| Description: | In this course students develop basic observation, drawing and watercolor skills in a refreshing way. Students keep a series of sketchbooks and develop finished drawing projects from them. After initial training in fundamental drawing techniques for pencil, pen and other media, the course is dedicated principally to sketching outdoors in the city and environs. Students develop ability in representing a variety of subjects, including the human form, architecture, and landscape. Exploiting the advantages of the site, students explore such themes as historical monuments, street life, and formal gardens. They encounter art of the past, including efforts to sketch the same or similar topics. The course equips students to efficiently capture impressions by drawing in various media at various rates and scales, keeping annotations, ideas, sketches, and analyses of artwork in a journal, and developing personal interests. Students engage with the unrivalled visual and historic riches of Rome, from ancient Roman ruins and buildings, to exuberant Baroque churches and piazzas, and modern structures, immersed in the bustle of a modern metropolis. |