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Painting and Drawing Projects
C01556

Show the world through your eyes and develop a depth to your paintings that will captivate your audience. Encounter different approaches to paintings while developing your technical skills and abilities with your chosen media and extending your responses to your chosen subject matter. Come with an open and enquiring approach, along with a desire to develop your own practice further.

Course Content

Course Content

The course will provide a range of activities and approaches for the first half of the term that you can try out and explore at your leisure. These are exercises designed to get you to extend your thinking and approach to working from different projects each term. Each exercise invites you to work in a particular way, or with particular materials, or both. You will plan, record, and build up a personal record of your investigatory ideas in your sketchbook. The aim is to show you a broad range of possible strategies which you might employ and to inspire your own ideas further after the half term.
Past projects include Non-representational Art, The Interior, Cityscapes, Figurative Art, Nature and Forms, Art as a Reflection of Social and Political thinking, Composition Balance and Structure, Exploring Themes in Art, Working with and from Photographs, The power of colour, Extreme and Simple Painting.
Looking at examples of other artists is a way of introducing you to other contemporary painters, with whom you may not be familiar.

In the second part of the term, you will develop your personal work, with support through lively group discussions of ideas and developments, individual tutoring, pair work and regular individual tutorials. The structured activities in the first part of term should give you plenty of good starting points. The emphasis will be on developing ideas, preparation and process, and using a variety of approaches and techniques. You will require some degree of individual reflection, related to your own practice. You will learn to stay motivated and inspired, share your results and insights gained with other students, experiment with new ideas in your work and get support and feedback from a dedicated tutor to develop and build your confidence.
This can also include specified approaches to the subject. Emphasis will be placed on the idea of reflective studio practice, so that you can begin to develop a sense of critical thinking in relation to your own work. An open approach directed towards each student's needs.

The subject matter you work from, and the level of abstraction can be open and set by you, but you will have gained many ideas from the tutor-lead activities. You will work from your own drawings or photographic references (personal images, internet and magazines) that can be used as a starting point. This course makes use of one of our larger painting studios with easels and tablespace.
If outdoors, on location a timetable will allocate periods working in the studio and outdoors (weather permitting). You will collect imagery and experience plein air painting. You will venture out and explore surprisingly diverse setting and locations to forage for source material. You will be encouraged to see that unexpected and unusual locations offer a wealth of abstract and representational possibilities - come prepared for all weather conditions, it will vary not only from week to week but from hour to hour. In case of wet weather, a studio is reserved so that the group can carry on developing their paintings indoors.

Entry Requirements

To be eligible for this course you must be 19 or over on 31st August prior to the course start date.

To be eligible for this course you must be 19 or over on 31st August prior to the course start date.

Who is this course for?

The course is designed for students with painting experience and students who want to use the course for further development and extending knowledge and understanding through a series of exercises, tasks & projects throughout the term. Each term will have a different emphasis. Some experience with project work would be helpful. You will need to be motivated and be able to take the initiate to further develop your work.

Whatever your level of experience you should be able to follow simple written and verbal instructions, demonstrations, read hand-outs and you will be invited to take part in group discussions. You should be able to use numbers and be able to do simple measurements and calculations.

First Class Requirements

Please bring basic drawing and painting materials including a sketchbook no smaller than A4. You should have your sketchbook with you for every session. As the course develops you may need to supplement basic materials with other materials necessary to develop your work for independent study etc. to suit specific needs or preferences and to provide variation depending on the type of work you develop. You will need to an A1 size portfolio case to carry work.

Attendance Requirements

To make maximum progress, it is advisable you attend all classes.
Regular attendance is beneficial.
Do you need an interview before you enrol? No

Assessment Methods

Assessment Methods
These structured activities should give you plenty of good starting points to develop your work and ideas further. The exercises are aimed to help you establish and choose your preferred way of working so you can then, discover what sticks with you and has left an impression. You can choose to develop an activity further or work with a new idea taking inspiration from experimentations in class.

Working with research in your sketch book is an important part of the course. Through a process of experimentation and ongoing evaluation you will build up a personal record of your investigation. You will plan, record and develop ideas in your sketchbook. The subject matter you work from and the level of abstraction can be open and set by you, but you will have gained many ideas from the tutor lead activities. You will be working from imagery you have collected (photocopies, photos, internet and magazines).

Outcomes will vary according to the individuals aims and experience.

New students will hugely benefit from regular class discussions, learning from and appreciating different level of approaches in class as well as giving constructive feedback to fellow leaners. Returning students will be able to take techniques and extend their possibilities through further experimentation or application to the specific project.

To start each lesson, you will discuss your plan and ideas (however insignificant it might seem) and the development of your work in pairs or present your work to the group if you wish. The tutor will also talk to everyone at length about their work.

Class discussion will regularly revolve around individual project work as well as research relating to the discoveries of contemporary and historical artists that use related methods and ideas to influence your own work.
New projects start each term.

Further Study Options

You may wish to consider further developing your Fine Art Skills by joining the course next term. As the course progresses you will gain in depth experience and specialist knowledge needed to progress towards professional personal practice. Depending on your personal choice, this could be a portfolio collection demonstrating your creative skills for further study (foundation course or degree course application).

Additional Information

Course Outcomes

You will learn to use resources on Moodle for your work
Follow a disciplined approach to your work. Be relaxed in your body, but focused in your mind.
You will learn the art of thumbnail sketching
You will learn to collect a range of ideas for you project in your sketch book
You will learn to select an approach to enhance a particular idea
You will learn to apply a wide range of new and exciting drawing & painting techniques, methods and materials
You will learn to find your personal way/style of interpreting a subject

If you require further course information or advice & guidance that is not answered in this outline, please email art@racc.ac.uk

If you would like general information about the college, for example, fees & finance, funding and term dates please email info@racc.ac.uk.
For information on course fees and how to get additional help to pay for them look at our How to Pay for Your Course section