This course presents students with technical, historical and cultural understanding of the fiber medium. Students learn the basics of textile processes, including dyeing, felting, knitting, weaving, sewing, and lacemaking. Technical demonstrations and samples will be covered in class while students are encouraged to expand upon covered material through long-term personal projects. Technical demonstrations will be supported with slide lectures demonstrating the historical context of fiber processes and their contemporary applications. Attendance in 1st class is mandatory.
Area: Humanities
This course is designed as an introduction to the tools, techniques and concepts of basic drawing for students with little or no previous experience. Studio assignments focus on developing strong observation and rendering skills while experimenting with traditional and contemporary practices in drawing. Wet and dry media will be used. Attendance at 1st class is mandatory.
This course is designed as an introduction to the tools, techniques and concepts of basic painting for the serious student with little or no previous experience. Studio assignments focus on developing strong observation and rendering skills focusing on issues of light, color and composition while experimenting with traditional and contemporary practices in painting. Lectures and a museum trip give students an art historical context in which to place their own discoveries as beginning painters. Oil paint will be used. Attendance at 1st class is mandatory. Approval for this course will be considered after enrollment in SIS.
Students who have mastered basic painting skills undertake sustained projects, including portrait and plein air landscape work. Slide lectures and handouts deepen students' appreciation of representational traditions. Advanced techniques, materials, and compositional issues are also investigated. Recommended Course Background: AS.371.133 or equivalent. Approval for this course will be considered after enrollment in SIS; no need to email.
Prerequisite(s): AS.371.133 or instructor's permission.
An intensive look at the traditions and techniques of portrait drawing. Students work from live models in a variety of media and study master portraits by Holbein, Rembrandt, Ingres, Degas, etc. Trips to the Baltimore Museum of Art Print & Drawing Room and JHU Archaeological Museum will enhance knowledge and appreciation of the history and traditions of portraiture. Recommended Course Background: AS.371.131 or permission required.
This intermediate drawing class will examine three grand traditions in representational art. We will explore problems in still life that have occupied artists from Chardin to Morandi; in interiors from Vermeer to Giacometti; in landscape from Corot to Diebenkorn. We will also look at where the boundaries between these genres blur and how they overlap.
Not open to Freshmen. A history-and-practice overview for students of the liberal arts. The conceptual basis and historical development of cartooning is examined in both artistic and social contexts. Class sessions consist of lecture (slides/handouts), exercises, and ongoing assignments. Topics include visual/narrative analysis, symbol & satire, editorial/political cartoons, character development, animation. Basic drawing skills are preferred but not required.
Area: Humanities
In this course, students will learn to design, draw, and see like an architect. A series of progressive design exercises will teach the practical capacities and habits of mind that lead not merely to competence but success and advancement in the field. We will look at what architecture has been, discuss what it is becoming, and explore both formal and narrative methodologies for design. The class will use the built environment of the city - and the Homewood campus - as a classroom and a site for interpretive drawing and creative design work. Essential in the architect's education is the sketchbook, which functions not merely as a place to 'store' what has been witnessed, but a place to interpret and explore implications of design in the world, whether close to home or traveling in exotic locales.
Area: Humanities
Photoshop is not only the digital darkroom for processing images created with digital cameras;it is also a creative application for making original artwork. In this course, students use Photoshop software as a tool to produce images from a fine art perspective, working on projectsthat demand creative thinking while gaining technical expertise. Students will make archivalprints, have regular critiques, and attend lectures on the history of the manipulated imageand its place in culture. We will look at art movements which inspire digital artists,including 19th-century collage, dada, surrealism, and the zeitgeist of Hollywood films. Studentsmust have a digital SLR camera. Prior knowledge of Photoshop is not required.Attendance at first class is mandatory. Approval for this course will be considered afterenrollment on SIS; no need to email.
