Class Syllabus: Figure Drawing
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Class Syllabus: Figure Drawing

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Office Hours: 8:00 A.M.-11:00 A.M. Pacific Time 7 Days a Week
Course Meeting Times: Log in to class when ever you can. The important thing is that you complete your assignments which you will be working on away from the computer.
 

Course Description

In this class students will learn how to create accurate and realistic renderings of the human figure. We will explore techniques and methods used to achieve depth, proportion, and balance.  This class is intended for anybody who is interested in learning how to draw the human figure correctly and improving their drawing abilities. It is ideal to have some knowledge of the fundamentals of drawing for this course, but all students will come out of the class with a clear and simple understanding on how to create lifelike drawings of the human figure.

Course Requirements

The only requirment for this class is that you have the materials needed to complete the assignments.

Course Goals

,X The student will learn how to correctly use drawing tools to create the human figure
,X The student will learn how to begin a drawing of the human figure using gesture
,X The student will learn how to identify quickly and accurately the overall attitude of a pose
,X The student will learn how to identify and create the proportions of the human figure
,X The student will learn the techniques of measuring and angle relationships of the human figure ,X The student will learn how to combine gesture drawing with accurate proportions to create the figure
,X The student will learn how to create value in a figure drawing to develop depth
,X The student will learn how to draw the human figure accurately and realistically from life

Course Materials

'FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold'>Here I have all of the required materials for this class listed. If you have trouble finding any or all of the materials on your own do not worry. As soon as you enroll in the class I will send you a list of resources where you can find all the materials.

Paper

You will need to have paper for this class and preferably large paper. I encourage my students to use 18í¨ x 24í¨ paper pads in this class.

You can buy newsprint paper at a fairly low cost. It erases decently and takes charcoal fairly well, but it is thin and breaks easily.

You can also buy layout, bond, or sketch paper in pads. This type of paper is my paper of choice. It erases better, takes charcoal and graphite (pencil) better, and is much stronger than newsprint. It is a bit more expensive though.

The best thing to do is get a pad of each. This way you can do some of the simpler projects of the newsprint and the more complex projects on the sketch paper.

Ultimately I leave it up to the student. All of the assignments can be done on either of the two types of paper. But if you do chose to buy a sketchbook, I recommend Strathmore.

Pencils

'FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman''>You will need at least graphite pencils for this class. You can also purchase charcoal pencils if you like, but we will mostly work in vine charcoals.

Vine Charcoal

'FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman''>In this class you will also need vine charcoal. We will mostly use the thin sized pieces, but you can purchase the thick ones as well.

'FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman''>The thing that is nice about vine charcoal is that it goes on light, but can be applied hard to achieve darks. It also erases very well so it is very forgiving and workable.

Kneaded Eraser

'FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman''>We will need a kneaded eraser as well. It is a very handy tool that can be used over and over again. You use it to erase a spot then pull and twist it back to new. One eraser is plenty for this class. They last a long time.

Stump

'FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman''>We will use stumps in the class for blending. They are basically rolled up pieces of paper that can be used for smudging and blending charcoal and graphite.

Spray Fixative

'FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman''>You will also need a spray fixative to coat your drawings when you are finished so they do not get ruined. Charcoal smears very easy so this will come in handy.

'FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman''>Digital Camera or Scanner

'FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman''>You will also need a digital camera or scanner to make files of your work to turn in.

'FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman''>Models

'FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman''>Since we are engaging in this class over the internet we cannot all share a live model. So you will need to either find your own (which may be very difficult) or purchase a book and/or CD ROM of models in poses. There are a number of books or programs out there to choose from to use in this class.

'FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman''>Since this is a figure drawing class it is preferred that you use nude figures so you can completely understand the human body. However, if you have a problem with that you can use models that have some clothing on them. If you do choose to draw clothed models please try to have them in a bathing suit or something of that manner that will allow us to see a lot of the form.

Grading Policy

This class is intended to be a fun learning experience to help you develop the skills and know-how to create wonderful drawings of the human figure. There are 10 lessons for you to work through in this course. For each lesson there is an assignment. Along with the 10 assignments in this course there will be 2 quizzes. There will be a mid-review and a final. The assignments and the quizzes are what your grade will base your grade on.
70% of your grade will be the assignments and the other 30% will be the quizzes. You will not be graded on attendance because most of your work in this class will be away from the computer.
It is very easy to do well in this course as long as you try. Read the lessons, apply the techniques learned, and complete the assignments and you will do great.

Class Schedule

Lesson one: Introduction to Gesture Drawing
Lesson two: Techniques of Mass Gesture Drawing
Lesson three: Techniques of Linear Gesture Drawing
Lesson four: Techniques of Mannequin Gesture Drawing
Lesson five: A Look Back-MIDPOINT REVIEW & Quiz
Lesson six: Finding Proportion of the Human Figure
Lesson seven: Techniques of Sighting the Figure
Lesson eight: Introduction to Value
Lesson nine: Rendering Value in Figure Drawing
Lesson ten: Bringing it All Together-FINAL REVIEW & Quiz

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