Undergraduate Course: Expanded Drawing Practice (ARTX08094)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course allows students to explore and expand their existing drawing practice through a range of focussed studio exercises. Initially, students will amass diverse sketch material via weekly prompts that explore core subjects and broad approaches within the field of drawing. As the course progresses there is more time to build out from initial sketch material and studio experience and to develop and conclude a set of more worked drawings. Students are encouraged to define and outline areas of interest, mediums, processes and materials that are relevant to their creative interests and developing practice. |
| Course description |
The course aims to expand students existing drawing practice and further develop observational skills and studio drawing experience through building an individual body of sketches and concluded works in varied mediums. It also gives the chance to explore different approaches in drawing e.g. as research, experiment, description and visual expression. Students learn to gather, test and select initial ideas through weekly studio activities, exploring core drawing skills like observation and material play.
The course is taught across 11 weekly 4 hr sessions. An initial course introduction lecture gives an overview of drawing approaches and exercises in the context of contemporary drawing practice. This is followed by weekly studio drawing sessions (weeks 2-6) where students accumulate a body of sketch material through experimentation. The studio sessions include observational drawing from objects and spaces, and life-drawing as well as guided tasks that motivate imaginative and experimental approaches to drawing. In weeks 7-9, students engage in longer, extended exercises towards the development of more resolved drawings. In the final 2 weeks, each student presents an edited body of work for 1-1 review with the tutor.
Students are expected to experiment and develop work independently in between guided sessions in the studio where they are directed and supported through regular verbal feedback. The course is practical and promotes direct individual experiential learning, allowing students to discover, extend and consolidate key aspects of their drawing practice. A guided gallery/museum visit will take place within one of the taught sessions in the first half of the semester. The studio activities are further supported by Learn resources that exemplify the diversity of drawing. This helps inform the work in the studio and consolidates the students' secondary research sources and awareness.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | This course requires additional costs to be met by the Student.
Materials: Students will be expected to fund the purchase of general art and design materials, such as sketchbooks, paper and pens, for the development of their drawing work. Students will be expected to fund purchase of some specialist materials required by their course. There will be conversations about sustainable materials and this will feature in teaching activities. Students will be encouraged to use the materials hub and consider using found materials.
Course Organisers will support you in meeting intended learning outcomes while keeping material costs to a minimum, but students will be expected to fund optional material costs as necessary for their own project work. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 3,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 2,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 34,
External Visit Hours 4,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
149 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 4 assessment components.
1) Studio experimentation - Show 4 different examples of experimentation within your practice. This can be either in sketch form or through more developed drawings. These will be evidenced through group crits or pop-up studio exhibition, 20% (weeks 5-6) assessed against Learning Outcome 1.
2) Sketch material - Evidence a body of primary research material. This could include sketches, sketchpad pages, studio exercise sketches, other sketch material in test media e.g. printmaking work, photography, digital drawings or digitally manipulated images, notes and drawings from museum or gallery visits or personal research trips. 15-20 examples (annotated as sketch material). 30%, Exam period, assessed against Learning Outcomes 1 and 2.
3) Secondary research - Outline your individual secondary research interests and influences (the work of other artists or other related phenomena) in the form of 8-10 sourced works, such as images of drawings, artworks, exhibitions, websites, videos, artefacts, etc, each of which should be appropriately annotated as secondary research, 20%, Exam period, assessed against Learning Outcome 3
4) Resolved work - Present an edited selection of 4 to 6 resolved artworks made as a personal response to the course. 30%, Exam period, assessed against Learning Outcome 4.
Resit Information
The resit arrangements for this course are as follows.
- The resit task for assessment component 1 is Studio experimentation -Show 4 different examples of experiment within your practice. This can be either in sketch form or through more developed drawings. These will be evidenced through a 4-page PDF document uploaded to Learn.
- The resit task for assessment component 2 is Sketch material -Evidence a body of primary research material. This could include sketches, sketchpad pages, studio exercise sketches, other sketch material in test media e.g. printmaking work, photography, digital drawings or digitally manipulated images, notes and drawings from museum or gallery visits or personal research trips. 15-20 examples (annotated as sketch material). Assessment components 2,3 and 4 are all evidenced in a single 25 page PDF submission document that is uploaded to Learn.
