Instructor: Alexis Amann
12 Sessions / Tuesdays, September 10–November 26
Time: 7:30–10:30 pm
Location: Studio 14
Number: DR1006
Tuition: 0
Drawing can be a way of seeing, a way of thinking, and a way to generate and record ideas. Students will be introduced to the basics of drawing including drawing from observation, mark-making, gesture drawing, negative space, contour drawing, perspective and composition, value, and figure drawing. These skills will be synthesized in a self-generated final project which will explore concept, idea generation, and personal vision. Students will have brief sketchbook drawing exercises in addition to in-class projects. Group discussions at the end of each project will give students a chance to evaluate their own and each other’s work critically. Brief slide lectures and discussion will link students’ explorations to historical and contemporary drawing practices. No prerequisite.
Alexis Amann was born in Rochester, NY, raised on the Oregon Coast, and now lives and paints in San Francisco, CA. Her acrylic gouache paintings on paper contain layers of worlds populated by women, monsters, fish, mermaids, rabbits, houses, boats, whales, demons, harpies, and other flora and fauna driven by the forces of love and water, and exist as both large-scale installations and smaller works. Amann received an MFA in 2006 from the San Francisco Art Institute, and a BA from Portland State University in 2002. Her work has been exhibited in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, the Pacific Northwest, and New York. www.alexisamann.com
The Body in Pieces: Intermediate Life Drawing
Instructor: Michelle Ramin
12 Sessions / Wednesdays, September 11–December 4, no class on Wednesday, November 27
Time: 7:30–10:30 pm
Location: Studio 13
Number: DR1011
Tuition: 0
The goal of this course is to gain a heightened understanding of the relationships between the body’s various parts and features in order to further inform, investigate, and grow individual studio practices. Students will develop their technical drawing facility while considering the body’s fragmented parts in relation to the whole and the figure’s surrounding environment. The course emphasizes focused observation of the human figure as seen, explored, and drawn from life. Students will use previously learned drawing strategies to develop their understanding of perspective, foreshortening, composition, and use of light and shadow. Integration of concept and point-of-view will be encouraged throughout in-class drawings as well as for the final homework assignment. Prerequisite: Intro to Drawing, Intro to Life Drawing (preferred)
