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CCOG for ART 274 Spring 2024

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Course Number:
ART 274
Course Title:
Printmaking I Relief
Credit Hours:
4
Lecture Hours:
20
Lecture/Lab Hours:
40
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Covers introductory-level relief processes, techniques and concepts while addressing historical and contemporary issues in the discipline. Introduces the creative problem-solving and critical skills necessary to examine aesthetic and formal solutions, and to explore artistic intent through the medium of relief printmaking. Recommended: ART 115, ART 116, and ART 131. Audit available.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

  • Solve problems in the art making process using a variety of strategies for making relief prints, which demonstrate command of introductory level processes, techniques and materials.
  • Participate in a critical dialogue about ideas and issues in relief printmaking using industry terminology and applying self-critiquing skills.
  • Interpret and critically evaluate prints from different cultures to initiate a life-long process of studying the diverse perspectives of the human experience.
  • Express connections to personal experiences through work in the medium of intaglio with awareness of the standards and practices established by both contemporary and historical artists.

Integrative Learning

Students completing an associate degree at Portland Community College will be able to reflect on one’s work or competencies to make connections between course content and lived experience.

General education philosophy statement

The study of Visual Arts is essential to the development of the individual and one’s meaningful participation in society. At the heart of artistic practice is the ability to organize experience and recognize its meaning. The creation of artwork and appreciation of aesthetics is a source of great pleasure and also a valuable means to effective visual communication. Participating in Visual Arts is an important way for individuals to connect to the past and respond to the present with a stronger sense of engagement with culture and society.

Course Activities and Design

Class time during the term is used for in-studio practice, lectures and presentations, demonstrations, critiques and group discussions. Students are expected to engage in studio work during and outside of class time.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

  • Create print projects that are aesthetically and formally challenging and demonstrate the student’s evolution though both ideas and process.

  • