Drawing in the City

Course Description:

This course will provide an opportunity to experience New York City through drawing. It will focus on drawing as a way of experiencing and viewing the world and as a way of expressing concepts. The class takes place both in the studio and in the city itself, including in cultural institutions, parks, cafes and the street. In sketchbooks and journals, students will document and elaborate upon their encounters with the city. The class will incorporate different themes, including: history, community, intimacy, exchange, structure, motion, architecture, nature. We will learn about different drawing techniques and uses of drawing. Exercises will at times intersect with quotidian urban activities. We will, for example, document a walk through the park or sit in a cafe working out visual ideas. Students will fill their sketchbook with drawn records of their experience of the city and will learn about the history of depicting the city through the eyes of different artists such as Edward Hopper, Martin Wong, Faith Ringold, Alice Neel, Florine Stettheimer and Mina Loy.

Readings, critiques and individual tutorials will be interspersed throughout the working sessions. Students will be required to write or draw in their journals inside and outside of class, and to share ideas and insights in a time allocated to this at the beginning of each class. Materials list will be provided and should be brought to class from the second class on.