California University of Pennsylvania
Guidelines for New Course Proposals
University Course Syllabus
Approved: 2/4/13
Department of Art and Design
A.

Protocol
Course Name:
Figure Drawing
Course Number:
ART 438
Credits:
3 (repeatable to 18)
Prerequisites:
ART 110, Drawing I
Maximum Class Size (face-to-face): 22
Maximum Class Size (online):
(Choose which one is appropriate or both if applicable)

B.

C.

Objectives of the Course:
1.

Students will employ a variety of observational techniques in the creation
of their drawing from a live model.

2.

Students will generate gesture drawings from a live model.

3.

Students will scrutinize human anatomy in the creation of their drawings
from a live model.

4.

Students will exploit various lighting techniques to manipulate a variety of
compositions.

5.

Students will analyze and apply a variety of drawing techniques.

6.

Students will employ the use of a variety of contemporary and traditional
drawing tools.

7.

Students will formulate a variety of conceptual, formal, and historical
considerations in the creation of their drawings and critiques.

Catalog Description:
This advanced level drawing course is a repeatable course which focuses on
drawing from a model from life. Students work from live nude and clothed

models to develop a high level of skill in drawing the human figure while
exploring a wide variety of drawing media and techniques.
D.

Outline of the Course:
1.

Anatomy study
a) Systems of the Body which affect Surface Form (skeletal structure,
musculature, overall investment of skin and fat)
b) The Head and Neck
c) The Trunk
d) The Shoulder and Arm
e) The Hand
f) The Hip, Leg, and Foot

2.

Drawing from a live nude model daily (nude and clothed)
a) 25 minutes of warm-up gestures
b) Longer posed drawings

3.

Drawing techniques
a. Gesture drawing
b. Calligraphic or expressive line drawing
c. Structural line, hatching, and cross-hatching
d.Tonal drawing with or without line
e. Painterly drawing and value reversals without line
f. Other stylistic approaches of the students’ choice which help students
develop each’s own personal voice.

4.

Contemporary and traditional drawing tools.
a. Charcoal: vine, willow, hard compressed, soft compressed, loose
b. Ink: pen and wash
c. Pencil
d. Pastels
e. Hot and cold pressed papers

5.

Critiques

E. Teaching Methodology:
Traditional Classroom Methodology

E.

1.

Information sources
a. Instructor:
(1) Lecture
(2) Demonstration
(3) Individual guidance
b. Studio atmosphere: critical discussion with peers
c. Support materials
(1) Text
(2) Periodicals
(3) Internet
(4) Catalogues
(5) Books
(6) Videos
(7) Slides
(8) Actual artwork

2.

Execution method: in and out of class student-centered, hands-on, class
participation based methodology to engage students in developing effective
strategies for thinking about and making sculpture as a developing artist,
including:
a. Individual hands on learning
b. Formal and informal development of keen observation and critical
discussion with instructor and peers
Text
Rubins, David K., The Human Figure: An Anatomy for Artists, Penguin
Publishing, 1976

F.

Assessment Activities:
Traditional Classroom Assessment
1.

Instructor and Student-led critiques of drawings, including assessment of :
a. Formal qualities of drawing
b. Content or meaning as it is related to possible social, economic, political,
religious, and cultural aspects and personal expression in drawing
c. Aesthetics
d. Gesture
e. Anatomy
e. Proficiency with techniques used

f. Presentation
g. Art Historical
2.

Midterm and Final Portfolio Review of finished drawings and anatomical
drawings

3.

Instructor observations of safe, courteous and clean studio practices.

4. Production in relation to in class work and outside assignments
G.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities:
• Reserve the right to decide when to self-identify and when to request
accommodations.
• Will register with the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) each semester to
receive accommodations.
• Might be required to communicate with faculty for accommodations, which
specifically involve the faculty.
• Will present the OSD Accommodation Approval Notice to faculty when
requesting accommodations that involve the faculty.
Requests for approval for reasonable accommodations should be directed to the Office for
Students with Disabilities (OSD). Approved accommodations will be recorded on the
OSD Accommodation Approval notice and provided to the student. Students are expected
to adhere to OSD procedures for self-identifying, providing documentation and requesting
accommodations in a timely manner.
Contact Information:
• Location:
Azorsky Hall – Room 105
• Phone:
(724) 938-5781
• Fax:
(724) 938-4599
• Email:
osdmail@calu.edu
• Web Site:
http://www.calu.edu/current-students/studentservices/disability/index.htm
H. Supportive Instructional Materials, e.g. library materials, web sites, etc.
I.
Beck, James. Leonardo's Rules of Painting. New York: The Viking Press, 1979
Ruskin, John. The Elements of Drawing. New York: Dover Publications, 1971

