In recent years, the drawn image has been increasingly preferred over photography – or is used in combination with it – as a medium for documentation, reportage and journalism. Illustrators and artists have taken on the role of journalists by documenting events and experiences, offering both objective and subjective viewpoints on issues. This course is designed to teach students to position themselves as journalists, and guide them in building their drawing practice in combination with writing, as a way to develop non-fiction narratives rooted in reportage and opinion. Students will be introduced to examples from visual journalism in historical and contemporary journalistic practices, that are sequential (comics, graphic novels, animation, zines, booklets)and non-sequential (political cartoons, editorial illustrations), and will be encouraged to experiment with these formats. The course will also introduce students to basic layout design and a functional understanding of production formats in order to equip them with the skills required to compile their narratives for print or web.
Graduate students only