ART 301 Drawing & Painting in Aix-en-Provence

Explore Aix-en-Provence through the lens of creative works. Explore the city's architecture, landscapes, museums and parks through drawing and painting. The words drawing and painting function as both a noun and a verb. As a noun they describe a 2-dimensional composition of abstract elements that are deliberately selected and arranged to describe a particular visual experience. Drawings and paintings are more than just an imitation of reality - it is a fictional, constructed world. As verbs, drawing and painting are a rigorous physical process requiring discipline and acute visual and intellectual judgment. This process can also function as a bridge between an internal, feeling world and the external, thinking and seeing one. Within the backdrop of Aix-en-Provence, we will explore both definitions by employing the formal concepts of line, value, composition, shape, color, etc. During each class period we will explore the city and its surrounding area while dealing with a different formal problem in which these basic elements are isolated and investigated in the context of the actual visual world. The main goal is to broaden the students' comprehension of the medium as well as develop their individual formal and visual strengths. They serve as the basic elements or vocabulary of the two-dimensional language. The drawings and paintings of artists throughout history will help us to define concepts and terms as well as inspire our goals.