Departmental Course Listing
This course focuses on developing fundamental drawing
skills for the serious student with little or no previous studio
experience. Basic concepts of form and composition
are taught through exercises based on the book Drawing
on the Right Side of the Brain and with the aid of still-life
setups and live models. Weekly readings and critiques;
working sketchbook; final portfolio review.
ATTENDANCE AT 1ST CLASS IS MANDATORY
Max. 15 students :: Hankin :: Spring/Fall :: 2 credits
This course develops fundamental oil painting techniques for the serious student with minimal prior studio experience. Observational skills are taught through the extensive use of still-life setups, with particular attention paid to issues of light, color and composition. Slide lectures and a museum trip give students an art historical context in which to place their own discoveries as beginning painters. Prerequisite: 371.131 or equivalent. Periodic critiques; final portfolio review.
Max. 12 students per section :: Hankin, Gruber :: Spring/Fall :: 2 credits
Students who have mastered basic painting skills undertake sustained projects, including figure and plein air landscape work. Slide lectures and handouts deepen student appreciation of representational traditions. Advanced techniques, materials, and compositional issues are also investigated. Weekly critiques; final portfolio review. Prerequisite: 371.133 or permission of instructor.
Max. 12 students :: Gruber :: Fall :: 2 credits
Building on basic drawing skills, this course explores various media, techniques, and compositional elements with special emphasis on portrait and life drawing. A visit to the Baltimore Museum of Arts Print and Drawing Library supplements lectures and enriches the student’s understanding of the history of artists’ drawings. Weekly critiques; working sketchbook; final portfolio review. Prerequisite: 371.131 or permission of instructor.
Max. 15 students :: Hankin :: 2 credits
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. Weekly critiques; working sketchbook; final portfolio review. Prerequisite: 371.131 or permission of instructor.
Max. 15 students :: Hankin :: 2 credits
371.139 (H) Still Life/Interior/Landscape
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. BMA Print & Drawing Library visit. Weekly critiques; working sketchbook; final portfolio review. Prerequisite: 371.131 or permission of instructor.
Max. 15 students :: Hankin :: 2 credits
371.140 (H) Cartooning
Cross-listed with the Humanities Center
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 and satire, editorial/ political cartoons, character development, and animation. Basic drawing skills preferred but not required. Midterm exam; final paper/project.
Max. 15 students :: Chalkley :: Spring :: 3 credits
371.146 (H) Basic Black and White Photography
Cross-listed with the Humanities Center
An introduction to the technical and creative process
of producing black and white photographs. Working in
the darkroom, students learn the fundamentals of film
processing and print development. In-class critiques,
discussion, and analysis of historic images develop critical
vision. With the instructor’s guidance, students work
on a project of their choice and produce a portfolio of
10 mounted prints. A trip to the Baltimore Museum of
Art will allow students to contrast early photographs with
modern-day processes. Prerequisite: 371.145
or instructor’s permission.
ATTENDANCE AT 1ST CLASS IS MANDATORY
Students must have
a 35-mm camera with adjustable shutter speed and aperture.
Students provide their own photographic paper
and film developing equipment.
Max. 7 students per section :: Berger :: Spring/Fall :: 3 credits
371.148 (H) Intermediate Black and White Photography
Building on techniques mastered in Basic Black and White Photography, students will learn the Zone System, a method of pre-visualization to determine film exposure and development. Students work on a semester-long project of their choosing, participate in class critiques, and continue to explore issues of photo-criticism with slide lectures and class discussion. Prerequisite: 371.146 or instructor’s permission.
Max. 7 students :: Berger :: 3 credits
371.149 (H) visualreality/alt.sim
Cross-listed with the Humanities Center
In art, Realism is a simulation of visual reality. But art can
also simulate alternative realities, those realities or truths
that exist only in daydreams or nightmares. In this class,
we will learn to explore and create representations of
these additional moments of existence. This will require
thinking creatively or “outside the box,” a useful skill in
any field. Using a variety of media, students are asked to
solve problems to which there is no one correct answer.
Weekly discussions and critiques; final project; portfolio
review. Prerequisite: Imagination (and some prior studio
experience).
