Overview of Drawing
Maryland Institute College of Art
At MICA, we believe that drawing is the first language an artist must learn and that mastery of drawing is essential for success in virtually every artistic discipline. Drawing is a language of ideas. Learning to draw means learning to discern the qualities of visual forms and the spaces they occupy, exploring ways to invent and arrange sensuous signs for images perceived or imagined in order to convey meaning or experience. Through drawing, you are immediately launched into a process of discovery and the development of your artistic voice.
Our emphasis on the importance of drawing for all our students, regardless of major, is reflected in our broad array of courses and the integration of drawing into our BFA programs. We also offer an exceptional, in-depth program of study for drawing majors.
In basic drawing classes, you learn to draw by observing the visual properties of forms and the spaces they occupy. You gain an understanding of the basic elements of drawing and your potential to articulate and express these properties purposefully and convincingly. These skills are important whether you plan to pursue a career in fine or applied arts. Our courses stress the development of sound draftsmanship and various strategies for personal exploration. Mid-level courses are woven around subjects that have played central roles in the traditions of Western art, such as the nude, still life, interiors, landscape, cityscape, light, nature study, the portrait, and composition, among others. In upper-level studios, drawing courses are more varied and esoteric, exploring non-Western traditions and encouraging personal expression, and inviting visual experimentation, conceptual sophistication, and imaginative solutions.
In the senior year, drawing majors join painting and general fine arts majors in the Senior Independent Thesis, to work with core faculty and visiting critics. This year-long, interdisciplinary experience provides you with the time and focus to develop a significant body of work while exploring the intellectual connections between your work in the studio and readings, writings, and discussions in contemporary art and culture. You may apply for 3 or 6 credits per semester and, at the same time, take other studio courses of your choice.
National Reputation
MICA is known nationally for its emphasis on drawing as a foundation skill for students in all media, and for the innovative energy and quality of teaching in the drawing department. According to Peter Halley, nationally renowned painter and director of painting and printmaking at Yale, the quality of work that grows out of an emphasis on balancing mastery of traditional media with conceptual depth is one of the reasons why MICA students are so often admitted to Yale’s prestigious MFA program. On a recent visit to MICA, Halley observed that every year in recent years at least one of the 20 spaces for MFA candidates at Yale has gone to a MICA student: “What makes MICA students stand out is a level of visual sophistication. They know what they’re doing but they aren’t cookie-cutter. They’re all individuals. It’s really been visible to me over the last 20 years in New York and in academia—the growth of MICA’s reputation and the energy at MICA.”
Innovative Approaches to Drawing
MICA’s drawing curriculum can meet the needs of a wide array of artists. Courses range from life drawing classes emphasizing mastery of anatomy and traditional media and techniques, courses in which students draw from the masters, and courses that explore ancient non-Western traditions—to a range of offerings that showcase the creativity, inventiveness, and diversity of MICA’s drawing faculty, which includes many of the College’s most accomplished senior faculty. A brief sampling: Let There Be Light encourages students to explore a variety of drawing materials to create illusion on the two-dimensional surface, and then pursue a personal series aspects of light, working in any medium—drawing, sculpture, installation, video. Drawing through Movies engages students in exploring cinematic techniques and thematic content by viewing movies and doing interpretive drawings inspired by film screenings. From Perception to Metaphor pushes students to hone their skills of perception through observational drawings and then to explore the metaphoric possibilities of expressing their perceptions, using such techniques as automatic writing, sketching, and studies of the texture, surface, form, and color of objects, with the choice of medium up to each student. Drawing from Architecture uses freehand drawing on architectural field trips to sharpen students’ spatial awareness and their ability to develop a convincing sense of depth and atmosphere in representing architectural space.