work on a

collaboration drawing

4/14 Exquisite Corpse pair off into A, B, C groups. Make exquisite

corpse drawings (the Surrealists)

Week 15

4/19 Failure Drawing make a drawing an intentionally fail at it.

START FINAL DRAWING
4/21 FINAL DRAWING

Week 16

4/26 Final Critique

4/28 Final Critique/ Cleanup.

University Policies and Rules Guidelines: Academic integrity is the

pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner.
Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at
The Pennsylvania State University, and all members of the University
community are expected to act in accordance with this principle.
Consistent with this expectation, the University's Code of Conduct states
that all students should act with personal integrity, respect other
students' dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an
environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts.
Academic integrity includes a commitment not to engage in or tolerate
acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of
dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the University
community and compromise the worth of work completed by others.
Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to acts such as cheating
on exams or assignments; plagiarizing the words or ideas of another;
fabricating information or citations; facilitating acts of academic
dishonesty by others; claiming authorship of work done by another
person; submitting work completed in previous classes; and/or
submitting the same work to multiple classes in which a student is
enrolled simultaneously. Passed by a motion at the SVA faculty meeting
on March 23, 2001.

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Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational
programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities.
The Office for Disability Services (ODS) Web site provides contact information
for every Penn State campus: http://equity.psu.edu/ods/dcl. For further
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http://equity.psu.edu/ods.
In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must
contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are
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http://equity.psu.edu/ods/guidelines. If the documentation supports your
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your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that
you request accommodations.