4.229
Freehand Drawing: Markmaking through observation and invention
Instructor: TBA
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Prerequisites: Permission of instructor
This class focuses on drawing as a translation from 3-dimensional form and space to 2-dimensional
representation. Expanding upon previous knowledge of hand and digital methods, we will investigate
freehand drawing as a direct and economic tool to describe what we see and what we can imagine.
Through traditional and experimental approaches, the course emphasizes sensitivity to vision, awareness of
proportion and accuracy when working from observation, and the manipulation of composition, form and
scale through the use of line, tone and color. By developing a proficiency in describing and expressing what
exists in the world, these skills can be used towards the exploration of potential ideas and design.
The class is structured as a series of focused assignments, each examining a coherent theme in drawing
and engaging that theme through direct experimentation and personal discovery. We will pair this individual
working process with group critiques and critical examinations of artists and architects in contemporary and
past practice. Through an eclectic spectrum of case studies (for example, a link from Seurat drawings, to
Chuck Close paintings, to Herzog de Meuron facades), we can begin a conversation about strategies for
how freehand drawings can be useful and inspirational to a designer. The goal is to develop a facility and
criticality in freehand drawing that provides new possibilities to invent and represent meaningful form.