Brown and McLean, Drawing fom Life. Thomson /WadsworthBelmont, CA, 2004
Goldstein, Nathan. Figure Drawing: The Structure, Anatomy, and Expressive Design
of Human Form. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice-Hall, 1999
Betti and Sale, 4th Ed. Drawing: A Contemporary Approach. Harcourt and Brace
Simmons and Weiner. Drawing: The Creative Process. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, 1977
Crary, Jonathan and Ferer, Michel, ed. Fragments for a History of the Human Body, 3
Vol. New York: Zone, 1989
Clark, Kenneth. The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form. New York: Pantheon, 1953
Broude, Norma. The Power of Feminist Art. New York: Abrams, 1974
Schaffner,Ingrid. Salvidor Dali's Dream of Venus: The Surrealist Funhouse from the
1939 World's Fair, New York: Princeton Archiectural Press, 2002
Haslam, Malcolm. The Real World of the Surrealists. New York: Galley Press, 1978
Pack, Susan, Film Posters of the Russian Avant-Garde. New York: Taschen, 1995
Barkhatova, Elena. Russian Constructivist Posters. Paris: Flammarion, 1992
O'Malley and Saunders. Leonardo Da Vinci on the Human Body: The Anatomical,
Physiological, and Embryological Drawings. New York: Wings Books, 1982
Strauss, Walter. The Comlpete Drawings of Albrecht Durer. (6 Volumes)New York:
Abaris Books, 1974
Albrecht Durer: The Human Figure. The Complete Dresden Sketchbook. New York:
Dover, 1927
Scheidig, Walther. Rembrandt's Drawings. Boston: Boston Book and Art Shop, Inc.
Lampert, Catherine. Rodin: Drawings and Sculpture. Arts Council of Great Britain,
1986
Muybridge, Eadweard. The Human Figure in Motion. New York: Dover Publications,
1955
Muybridge, Eadweard. Animals in Motion. New York: Dover Publications, 1955
Adhemar and Cachin. Degas: The Complete Etchings, Lithographs, and Monotypes.
Secaucus, NJ: Chartwell, 1974
Elderfield, John. The Drawings of Richard Deibenkorn. New York: Houston Fine Arts
Press, 1988
Leiris, Michel. Francis Bacon. New York: Rizzoli, 1983
Kiefer, Anselm. A Book: Transition from Cool to Warm Boston: Museum of Fine
Arts, 1988
Carandente, Giovanni. Balthus: Drawings and Watercolors. Boston: Little, Brown &
Co., 1982
Posner, Helaine. Kiki Smith. Boston: Bullfinch Press,1998
Schjeldahl, Peter. Eric Fischl. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1988
Hughes, Robert. Frank Auerbach. London: Thames and Hudson, 1989

Gohr, Siegfried. Georg Baselitz: Prints. Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1984
Couma-Peterson, Thalia. Miriam Shapiro. New York: Abrams, 2001
Schjeldahl, Peter and Phillips, Lisa. Cindy Sherman. New York: Whitney Museum,
1987
L. Bourgeois and L. Rinder. Louise Bourgeois: Drawings and Observations
Clemente, Francesco. Evening Raga and Paradiso. New York, Rizzoli, 1992
de L'ecotais, Emmanuelleand Ware, Katherine. Man Ray:1890-1976. Koln: Taschen,
2000
Goldman, Judith. James Rosenquist. Denver: Denver art Museum, 1985
The Human Figure in Early Greek Art Greek: Greek Ministry of Culture/National
Gallery, Washington, DC, 1987
Corn, Wanda. The Art of Andrew Wyeth. Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic
Society,1973
Zigrosser, Carl. Kathe Kollwitz. New York: Bittner and Company, 1946
Rosenberg, Jakob. Great Draughtsmen from Pisanello to Picasso, Cambridge: Harvard
U. Press, 1959
Berenson, Bernard. The Drawings of the Florentine Painters. Chicago: Univ. of
Chicago Press, 1970
Ames-Lewis, Francis. The Draftsman Raphael. New Haven: Yale University Press,
1986
Hale, Robert Beverly. Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters. New York: WatsonGuptill, 1965
Tietze, Hans& Erica. The Drawings of the Venetian Painters in the 15th and 16th
Centuries. New York:J. Augustin, 1970
Marks, Claude. From the Sketchbooks of the Great Artists. New York: Thomas
Crowell Co., 1972
Moskowitz, Ira. Great Drawings of All Time. New York: Shorewood Publishers, 1962
Kahn, Gustave. The Drawings of Georges Seurat. New York: Dover, 1971
Olszewski, Edward.The Draftsman's Eye: Late Renaissance Schools and
Styles.Cleveland:Cleveland Museum of Art, "81
Sachs, Paul. Modern Prints and Drawings. New York: Knopf, 1954
Sayre, Eleanor. The Changing Image: Prints by Francisco Goya. Boston: Museum of
Fine Arts, 1974
Segy, Ladislas. African Sculpture. New York: Dover, 1958
Additional Information for Course Proposals
J.

Proposed Instructors:
Laura DeFazio and Maggy Aston, or qualified faculty in the Art and Design
Department

K.

Rationale for the Course:
The Department of Art and Design now offers a B.F.A., a Bachelor of Fine Arts,
which is a professional degree requiring 78 credits in the major. Figure study
can be an integral part of the expected curriculum for this degree.

L.

Specialized Equipment or Supplies Needed:
A classroom is required.

M.

Answer the following questions using complete sentences:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Does the course require additional human resources? (Please explain)
This course does not require additional human resources.
Does the course require additional physical resources? (Please explain)
This course does not require additional physical resources.
Does the course change the requirements in any particular major?
(Please explain)
This course does not change the requirements for any particular major.
Does the course replace an existing course in your program? (If so, list the
course)
This course does not replace an existing course.
How often will the course be taught?
This course will rotate with “Figure Modeling” and “Figure Drawing and
Modeling” such that each course is offered every 3rd semester.
Does the course duplicate an existing course in another Department or
College? (If the possibility exists, indicate course discipline, number, and
name)
This course does not duplicate any course on campus.

N.

If the proposed course includes substantial material that is traditionally taught
in another discipline, you must request a statement of support from the
department chair that houses that discipline.
N/A

O.

Please identify if you are proposing to have this course considered as a menu
course for General Education. If yes, justify and demonstrate the reasons
based on the categories for General Education. The General Education
Committee must consider and approve the course proposal before
consideration by the UCC.
Yes, Fine Arts