Drawing and Watercolour Techniques with Art History References

The course will go through an in-depth presentation of various watercolour and drawing techniques, such as glazing, blending, or cross-hatching drawing styles and more, by connecting each to different artworks that clearly illustrate them, showing the stages of their creation. The connection between drawing, as a way of structuring the artwork, and colour, will be examined in a profound way and experimented with. Students will learn to read different artworks by examining the various steps and techniques that were involved in creating them- this will offer them an enriched appreciation of the paintings, and a more thorough understanding of their visual elements. They will also have an overview of the artists’ works, with an in-depth discussion of the artistic intention and personal philosophy, as expressed in the visual forms they created. The course aims to empower students to create personal, original artworks inspired by the paintings and to discover a personal painting style. It will especially focus on understanding principles of composition in relation to different techniques chosen, teaching ways of appreciating the luminosity and transparency of pure watercolour washes and ways of allowing the drawing to become a part of the artwork. Some of the artists studied include Dürer, Turner, Cezanne, Klee, Georgia O'Keeffe,

Rhotko, Louise Bourgeois, Chris Ofili, David Hockney, Anselm Kiefer and Marlene Dumas. Thus, the course explores and tries to create connections between masterworks in various styles from art history and examples in contemporary art, helping students have a clearer understanding of their personal visual language in this cultural and artistic context.