Art Studio: Watercolor

Topics exploring themes in painting at the intermediate level. Students will learn and work through technical, formal, and conceptual issues about painting. Representative topics: Representing Landscapes; Collage and Assemblage; Watercolor Painting. May repeat for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisite: ARTS 1010, ARTS 1011, ARTS 1014, ARTS 1100, or ARTS 1400.

Asynchronous online

OUR CLASS: How does one build imaginative, communicative, expressive, painted images from direct observation? How does one paint not just what they see but how they see it? What factors shape the way we look at the world, and how can we use this information to make meaningful work? Painting: Observation and Image looks very closely at these questions through the physical and formal practice of painting. This online, summer intensive painting class is an introduction to the watercolor medium. We will study and practice watercolor with respect to concepts drawn from the broader history of art, from Chinese landscape painting to western modernism, and on to the most contemporary, international practices. Along the way we’ll learn how to apply the medium’s unique formal capabilities, employing technical experimentation to study color concepts, the construction of images, and ways of seeing. Please note: This is a summer intensive, and we cover a semester's worth of work in just one month's time. You can expect a significant time and work commitment. Details below in ‘expectations.” OUR LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of this class you will be able to: • Build images using at least 4 watercolor painting methods and material approaches • Utilize the unique color, transparency, and layering properties of watercolor to construct convincing images • Identify and employ at least 3 ways to relate the parts to the whole in your work • Apply color theory principles to more expressive/communicative use in your work • Practice analyzing, discussing, and critically evaluating your paintings and the paintings of your peers • Develop your ideas and problem solve across a group of paintings in a series • Practice working in abstract and figurative modalities • Practice developing a more specific, individual approach to your paintings • Study how artists past and present innovate in their work and respond to the world they live(d) in. • Present and document your work more professionally

HOW THE CLASS WORKS: The main elements of this online course are: Concept: videos, media, and text outline and demonstrate painting concepts, techniques, and assignment contexts. These are delivered asynchronously through Brightspace Painting: Painting, painting, and more painting!!! You will make nearly 20 paintings during this class, from studies to finished works. These works require your practice and development of specific skills and concepts stemming from histories of the discipline and outlined in the assignments. Critical Feedback: you will provide and receive regular written critical feedback in a variety of modes. Brightspace allows us to post images of work, give and receive feedback, and break up into small groups for more depth. I'll be using this tool to offer regular feedback on both finished and in progress works. Mid-Term and Final Portfolio: You will receive qualitative and grade feedback on a mid-term and final portfolio. This portfolio is assembled as a digital folder of jpeg images, an image information list, and a written self-reflection. *Work and pace: Expect a brisk pace and a challenging, but accomplishable, amount of work. This is a summer intensive class; in 4 short weeks we cover the same 3 credits of material typical of a semester. The university defines a credit hour as “two hours of outside class work for each hour in class or equivalent.” (Source) Summer intensives typically meet in person 12 hours per week, thereby setting 36 hours per week as the class work expectation - a full time commitment. For this class you can expect 20- 30 hours of work each week. This includes painting, participating in the class critiques, preparing materials, reading and taking in content, writing self reflections, and documenting and organize

PAINTINGS: 70% Each project will have stated learning objectives and an attached rubric, and the works are evaluated on the degree to which those objectives were practiced in the paintings. When submitting work you’ll want to ask yourself: did I focus exclusively on the skill and concept under study? Do my paintings demonstrate my practice with that idea and approach? Did I give myself enough time working to develop that skill through iterations and variations? Did I work outside of my comfort zone and try something new? TIP: Notice the emphasis on practice – not whether you’ve made a “good painting” Feel free to fail, flail, and wobble in your work. Make something ugly (it’s often more interesting . . . .) Dig into the process and practice. Repetition, trial and error, looking at the results and trying a different direction; that’s how you grow your work and succeed. PARTICIPATION: 30% Participation grades are determined by on-time submissions of work, portfolios, self-reflections, and your critical commentary in class discussions on Brightspace. It’s about respecting the process, your work, your peers, and yourself in the class. When participating you’ll want to ask yourself: Did I show up ready to work? Did I finish the work and submit it on time? Did I give substantive feedback to my peers in the class discussion? Did my comments go beyond taste and offer something constructive (I’ll discuss critical feedback in more detail later)? Did I take care in photographing and presenting my work for class posts and my portfolio?