Course Lecturer Name(s): Asher Mains
Course Director Name: Asher Mains
Course Lecturer(s) Contact Information: amains@sgu.edu
Course Director Contact Information: amains@sgu.edu
Course Lecturer(s) Office Hours: TBA
Course Director Office Hours: TBA
Course Lecturer(s) Office Location: TBA
Course Director Office Location: TBA
Course Support: Ms. Nikisha Thomas, nsthomas@sgu.edu., ext. 3692
Course Management tool: To learn to use Sakai, the Course management tool, access the link https://apps.sgu.edu/members.nsf/mycoursesintro.pdf
Course Description:
This course is designed as a survey course with an emphasis on studio practice. Students will learn a variety of painting techniques as well as learning the historical tradition of painting as an art form.
Course Objectives:
Upon completion of the course students will have an introductory understanding of a broad range of topics and techniques in painting. Students will be able to:
- Critically analyse/ critique artwork whether it’s a historical piece, their classmates’ or their own
- Discuss their process in creating a work with reference to their creative strategies and decisionmaking.
- Execute pieces of art with an understanding of design principles and different technical skills.
- Learn skills to empower themselves to continue beyond the scope of the class.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Critically analyse/ critique artwork whether it’s a historical piece, their classmates’ or their own
- Discuss their process in creating a work with reference to their creative strategies and decisionmaking.
- Execute pieces of art with an understanding of design principles and different technical skills.
- Learn skills to empower themselves to continue beyond the scope of the class.
Program Outcomes Met By This Course:
PO. 1: Critically analyze social, cultural, and environmental issues as an individual as well as from a global perspective.
PO.3: Effectively and accurately consume and produce information orally, written, and visually to extract and construct meaning through creativity, analysis, and critical thinking.
PO.5: Examine the human experience through culture, perspective-taking, and tolerance towards becoming an empathic citizen of the world.
SAS Grading Scale: Grades will be assigned as follows:
A = 89.5% or better
B+ = 84.5 - 89.4%
B = 79.5 - 84.4%
C+ = 74.5 - 79.4%
C = 69.5 - 74.4%
D = 64.5 - 69.4%
F = 64.4% or less
Course Grading Requirement:
This course combines concepts with studio time and the grading will be spread over effort made in both. Class discussions, attendance and critique of other work will count as participation. Artwork will be graded on receptivity to instruction, engagement with concepts, and ability to discuss process in execution.
Below are the contributing percentages determining assessment of student performance. In addition, each student will have completed:
- Colour studies
- Two Acrylic paintings
- One Oil Painting
- One exploration of stencils/new media A final project.
- Participation and Attendance: 20%
- Assignments: 30%
- In class activities: 40%
- Final Project: 10%
-
TOTAL 100%
Required Background
There are no prerequisites for this course except reading apprehension at a college level, a willingness to think critically and a willingness to try new skills/strategies.
Readings
There will be readings that will help frame class discussions. As much as possible, readings will be made available online in the interest of conserving resources and for the student to read/print out themselves if they would rather have a hard copy.
Course Organization
The semester will be split into 4 sections where we will spend 4 weeks with a medium before moving on. We will spend 4 weeks with acrylic, 4 weeks of oil painting, 4 weeks of new materials and then the remainder of the time will be for the students to further explore a medium or mix of media that most appeals to them. The semester will culminate in a final project from each student.
Supplies
When possible, I like to try to save money on resources when it comes to art but the nature of the course makes some supplies unavoidable. Students will need to bring to class:
- A set of brushes, preferably smooth or synthetic bristles with a variety of shapes and sizes.
- A set of acrylic paint or at least red, blue, yellow, burnt sienna, white
- A set of oil paint or at least red, blue, yellow, burnt sienna, white (quality of paint varies greatly but for learning it is not important to get expensive paint.)
- A drawing pad and pencils/charcoal
- Palette knife or plastic knife (something small and flat to mix paint)
- Something to use as a palette, (a flat surface that is flat and non-porous)
- Substrates - You can buy stretched canvas of different sizes. You may also use bristol board or illustration board especially for acrylic and the new materials section. Also think outside the box as far as found materials, wood, metal, etc. It is advisable, especially for learning, to work on larger, rather than smaller surfaces.
- X-acto knife and bristol board for cutting stencils.
