The Marriage of Spirit and Matter through the Study of Drawing and Painting

Mr Thomas Newbolt

The method of instruction is devised to suit students with any level of experience including beginners. Those interested in other creative disciplines may find a short course in drawing and painting helpful in their studies. It is the intention of this course to unite thought with feeling, to show links between the poetic and the structural impulses and to prove that arduous practice of a discipline need not weary the passions. All classes start with a discussion. Once all the ideas to be dealt with in that class have been aired and understood theoretically the making of drawings and paintings can begin. Specific aspects of picture making will be talked about in a fundamental and simple way: each session will introduce you to a new aspect and a different technique. These discussions are followed by longer practical sessions exploring drawing, still life, portrait and non-representational painting. There will be instruction in the use of materials. The course is about how we see, why we do not see very well, how to build a vision with drawn or painted marks, how to compose in a rectangle, how we focus or see sight-size and why shadows are part of the light.

We have arranged for packages of paint and brushes to be put together for your use. The intention is to provide good quality materials as affordably as possible. These are to be paid for and we will go as a group to collect them from the artists’ materials store in Cambridge on the day marked in your course timetable. There are three alternative packages each containing five colours and white and three brushes. They cost approximately US$52 for gouache, US$80 for acrylic and US$96 for oil paint in 2011. This will save you having to bring any equipment with you. But of course you may if you wish. Apart from this package all other materials: easels, boards, pencils, erasers, paper and palettes will be provided free of charge. All the work you make on the course can be taken home.

This course is aimed at: Rising juniors and rising seniors in the study of painting. Students who have already done some art should send JPEGs of two or three pieces to the Programme Co-ordinator, indicating materials used.

Pre-requisite knowledge required: None.

Transferable knowledge and skills: This course is devised to guide those who seek unity of thought and feeling, structure and passion.

Pre-Arrival Reading:

Strongly recommended, but not mandatory

• Doran, Michael Conversations with Cezanne University of California Press
• Flam, JackMatisse on Art Phaidon
• Rowley, George Principles of Chinese Painting. Princeton University Press
• Twombly , Robert Louis Kahn, Essential Texts. Norton

Core Looking

Strongly recommended, but not mandatory

• Los Angeles County Museum
• Norton Simon Museum
• San Francisco Legion of Honor Museum
• Yale University Art gallery
• National Gallery, London
• Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Assessment:

• Portfolio (Effort): 45%
• Portfolio (Artistic Result): 45%
• Attendance:10%