This module will pursue three interrelated aims through the use and study of drawing:
Firstly, it will introduce students to the range of drawing techniques used by artists, the different types of drawings they produce and their function in the process of designing and executing works of art. It will equip students with the tools for analysing and identifying drawings, and provide foundations for effective connoisseurship.
Secondly, it will equip students with a practice-based understanding of the role of drawing in artistic training and of its importance as a tool for creative work. Students will participate in drawing seminars where they will carry out exercises modelled on artistic practice. To give some indicative examples, these may begin with rudimentary conventions for drawing eyes and ears, through copy drawings to mechanical drawing methods like perspective and shadow projection, tracing and the use of the grid. The exercises may then build on these simple beginnings and develop towards portrait drawing informed by anatomical analysis of the skull, drawing from sculptural casts, from the draped and nude figure, sketching the landscape, and finally working towards the compositional drawing and methods for enlarging it. Drawing exercises will clarify for students the processes of artistic visualization and design, and make available to them an important tool of visual and art historical analysis.
Finally, the module will enable students to relate the analysis of historical drawings and the practice of making drawings to the theory of drawing and its significance in western culture generally.
44 contact hours
Main assessment methods
Essay (4000 words) - (40%)
Critical analysis of two drawings (2000 words) - (30%)
Drawing portfolio (30%)
Reassessment methods
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The University is committed to ensuring that core reading materials are in accessible electronic format in line with the Kent Inclusive Practices.
The most up to date reading list for each module can be found on the university's reading list pages: https://kent.rl.talis.com/index.html
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the important role of drawing in the design and execution of works of art.
2. Demonstrate an advanced ability to identify techniques of drawing used by the Old Masters, and the acquisition of a good degree of knowledge of the technique of connoisseurship with respect to drawings.
3. Have an advanced practical understanding of the role played by drawing in artistic training and creative design through completing a series of drawing exercises.
4. Demonstrate an advanced ability to undertake visual analysis through the processes of visualization and formal analysis opened up by the use of drawing as an art historical tool.
5. Demonstrate advanced understanding of theoretical concepts underlying drawing practices, such as perspective, expression and disegno.
6. Produce in-depth and rigorous art historical analysis of drawings in the context of drawing's wider cultural significance.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate advanced skills of critical reading and analysis of a range of primary and secondary texts, including visual materials.
2. Demonstrate advanced skills of written communication, problem solving, and have attained responsibility for their own learning.
3. Effectively use relevant Information Technologies to research and present their work.
4. Demonstrate advanced skills of oral communication and working with others in a group, as well as gaining confidence in participating in critical discussion and debate while remaining open to the viewpoints of others.
5. Demonstrate sophisticated use of relevant learning and reference resources (including visual resources) within the Templeman Library and the internet, and have used them effectively to support their arguments and analyses.
6. Demonstrate the ability to write coherent, informed and logical arguments in a well-organised and well-presented essay.
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