Head Life Drawing and Portraiture 1 (10 credit points)

Special Information

This course requires you to bring your own art and design materials. Most of these can be sourced and purchased in advance from any good art material supplier such as the Art Shop at ECA Lauriston Place Campus. Essential items not readily available will be provided during classes and you will be invoiced at the end of the course for items used. Listed below are the materials and equipment requirements for this course and an estimated cost. You are advised not to purchase any materials until you have received confirmation the course is running – usually 7 days before the start of the course.  You will be guided by the tutor as to which materials you need to bring to classes each week.

 

Essential materials you will need to bring to the first class:

* A3 ring bound sketchbook.

* Pencil, charcoal, eraser, white chalk

Materials and equipment provided for students as part of the course and included in course fee:

* 2 sheets newsprint

* 2 sheets white cartridge paper

* 2 sheets grey sugar paper

* 2 sheets brown sugar paper

* 1 sheet one sided card

Materials and equipment available for purchase during the course:

* Plastic palette, one sided card

Essentials materials and equipment students will need to provide themselves:

* Fixative

* Masking tape

* Craft knife

* Pencils-HB, 2B, 4B

* Charcoal-willow and one stick compressed

* Sheets of paper-white cartridge paper sugar paper in a a variety of colours

* Waterproof Drawing ink

* Soft chalk pastels

* Range of brushes suitable for chosen paints-soft for watercolour, harder bristles acrylic paint and in a range of sizes, square and rounded heads

* Household paint brush- 2 inch

* A set of acrylic or watercolour paints (suggested colours; titanium white, cadmium red, crimson, cerulean blue, ultramarine, yellow ochre, Naples yellow, raw umber, burnt sienna, sap green)

* Jar for water

* Palette

* Protective clothing

* Rags, kitchen towel

* Heavy duty card or canvas for painting on.

Additional recommended materials and equipment students can provide:

* Mixed media materials such as coloured drawing inks, coloured pencils or pens, oil bar/oil pastels.

Content of Course

 Over the class sessions the course will cover:

Introduction, basic studio etiquette and a look at materials.

The portrait-what is it, who does it and why?

Make several exploratory studies of the model.

Using a range of hard and soft pencils to fully explore line and form to create drawings concentrating on proportion and structure of the head.  Looking at artist Dryden Goodwin’s work.

Tonal work using willow charcoal, compressed charcoal, putty rubber and white chalk to create form and depth, to almost ' sculpt' the head using drawing materials.

 Mixed media.

Creating character and expression using a variety of drawing and painting materials; e.g. pastels, inks, oil bars, charcoal, pencil and acrylic paints, watercolours. We will look at works by David Hockney and Jim Dine.

Painted portraits. Using paints, students will spend time learning how to mix colour for skin tones and working out composition in sketchbooks before moving on to scaling up onto card or canvas, blocking in areas of colour, building surface, adding detail, correcting and creating character.

Develop brushwork and paint mixing

Self-portrait using a personal choice of materials and considering how other artists have approached this- e.g.Rubens, Rembrandt, Alice Neel and Lucien Freud.

Make page(s) of investigations in sketchbook or paper- concentrated looking at particular areas of the head- an eye, an ear, the area from nose to top lip-this will reinforce your understanding of the anatomy of any 'problem  areas'.

Finish will informal group discussion and critique.

Teaching method(s)

The teaching will be based and delivered in specialist art and design studios or workshops and will typically include a range of practical exercises, introductions to techniques, processes and concepts, and set projects which lead to more focused and personal exploration. Over the course, students’ progress will be monitored and supported by the tutor.  Teaching will include practical demonstrations, one to one tuition, group discussions and critiques.

For work required to be undertaken after the class hours are complete, the course tutor will set students a ‘directed study plan’ which can be undertaken without the need for specialist workshops or access to models.

Directed study will include research into a range of suggested artists and their associated movements to engender a contextual awareness. Students are expected to demonstrate how their research has informed their work through annotated sketchbooks, a visual digital journal and practical outcomes. 

The Directed Study Plan will include preparing evidence of research and practical work to form an appropriate presentation for assessment.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Research, context and ideas (33.3%) Use a visual sketchbook/journal to research, record and reflect, showing a basic understanding of the proportion, form and anatomy of the human head, supported by contextual references.

Practice, skills and techniques (33.3%) Demonstrate an appropriate and confident approach in working with a range of drawing and painting materials to explore the form of the human head and portrait within a compositional framework.

Selection, presentation and reflection (33.3%) Select, edit and present a coherent body of visual studies of drawings, paintings and mixed media works, which demonstrate an informed and individual response.

Sources

Core Readings

Suggested Reading

MARSH, R., 1970. Anatomy for artists: London, Dover.

HOCKNEY, D. 2006, Portraits. New Haven, CT:Yale University Press.

FREUD, L., 2012, Painting People. National Portrait Gallery, London

Journal and periodicals

Modern Painters

Freize

Web Sources

 www.ngs.org

www.tate.org

www.npg.org.uk

Assessment

Details of the Art and Design assessment requirements can be found on the short course website. Please click on the following link for more information: Submission and Assessment Information

Studying for Credit

If you choose to study for credit you will need to allocate significant time outwith classes for coursework and assessment preparation. Credit points gained from this course can count towards the Certificate of Higher Education.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.