ARTS 12
Portrait Painting: from Fayum mummies to the Obamas Winter 2019

This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

This course will be a hybrid of studio practice and a visual survey of the painted portrait, tracing various approaches to portraiture and mark-making, from the Fayum mummies to the recently unveiled portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama, in order to inform the ways by which we will, throughout the course, paint portraits (of oneself or another). The course will culminate in a final exhibition of each participant’s painting, which will be worked on throughout the duration of the winter study, in- and outside of class. We will begin the course by looking to a range approaches to portraiture and engaging in various drawing and painting exercises, before spending the bulk of the remaining time working towards a single, polished painting, in oil or acrylic on canvas or panel. We will analyze many of the touchstone examples of portraiture over the centuries to survey a range of styles and how their respective techniques and painted marks reflected the zeitgeist, or collective psychology of a time and place, in order to inform our own painted works. The course will meet three times per week to engage in dedicated studio work, and group analysis of historic examples of painted portraits. Outside of class, students will be expected to continue their studio work, as well as additional drawing or painting exercises, readings, and possible film screening(s). The final project, a single portrait painting, will be displayed in a group exhibition in the Spencer Art Building at the culmination of the Winter Study period, at which time each artist will present their finished work. No experience necessary, but some background in painting and drawing is a plus. Adjunct Instructor Bio: William Binnie (born Dallas, TX, 1985) is a visual artist living and working in Williamstown, MA and Brooklyn, NY. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is held in a number of public and private collections across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Binnie’s work is currently on view at MassMoCA’s “The Lure of the Dark: Contemporary Painters Conjure the Night,” through 2019. For more information and images of work, please visit: www.william-binnie.com.
The Class: Format: afternoons
Limit: 15
Grading: pass/fail only
Requirements/Evaluation: final formal public exhibit; completion of one (or more) portrait painting(s), to be worked on over the duration of the course
Prerequisites: no experience necessary, but some background in painting and drawing is a plus
Enrollment Preferences: preference will be given to studio and art history students, and will be given to seniors thereafter
Materials/Lab Fee: $125
Attributes: EXPE Experiential Education Courses

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