Photo References
There will be times in the semester where students will work from photo references. All photos, except in special cases and with permission from the instructor, will be the student’s own photos. In an age where images are proliferous and accessible, it is important to create our own content and engage in our own processes from start to finish. There will be times when you will have the opportunity to hashtag things on social media in which case the hashtag #SGUARTS206 will be used for consistency.
Final Projects
Each student will develop a concept and execute a painting consistent with the concept. Final projects will be graded on both concept and execution of work. We will discuss limitations and how that may improve the creative process.
Technology
Technology is an integral part of our lives and while we may use technology in class to look something up or for other class related activities, frivolous use of technology (i.e. texting friends or scrolling on facebook) will not be accepted and will count against your participation grade. As adults we will always be in situations where we have to negotiate our responsibility with our attention and this is an ideal environment to practice this.
Addendum
We will be looking at different periods of art history while dealing with concepts from different perspectives. Some of the perspectives or concepts may be contrary to the students’ personal beliefs. However, it is the position of this course to critically engage with different ideas in the Aristotlian tradition, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
There may be occasions in the course of this semester where nudity will be presented while discussing artwork or as part of in-class assignments. Students are expected to be aware of this and to interact in a professional manner should this content arise.
The syllabus is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor in the interest of time and use of energy.
Course Schedule:
Week 1: Introductions
Week 2: Colour Theory, Colour Wheel, Colour studies
Week 3: Painting from photo reference (student’s own)
Week 4: Still Life
Week 5: Critiques
Week 6: Intro to Oil Painting - Underpainting
Week 7: Grisaills
Week 8: Midterm - no class
Week 9: First layer of colour
Week 10: Second layer of colour/finishing
Week 11: Stencil making
Week 12: Stencil making
Week 13: Discuss Final Projects
Week 14: Work on Final Projects
Week 15: Final Project Presentation
Week 16: Finals Week - no class
School of Arts and Sciences Master Syllabi — Info for All Sections
Academic Integrity
The St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020) states as follows:
“Plagiarism is regarded as a cardinal offense in academia because it constitutes theft of the work of someone else, which is then purported as the original work of the plagiarist. Plagiarism draws into disrepute the credibility of the Institution, its faculty, and students; therefore, it is not tolerated” (p. 48).
Plagiarism also includes the unintentional copying or false accreditation of work, so double check your assignments BEFORE you hand them in.
Be sure to do good, honest work, credit your sources and reference accordingly and adhere to the University’s Honor Code. Plagiarism and cheating will be dealt with very seriously following the university’s policies on Plagiarism as outlined in the Student Manual.
Your work may be subject to submission to plagiarism detection software, submission to this system means that your work automatically becomes part of that database and can be compared with the work of your classmates.
The St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020) states as follows:
“Students are expected to attend all classes and or clinical rotations for which they have registered. Although attendance may not be recorded at every academic activity, attendance may be taken randomly. Students’ absence may adversely affect their academic status as specified in the grading policy. If absence from individual classes, examinations, and activities, or from the University itself is anticipated, or occurs spontaneously due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, proper notification procedures must be followed. A particular course may define additional policies regarding specific attendance or participation” (p. 9).
The St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020) states as follows:
“All matriculated students are expected to attend all assigned academic activities for each course currently registered. Medical excuses will be based on self-reporting by students. Students who feel they are too sick to take an examination or other required activity on a specific day must submit the online SAS medical excuse, which is available on Carenage. Students are only allowed two such excuses a year. Upon consultation with the Director of University Health Service, the third excuse will result in a mandatory medical leave of absence. The policies regarding make-up examinations are at the option of the Course Director” (p.46).
For additional specific examination policies and procedures, refer to the St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020), pages 31 through 37.
The St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020) states as follows:
“A student with a disability or disabling condition that affects one or more major life activities, who would like to request an accommodation, must submit a completed application form and supporting documentation to the Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services (SAAS) located in the Dean of Students Office. It is highly recommended that students applying for accommodations do so at least one month before classes begin to allow for a more efficient and timely consideration of the request. If a fully completed application is not submitted in a timely fashion, an eligibility determination may not be made, and accommodations, where applicable, may not be granted prior to the commencement of classes and/or examinations” (p. 8).
It is the responsibility of the student to read and understand the policies, laws, rules and procedures that while they could affect your grade for a course, have not been specifically outlined in the course syllabus. These are contained in the St. George’s University Student Manual.