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Course Expectations
Figurative Art is designed for highly motivated students who want to continue their artistic efforts at a more advanced level or intend to further their art education after high school. Students will work in a variety of materials, with an emphasis in drawing and painting the human figure and the study of anatomy to better understand realistic representations of the human form. Students will be encouraged to study both historical and contemporary visual artists
In this course students will be provided information about art careers and schools through videos and PowerPoint presentations. Students will be required to participate in a portfolio review of their best work for an end of course presentation, this can then be used to start a college entrance portfolio for a visual arts program. Students in this class must be willing to put in the extra time and effort to produce high quality art work that will be expected for an honors-level art class, and college entrance portfolio.
Classroom Expectations
Use your class time productively, take responsibility for the condition of your materials and work area, clean up thoroughly at the end of each class, hand in your homework and projects on time and completed, Attendance is critical to success in this class, studio time, critique time, and demonstrations cannot be replicated at home, Poor attendance will directly impact the quality of your work and therefore your grade.
Artistic Integrity and plagiarism: Work Produced by artists, be it drawings, photos, sculpture, paintings are the property of the artist, and cannot be claimed as your own. “appropriated images” pre- existing images will not be permitted in your artwork in this class. This is plagiarism and violates copyright laws. In addition to receiving a zero this is not permitted for college entrance portfolios. Your work must be original. If you submit work that uses appropriated images you must show substantial and significant development beyond duplication.
Homework Expectations and Absent Work Policy
Students can expect to have outside work assigned every week, these assignments will be project based. Students should spend time working on these assignments daily and devote a minimum of 2-3 hours of drawing time for each assignment these assignments should show the same amount of effort and attention to detail as an in class project. Homework assignments will be independent projects that you will have one week to complete. Each homework assignment should be of such quality that is can be a part of your finale portfolio. In the event of an absence on the day your homework is due it must be turned in the following day. If you are absent the day the homework is assigned it is your responsibility to ask for the assignment and turn it in by the expected due date. No extensions will be given I will grade your work on the original due date and regrade it if you continue to work on the drawing for any additional time. In the Event of a long absence you will be given time equivalent to the days you missed to complete the work. Late work will start at a 60% in this course, it is best to turn in something unfinished for a partial grade rather than late.
Classroom/School Maintenance
Students are expected to help maintain the classroom space as clean, safe place to work. Please remember to return materials used in class to storage, and to wipe off any work surfaces (tables, chairs, easels, counters, sinks, etc.). Remember to throw away all trash and to recycle all recyclables. Keeping the classroom neat for fellow users is vital to using a shared space and learning to be a professional artist. Teachers are responsible for monitoring all classroom and school usage so you may be asked to do something by a teacher other than your own; please respond respectfully and promptly to anyone who asks you to pick up.
Notes on Course Content
In the class we will be studying how to realistically draw and depict the human form, including its anatomy and structure, therefore we may draw and study artwork from history and today that depicts the nude human figure. When Studying this work we will do so to learn from great masters of at history The study of the human form is essential to providing a comprehensive study of art. From prehistory to present day the human form has been an expression for ideal proportion, human philosophy and human emotion and vulnerability. I’ll work with the class to contextualize the art we view by putting it in its historical moment, where we can study it objectively to become better artists.