This course examines the language and techniques of direct painting from the figure, still life and plaster casts. Students will paint using a variety of strategies derived from current and historical practice. Direct painting has been the method of choice for figurative painting in the modern era, but other techniques are encountered in the history of western art, often as foundations or reference studies for more layered development. Approaches to tonal structure and color theory will be addressed in depth. While emphasis in this course is on perceptual seeing and interpreting, self-directed work plays a significant role. By providing a classroom structure for the review of independent work, the course achieves a vital dialogue between the method of direct painting and the myriad intentions of the artist.

3 Credits

Core Learning Outcomes

• Understanding of techniques and materials of direct painting from figure, still life and casts
• Understanding of painting strategies derived from current and historical practice
• Theoretical and practical knowledge of tonal structure, color theory, and pictorial strategies for creating a perceptually based illusion of form, light and structure
• Development of content, expression and personal picture making

This course provides instruction with perceptual and conceptual methodologies to construct the human figure in two and three dimensions from the model, anatomical reference, and memory. Throughout the course, students construct anatomically accurate renditions of the skeletal structures followed by deep to superficial musculature to understand the relationship between anatomy, morphology and kinesiology.

3 credits

Core Learning Outcomes (50% of grading criteria):

• The holistic understanding of the structure of the body in the form of a basic ecorche, linear and volumetric proportions
  • The ability to identify subcutaneous skeletal landmarks on the live model
  • The understanding of the angular relationships of the primary axial and appendicular volumes of the body from multiple viewing points to be able to identify gesture and center of gravity

This course focuses on the fundamental elements of drawing from direct observation. By identifying drawing’s underlying principles, studying them independently, re-constructing and combining them with the other elements to create unified drawings of various pose-lengths, students hone the ability to perceive the visual experience with intelligence, apply this knowledge to their work, and cultivate an ability to problem-solve as they approach figurative representation. Students are introduced to both direct (perceptual) and indirect (conceptual) modalities of drawing to better understand the relationship between gesture, proportion, perspective, and the effects of light.

3 Credits

Core Learning Outcomes

• The ability to organize a strategic approach to figure drawing from observation
• A practical understanding of direct (perceptual) and indirect (structural) approaches to figure drawing
• A practical understanding of the integrated relationship of gesture, proportions, and perspective in the human figure through the study of anatomy and kinesiology
• A practical understanding of tonal structure through the study of light on form

Through readings, slide lectures, and discussions, the Art & Culture sequence offers two semesters of advanced study and guided research. It explores a range of historical and current perspectives that shape visual art and reflects on the human figure’s enduring role. Art & Culture I presents the various meanings that have accrued over the past century of Western visual art beginning with the onset of Modernism. Students will closely examine the major art movements and artists of European Modernism in the context of related philosophical, critical, and literary texts. Critical rigor and objectivity is introduced through lively and informed class discussions.

Students will develop their analytic skills by writing a research paper that compares the various historical roles of figuration and abstraction in painting, drawing, and sculpture within their attendant cultural arena. This research will allow students a broad base for understanding the relationship of recent history to contemporary concerns in art.

3 credits

Core Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of the major visual artists working from 1860-1960, with seminal examples of representational art, abstraction, architecture, photography, literature and psychology.
• Improved analytical and critical thinking.
• Refined rhetorical skills.
• Preparation for thesis research.

This course investigates historical modalities and methods of compositional construction in Western figurative art from Classicism to early Modernism. The essential topics include forms of spatial construction and illusion, the relationship of content to image, and the role of image construction in various social and historical contexts. As a hybrid course in the history of art with a studio component, the aim is to give students an understanding of the potential in strategies of composition and offer instruction in the application of these strategies to their own ideas through studio work.

3 credits

Core Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of compositional construction in Western figurative art from Classicism to early Modernism
• Understanding of forms of spatial construction and illusion of this time period
• Understanding of the relationship of content to image, and image construction to form and composition
• Understanding of the possibilities and strategies of composition
• Ability to apply compositional strategies to their own ideas

This course focuses on indirect painting methodologies, which involve the optical mixing of color through layering. – This is the common painting technique in pre-modern times and is gaining acceptance among contemporary artists. Students will paint using various toned grounds, imprimatura, underpainting, glazing, scumbling and vellatura techniques. Through this method of episodically building a painting, students are able to address a variety of visual and color development ideas in sequential fashion. Indirect painting can become an invaluable resource for students’ independent studio work. Projects in this course include self-directed assignments and instructed classroom figure painting.

3 Credits

Core Learning Outcomes

• Ability to address painting development in sequential fashion and optically mix color through indirect layering painting techniques and materials
• Increased skill in use of toned grounds, imprimatura, underpainting, glazing and vellatura
• Ability to apply indirect technique to self-directed artwork
• Understanding of how to approach multiple forms in space with a coherent tonal structure
• Development of core skills of composition, drawing, form, and color/temperature

Expanding upon the foundational principles addressed in Figure Drawing I, this course focuses on the theoretical and practical application of design principles towards composing single- and multi-figure drawings within spatial environments from life. Working on compositional sketches and studies that focus on the abstract linear, tonal, and spatial aspects of design and applying their discoveries towards the development of resolved figure drawings, students will learn to extrapolate the critical elements of design from the visual field.

3 Credits

Core Learning Outcomes

• The ability to approach figure drawing from a compositional standpoint
• The ability to design and compose multiple figures within a spatial environment
• The ability to identify, interpret, and manipulate the psychological and narrative potentials of figure drawing
• The ability to draw from imagination
• The ability to use a variety of graphic languages and pictorial strategies

This is a hybrid studio and art history course with emphasis on the development of self-directed work in preparation for the MFA thesis.  The history component begins where History and Theory of Composition ends.  Beginning with the birth of Modernism, it takes students through the various strategies of representing form and content from the middle of the 19th century to the present. Formal aspects and compositional strategies will be examined and evaluated in their social and political contexts. Relationships of past art to the development of contemporary figurative art will be addressed with special regard for how this occurs within the students’ self-directed projects which will be reviewed periodically during the course.

