Requirements and Scheduling
Visual art students take three or four studio art courses per semester. Drawing is required every year for all art students.
At the start of each semester, scheduling for each visual art student is arranged on an individual basis between the student and the Art Department faculty. Students are required to take studio classes in a broad range of mediums each year, as they work to build a well-balanced portfolio.
Courses in Visual Art
Introduction to Drawing
This course is an introduction to fundamental concepts of drawing. With a strong emphasis on observational work, stu–dents explore basic problems of line, composition, and tonal/value relationships, as well as issues of content and personal expression in their artwork.
Advanced Drawing
A more advanced exploration of drawing concepts both in terms of artistic technique and personal expression.
Introduction to Ceramics
The fundamentals of hand-building, wheel-throwing, glazing, and kiln firing techniques are covered in class. Students work on a variety of projects ranging from simple vessels to more elaborate functional objects and sculptural projects.
Advanced Ceramics
This course is a further exploration of the ceramics process (kiln firing, glaze mixing, etc.). Emphasis is on the execution of individual projects utilizing the techniques developed in Introduction to Ceramics.
Introduction to Painting
Students in this class learn the basics of the oil painting medium. They explore the unique problems of value and color relationship as used to create the illusion of space. Advanced Painting A more advanced exploration of painting concepts both in terms of technique and personal expression.
Sculpture
This class is designed to familiarize students with three-dimensional problems solving in terms of both content and materials. Students work with a variety of materials ranging from plaster and wood to found objects.
Photography
Students learn use of the camera, film development, darkroom techniques, and photo composition. Students work on a variety of projects ranging from photograms and pinhole photography to portraiture, documentary, and alternative printing processes.
Two-Dimensional Mixed Media
With an emphasis on conceptual problem solving, students use a variety of mediums and materials, ranging from printmaking to collage and assemblage, to address the challenges of personal expression and produce two-dimensional works of art.
Intaglio Printmaking I
This course is an introduction to the fundamental techniques and concepts of intaglio printmaking. Emphasis is on the development of technical skills in drypoint, etching, soft ground, aquatint, and combined techniques, Issues of light, color, form contrast, and composition are addressed through a range of observationally based subject matter and resources.
Intaglio Printmaking II
An emphasis on the development of advanced technical skills using the fundamental techniques of intaglio printmaking. Ambitious longer-term and larger-scale projects allow students to explore a wider range of subject matter within the many intaglio techniques such as color printing, use of multiple plates, and the combining of techniques within a single image.
New Media I and II
Working on Apple G5 iMac computers, students are introduced to the foundations of digital image making and print media; they learn to use the computer as another tool in the art-making process. Working with various software programs like Photoshop, students explore the possibilities of drawing, scanning, digital photography, and printing, in the development of based still-imagery. As they advance to working with digital video cameras, students also learn to use the computer in the editing and production of short films.
