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Class in the Spotlight
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Drawing course helps graduate students develop skills
 Photo by Dane Sponberg Professor Dick Bjornseth (left) offers drawing tips to Dallas Dedmon, a graduate student in architectural history, April 5 at the Sentient Bean. By Monique Bos Published: Friday, April 27, 2007 When Dick Bjornseth, a foundation studies professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design, developed the Drawing the Environment course, he targeted graduate students in disciplines such as architectural history, art history and historic preservation. “A lot of them haven’t done their undergraduate work here at SCAD, so I provide a hands-on focus that’s related to the environment,” he explained. “A lot of these people use drawings … in the field.” The course is designed to provide students with skills that will help them draw what they see, as well as to instill confidence in their own artistic abilities. He said being able to sketch is useful for preservationists, art historians and architectural historians to record details during their field research. “One of the intentions here is to get students to see; the ability to see properly is more important than the ability to draw,” said Bjornseth. “You have to visualize it before you can draw it.” During Tuesday class sessions, Bjornseth discusses various techniques in the classroom. On Thursdays, students practice their drawing skills at various locations around Savannah, such as the Sentient Bean and Forsyth Park. “The first thing we deal with is drawing a short, straight line,” he said. “You need the ability to draw parallel lines and have a good line, in the sense that it has a beginning and an end and doesn’t just peter out.” He then shows students how they can use parallel lines for hatching, intersections and cross-hatching. “You can use them to develop shadow and light and that sort of thing,” he explained. “We build up from simple lines to much more complex forms, to the point that by the end of the quarter the students can draw anything.” He also concentrates on teaching the students to draw what they see rather than relying on what their mind already knows. “To heighten their sensitivity to line, shape and details, we drew from photos that were placed upside down,” he said. “Then I showed them a drawing of something and asked them to copy it upside down as well. You have to think about copying the angles and shapes; it allows you to draw what you see, not what you know.” At the Sentient Bean April 5, students were sketching boxes and then filling in details of chairs and tables. “We’ve been looking at drawing sort of a wire frame around objects before we make them detailed,” Bjornseth explained. “So you get the geometric form settled a little bit, then you can draw chairs, tables and architectural details. You put them in boxes, basically, and then chisel away at those boxes and make the shapes that you see.” Eventually, Bjornseth will instruct the students in how to draw rooftops, water reflections, textures, reflections on objects and shiny surfaces. “Once a person can see, they can draw anything — anything as complex as a horse or a tree or a car or a person — it doesn’t make any difference,” he said. The course concentrates on black-and-white techniques rather than color; with a pen or pencil and some paper, Bjornseth said, artists can draw anything anywhere. “We’re working all in sketchbooks,” he said. “These students will be going into the field and taking notes, so this allows for portability and they’re more likely to use it. One of the reasons I like drawing so much is that it’s so convenient. All you need is a pencil and a sketch pad and you’re ready to go.” The course launched in Spring 2006 and is being offered for only the second time. Already, however, architectural history chair Robin Williams, Ph.D., highly recommends it as a studio elective, according to the four architectural history graduate students who are in the class. “He strongly suggested it,” said Master of Fine Arts student Dallas Dedmon. “We all were happy to take it. Being able to sketch out in the field and having those skills sharpened will make me better at my job.” Nicholas Fuqua (B.F.A., historic preservation, 2001) said he viewed the course as a way to further develop his skill at something he already enjoys. “I love drawing. I’m always drawing, sketching or doing watercolors,” he said. “So I get a credit and get to keep drawing, sketching and learning.” Kelly Stroup, whose undergraduate degree is in historic preservation, said, “I’d done a lot of drafting in undergrad, but I hadn’t done any sketching. I really like it.” Exercising their visual creativity also provides students with a contrast to their other courses. “I think it’s a nice break for us as architectural history students,” Fuqua said. “It’s nice to come here and draw. You need a balance. We can all learn from every discipline.” “It’s a chance to exercise our creative sides, which I think we all have,” Dedmon agreed. “I love the informality; it’s relaxing,” said Stroup. “I’m so used to writing papers that trying to switch to looking at things is interesting.” That isn’t to say, however, that Drawing the Environment is easy. “I’m learning a lot because I’m not a drawer; I’m a photographer,” said Tiffany Reynolds. “Learning to actually record by pencil and pen is a lot harder for me. I’m learning everything from scratch; basically I had to learn to draw a straight line.” “I am definitely being challenged by this course,” Dedmon said. “This was not just an easy class to take for an easy grade; it’s definitely a class taken out of discipline.” And the hard work is already paying off. “I’ve learned a lot and I’ve improved quite a bit,” said Reynolds. “I’m not normally good at drawing; I’ve never had any practice. Having to draw has really helped.” Bjornseth himself uses drawings to record experiences, travels and other memorable places. “If you get to like drawing and carry a sketchbook with you when you travel, you can make souvenirs of your stay every time you go somewhere,” he explained. “If you date them and you note the locations where they are, you can recognize more about that scene than you could even from a photograph — the time of day, the temperature, talking to certain people who were there at the time.” Drawing requires an intense focus on the subject matter, which leads to an immediate appreciation of the surroundings, he said. “Sitting there and looking at something for an hour or two is so much more meaningful and accurate in some respects,” he said. “I sketched a souvenir stand in Florence [Italy] and spent maybe two hours drawing it. While I drew, I talked to a local Italian kid who was in art school in Florence. After I finished the drawing, he introduced me to the guy who owned the souvenir stand. He looked at me in wonder, like, ‘Why did you draw this?’ But he had taken absolutely infinite care in setting it up. Everything was arranged absolutely perfectly. When I drew it, I realized the order to it, and it was at least as interesting as a cathedral.” The ability to record impressions and memories through drawing is one of the benefits he hopes students take from the course, whether they end up using their drawing skills professionally or not. “Just the enjoyment of drawing enough that you would use it as a souvenir when you’re traveling is a nice thing you can carry with you your whole life,” he said.  |
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