3 credits

Core Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of compositional construction in Western figurative art from Modernism to the 21^st century
• Understanding of the formal and compositional strategies utilized, as well as the social and political context, of this time period
• Understanding of the relationship of art history to contemporary figurative art
• Ability to articulate these modes and apply them to their artwork
• Understanding of the relationship between craft, design, materials and content and the connection of these to conceptual and social construction of artworks
• Ability to defend work in context with relevant critical and historical discourse
• Development of the conceptual framework and language necessary to discuss artists’ work, the students’ own work and their classmates’ work

The goal of this course is to improve the student’s powers of observation by providing a basic understanding of the human body’s underlying structures and to develop strategies for representing volumetric forms in two-dimensions. Emphasis is placed on osteology; the origin, insertion, and function of muscles; and their relationship to surface form and proportion. Focus is also placed upon the varieties of human form as represented by artists both historical and contemporary.

3 credits

Core Learning Outcomes

• The ability to establish the proportions of the body, both linear and volumetric, in an architectonic format. With the basic light source and shadow mass established
• The ability to structurally organize a drawing with a schematic mapping of superficial anatomical structures
• The ability to distinguish between a silhouette and a three-dimensionally considered contour
• The ability to compose the interior forms within the larger context of the drawing

In the second semester, students select one elective course based on their area of interest. Electives provide students with the opportunity to enrich their core curriculum and gain experience with new concepts and techniques. Students are encouraged to select an elective outside their concentration. Click here to view offerings.

Elective One 3 Credits

Building upon Painting I and II, this course addresses the problems of composing and executing multi-figure paintings. The course examines strategies for the continued development of technique and its relationship to content and image making. Issues of transposing figures to imagined or constructed spaces and general pictorial compositional development will be addressed. Lectures and demonstrations may also be given and examples of multi-figure composition throughout history will be discussed.

3 Credits
Prerequisite: Painting I and/or Painting II

 Core Learning Outcomes

• Ability to compose and execute multi-figure paintings
• Development of technique and its relationship to content and image making
• Ability to transpose figures to imagined or constructed spaces
• Ability to synthesize outside content with perceptual painting to create unique works that explore an individual vision
• Development of a larger compositional pictorial vocabulary

Through readings, slide lectures, and discussions, the Art & Culture sequence consists of two semesters of advanced study and explores a range of perspectives that shape attitudes towards visual art and reflect on the human figure’s enduring role. Art & Culture II addresses the late Modernist and Post-Modern underpinnings of the emerging contemporary milieu. Students explore the ways in which contemporary artistic practice and critical theory inter-relate. The course introduces methods of art criticism, provides an academic and theoretical basis upon which to discuss current artistic practice, and teaches students to gage personal reactions against established scholarly approaches. This third semester seminar is envisioned as both a forum for lively debate based on shared knowledge and a setting for the individual MFA candidate to focus on salient aspects of their thesis. This guided research culminates in students writing the “thesis research paper”.

3 Credits

 Core Learning Outcomes

• Expanded knowledge of contemporary artistic developments as well as a deeper understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of academic discourses on visual art.
• Ability to research and write a convincing argument for the MFA Thesis and to recognize the need to adjust one’s argument and research to achieve this goal.
• Ability to articulate orally and in writing a wide range of philosophical positions underpinning contemporary art.

In the first semester of the MFA Thesis, the emphasis is placed on developing individual direction through the exploration of ideas resulting in the execution of artwork. These ideas may first be outlined in maquettes, studies and compositional plans that clarify, refine and consolidate the developing work. Photographs and other material not hand-crafted by the artist may serve as valuable references but do not qualify as gradable material in this context. The MFA Thesis I works are presented in-progress during the mid-semester critique and should show significant development as coherent artworks for the end-of-semester critique.

3 Credits

In the fourth semester, students select two elective courses based on their area of interest. Electives provide students with the opportunity to enrich their core curriculum and gain experience with new concepts and techniques. Students are encouraged to select electives outside their concentration. Click here to view offerings.

Elective One 3 Credits

Elective Two 3 Credits

This course is designed to expand student’s experience in researching and developing their own artistic voice. The purpose is to find one’s relationship to one’s work through internally generated image making, as well as through examination of the outside world through research, obsession, and exploration. In addition, students will be involved in creating a complex studio tableau narrative to work out more sophisticated concepts of spatial compositional image making. They will develop their own technical approach to painting this image based on the intended content. This can include specific palettes, grounds, and sequential technical narrative. This class connects the students to various new modes of thinking and exploring ideas and may be reflected in the development of their Thesis Projects.

3 credits

Prerequisite: Painting I, Painting II and/or Painting III

Core Learning Outcomes

• Ability to solve advanced problems in painting and theory
• Experience with individual criticism, group critiques
• Ability to manage self-directed projects
• Critical skills in relation to painting a cohesive body of work

In this course, students continue building on the body of work and themes addressed in MFA Thesis I. In addition to completing paintings, drawings or sculpture over the semester, students are required to refine their research paper that began in the fall semester in Art and Culture II.

6 Credits

In the fourth semester, students select two elective courses based on their area of interest. Electives provide students with the opportunity to enrich their core curriculum and gain experience with new concepts and techniques. Students are encouraged to select electives outside their concentration. Click here to view offerings.

Elective One 3 Credits

Elective Two 3 Credits