Area: Humanities
Students learn to use their digital cameras through a variety of documentary, landscape and portrait projects, which will help them develop technical and creative skills. Critiques and slide lectures of historic photographs, which range from postmortem daguerreotypes to postmodern digital imagery, help students develop a personal vision. Students are provided digital SLR cameras and gain proficiency with one-on-one instruction in the field. Basics for print adjustment and output will be covered. Attendance at first class is mandatory. Approval for this course will be considered after enrollment on SIS.
Area: Humanities
Watercolor is simultaneously the most accessible of all painting media and the most misunderstood. This course provides experience and instruction in observational and expressive watercolor techniques, materials, concepts, and vocabulary. Topics to be reviewed include line, perspective, value, texture, composition, color, and pictorial space. There will be an introduction to contemporary practices in watercolor, as well as experimental and abstract exercises, collage, and conceptual work.
A studio course introducing students to sculptural concepts and methods. Emphasis is on the process of creating. Even the simplest materials can effectively activate space, convey meaning, and elicit emotion when used thoughtfully and imaginatively. Students will learn different methods including additive and reductive techniques, construction, modeling, and mold-making. No prerequisites except a willingness to experiment, make mistakes... and clean up when you are done. Approval in this course will be considered after enrollment in SIS. Attendance in 1st class is mandatory.
In this digital course, students explore the black-and-white aesthetic. They develop camera skills on numerous field trips and local walks.Students meet frequently for critiques and discussions based on historic and contemporary imagery. Techniques such as high dynamic range, and infrared are covered. Emphasis is on composition and developing a photographic style with shooting and post processing. Students are encouraged to make work that is meaningful to them and which communicates its intent to their audience. Camera experience is a plus, but not a prerequisite. Digital SLRs are available on loan for the semester. Attendance in first class is mandatory. Approval in this course will be considered after enrollment in SIS.
Area: Humanities
Working with non-toxic/water based inks and both an engraving press and hand tools, students will explore several types of printmaking. Methods will include intaglio, collograph and both simple and multi-plate relief. As they develop their prints, students can then observe and exploit the strengths that each method has to offer. Drawing and Photoshop skills are helpful but not required.
Working in the studio and in various locations, students will learn the fundamentals of lighting interiors and strategies for working in almost any environment. Field trips will include the National Aquarium, Evergreen Museum & Library, a Howard County horse farm, a Tiffany-designed church and a photo studio. Students will also concentrate on the fine art of printing in our digital lab. They will develop a final portfolio of 10 photographs which express a personal vision about a location of their choice. A basic knowledge of digital photography is helpful, but not required. Approval for this course will be considered after enrollment on SIS. First class is mandatory
Area: Humanities
Class begins: Wednesday, July 6th. In this course students will experience the drama and beauty of the urban and rural landscape. On numerous field trips they will hone their camera technique as well as learn elements of composition and develop a personal style. Students will learn the fundamentals of Photoshop and they will also be introduced to the beauty of black and white in Silver Efex software. Digital SLR cameras will be provided.
Area: Humanities
When we undertake the design of an artifact—something material, perhaps interactive—we do more than create a pretty little sculpture, or simply enclose the inner workings of a product. We think about aesthetics; about ergonomics; about material heft and surface texture. In a successful product, toy, or building detail it is often something ineffable—the way the object interfaces with the human hand, or the way it takes on a personality in the mind—that results in its success as an object of design. The course is structured as a series of design exercises, each intended to develop the graphical and manual skill-set of the designer. Our subject, broadly speaking, is the design of small things: from building details to useful products and tools, the act of drawing iterative design sketches, and creating prototypes, will guide us in the development of practical design intelligence.
Area: Humanities
Since before written history, humankind has conceived masks for a range of purposes using forms and materials to help develop, protect and preserve physical and spiritual existence. Great care and specificity went into these visages to obtain these various goals. These historical cultural roots will be examined, honored and transformed as students consider these elements and create their own versions of masks to produce these goals in a personal way. This investigation will provide the historical examples of masks from Native Americans to PTSD American soldiers, from Africa to Anime, Kabuki to Carnivale. Materials and sculptural methods used will arise from the needs of the artist. Such methods will likely include, paper mache, collage, wood construction and various painting and surface techniques. No pre-reqs.Attendance in first class is mandatory.