Freshmen may only enroll with instructor permission.
Max. 12 students :: Bakker :: Fall :: 3 credits
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 media and techniques to address problems in figurative art from the Renaissance to the present. BMA print and drawing library visit. Weekly critiques; working sketchbook; final portfolio review. Prerequisite: 371.131 or permission of instructor.
Max. 15 students :: Hankin :: Spring :: 2 credits
371.151 (H) Photoshop and the Digital Darkroom
Cross-listed with the Humanities Center
In this course, students use Photoshop software as a tool
to produce images from a fine art perspective, working
on projects that demand creative thinking while gaining
technical expertise. Run as a companion to traditional
photography classes, students will make archival prints,
have regular critiques, and attend lectures on the history
of the manipulated image and its place in culture.
Students will look at art movements which inspire digital
artists, including 19th century collage, dada, surrealism,
and the zeitgeist of Hollywood films. They will meet with
artists who work in this medium as well as visit the BMA to
see its growing collection of digital images. Prior knowledge of Photoshop is
not required.
Students must
have a digital camera.
Max. 10 Students :: Berger :: Fall/Spring :: 3 credits
371.152 Introduction to Digital Photography
Cross-listed with the Humanities Center
Students learn to use their digital cameras through a variety of projects which help them develop technical and creative skills. Students explore documentary, landscape and portrait photography. Critiques and slide lectures of historic photographs, which range from postmortem daguerreotypes to postmodern digital imagery, help students develop a personal vision. Students gain camera proficiency with one-on-one instruction in the field. Basics for print adjustment and output will be covered.
ATTENDANCE AT FIRST CLASS IS MANDATORY
Students must have a digital camera with manual aperture and shutter speed.
Max. 10 Students per section :: Salazar :: Spring/Fall :: 3 credits
371.154 Introduction to Watercolor
Watercolor is simultaneously the most accessible of all painting media and the most misunderstood. Through a structured approach of demonstration and experimentation, and also by examining master artists, students will explore a wide range of approaches to watercolor. Technical aspects include painting techniques, properties of transparent and opaque media, color mixing, and types of paper. Students will also learn how to observe interactions of color in nature and to use these color relationships in figurative and abstract works. Painting indoors and out, students will explore subjects of still life, landscape, and portrait in increasing degrees of complexity as the semester progresses. Students will keep a sketchbook journal to record their visual thoughts and to collect and catalogue their newly acquired vocabulary of techniques and skills.
Max. 12 students :: Ober :: Fall :: 2 credits
371.155 Introduction to Sculpture
Seniors only. 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.
Max. 12 students :: Premo :: Spring :: 2 credits
371.300 (H) Black & White Photography Seminar
Cross-listed with the Humanities Center
Students develop a project of their choice, working independently
in the darkroom and meeting for weekly critiques
and discussions. Using the Zone System (a method
of pre-visualization pioneered by Ansel Adams), students
will experiment with different film, paper and developer
combinations specific to their projects. Frequent gallery
trips and visits from guest artists are an integral part of
the seminar experience. Students will present a final
portfolio of twenty photographs. Prerequisite: 371.146 or permission req'd.
ATTENDANCE AT FIRST CLASS IS MANDATORY
Max. 14 students :: Berger :: Spring :: 3 credits
220.338 (H) Intermediate Fiction: Image and Text
Cross-listed with Writing Seminars
A study of book composition and design. Emphasis on combinations of writing and digital photography, with attention to aesthetic principles and production. Requirements include, but are not limited to, creation of a prose-and-image semester project. Darkroom access is limited to students who have completed 371.146, Basic Black and White Photography.
Max. 15 students :: Davies/Berger :: 3 credits
389.370 (H) Camera Arts: Photographing Evergreen Museum and Library
Cross-listed with Programs in Museum & Society
Curator and photography instructor lead students in a photographic exploration of the Evergreen collection. Fine art approach to digital photography and printing. Final project exhibition at Evergreen. Digital SLRS provided. M&S practicum course.
Max. 10 students :: Berger :: 3 credits
Email Craig Hankin, Director