- The resit task for assessment component 3 is Secondary research - Outline your personal secondary research interests and influences (the work of other artists or other related phenomena) in the form of 8-10 sourced works, such as images of drawings, artworks, exhibitions, websites, videos, sound works or quoted text, each of which should be appropriately annotated as secondary research. Assessment components 2,3 and 4 are all evidenced in a single 25 page PDF submission document that is uploaded to Learn.
- The resit task for assessment component 4 is Resolved work - Present 4 to 6 resolved artworks made as a personal response to the course. Assessment components 2,3 and 4 are all evidenced in a single 25 page PDF submission document that is uploaded to Learn.
Students will receive further resit information as per University regulations where necessary. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Feedback at Formative point for Learning Outcome 1 will be in the form of a group crit with peer verbal feedback and multiple choice peer grading or similar exercise in the studio.
Feedback at formative point for Learning Outcomes 2,3 and 4 will consist of verbal feedback by the studio group tutor on viewing the students work to date either in the form of a physical folio of drawings or digital versions of work done for the course. This will be minimum 15 minutes duration and will both feed back on work done and on how to improve, edit, rework it, as well as feeding forward on what should be addressed prior to summative submission. Formative feedback will be in week 6 or 7 of the course and held in the studio.
Prior to summative assessment submission for LOs 2,3 and 4, students will receive an individual Studio Review in which they can present work to date in physical or digital form to their studio tutor and receive further verbal feedback on presented work and guidance on how to improve or edit the presented course material for summative submission. Studio reviews will take place in weeks 10 and 11 and will be 20-30mins in duration.
Summative Feedback
Summative Feedback for Learning Outcome 1 will be written by studio tutors and disseminated via Learn with grades for LO1. The feedback will include guidance on how this (experimentation) LO feeds into the other 3 LOs assessed at the end of the course.
Summative feedback for LOs 2,3,4 is written and is accessed via Learn. This is written by course studio tutors based on the Summative submission PDF. The feedback may also reference key works produced during the course as well as key understandings gained through studio work, tutorials, formative process and studio reviews.
Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Experiment in drawing practice across a range of materials and approaches
- Evidence a body of sketch material that defines and expands their individual drawing practice
- Identify and draw on relevant secondary research to inform and contextualise their drawing practice
- Edit and collate a body of developed, concluded work that articulates a focused response to the course.
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Reading List
Butler, Cornelia H. and , M. Catherine de Zegher. (2010) On Line: Drawing through the Twentieth Century New York: Museum of Modern Art .
Schroder, Klaus Albrecht, editor, Lahner, Elsy, editor. (2015) Drawing Now 2015: Munchen: Hirmer.
Elderton, Louisa, editor. (2021) Vitamin D3: today's best in contemporary drawing London: Phaidon.
Stout, Katharine. (2014) Contemporary drawing: from the 1960s to now London: Tate Publishing.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and Enquiry: By questioning and exploring ideas practically through mark-making while making connections to precedents in drawing practices across diverse territories, you will develop a confidence for investigating complex ideas through practice-led enquiry and research.
Personal and Intellectual Autonomy: By experimenting regularly and independently with different mediums and approaches, you will learn the importance of curiosity, taking creative risks and self-reflection as well as developing skills for independent enquiry and self-direction including the confidence to know when to trust your intuition.
Knowledge and understanding: Through reflective discussion in tutorials, you will develop ways to articulate complex ideas and to respond to feedback, while through sharing work in crits, you will learn skills in adaptability, mental flexibility, openness and resilience.
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| Special Arrangements |
Students must have an existing drawing practice. This could be as part of an existing course or an interest that has been developed previously. This can be ascertained by the CO through discussion/email with the student |
| Keywords | Drawing,Experimental practice,Material exploration,Observational drawing,Creative process |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Ewan Robertson
Tel:
Email: Ewan.Robertson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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