This challenging yet creatively playful course presents abstract, perceptual and conceptual concepts in art to understand line, one of the elements of art, from multiple perspectives, materials and practices. Be prepared to collaborate and experiment! Through an intense exploration of line, students will create artworks exploring line as marks on a flat surface (drawing), lines that communicate data (design), lines that build form (sculpture) and lines that embody movement (performance and video). Possible assignments will include projects with drawing, printmaking, fiber, cell phone video, installation, unconventional or recycled materials and collaboration. • This is not a drawing class but a multimedia course on one of the elements of art.Instructor approval and attendance at first class is mandatory.
Area: Humanities
In this course students learn to create marks, textures and imagery using a variety of printmaking techniques. Students create relief and intaglio printing matrices and practice printing by hand and with a press to reproduce their images. The class culminates with explorations of layered printing, monoprinting, and mixed media approaches to create unique 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional works. Attendance in first class is mandatory. No prior experience is needed.
Area: Humanities
This is an intermediate drawing class that builds on the concepts and skills in Studio Drawing 1. Students will explore contemporary and conceptual approaches to drawing while further developing their skills in various graphic mediums. Risk taking and experimentation will be encouraged while learning about comtemporary practices in the medium. The course will conclude with students creating an individual series of drawings of their choice.
Prerequisite(s): AS.371.131 OR AS.371.250
Area: Humanities
An intermediate drawing course focusing on all aspects of the human form.Beginning with infrastructure (skeletal and muscular systems), we will work directly from the model using a variety of wet and dry media to address problems in figurative art from Renaissance to the present.Approval in this course will be considered after enrollment in SIS. No need to email.Attendance in first class is mandatory.
Prerequisite(s): AS.371.131 or permission of Instructor.
In this upper level course, students will work on a semester-long project. They will develop their ideas within a seminar style format that allows for conversation and debate and provides a forum for the evolution their work. Students will learn advanced techniques in Photoshop, Nik software and Lightroom to enhance content and develop a personal style. Through a combination of critique, lecture, and lab, students will complete a portfolio of ten printed images that work together in a series. Approval for this course will be considered after enrollment on SIS. Attendance in 1st class is mandatory.
Area: Humanities
In this course, we will explore different genres of documentary photography including: the fine art document, photojournalism, social documentary photography, the photo essay and photography of propaganda. Field trips offer opportunities to explore Baltimore neighborhoods such as Waverly, Greenmount Avenue, and Baltimore’s old Chinatown. Students will work on a semester-long photo-documentary project on a subject of their choice. Camera experience is a plus, but not a prerequisite. Digital SLRs are available on loan for the semester. Attendance at first class is mandatory. Approval in this course will be considered after enrollment in SIS.
Area: Humanities
Students create a handmade book of photographs that illustrate a favorite piece of text. They may work with poetry, song lyrics, a play, a narrative, a blog, a diary, any writing (including their own). Students may look at historical texts such as medieval manuscripts or even scientific treatises. The possibilities are endless. We will take fieldtrips to book collections at the George Peabody Library, Evergreen Museum and Library and the Betty and Edgar Sweren Collection.This course will be taught by a photographer and an artist book designer. A previous photography class is a plus, but not a requirement. Students who would like to combine their painting and drawing skills with their photographs are welcome to do so. Attendance in first class is mandatory. Students will have an exhibition of their artist books in the Special Collections Rare Books room of the MSE library.Approval for this course will be considered after enrollment in SIS.
Prerequisite(s): You must request Independent Academic Work using the Independent Academic Work form found in Student Self-Service: Registration > Online Forms.
Prerequisite(s): You must request Independent Academic Work using the Independent Academic Work form found in Student Self-Service: Registration > Online Forms.
Prerequisite(s): You must request Independent Academic Work using the Independent Academic Work form found in Student Self-Service: Registration > Online Forms.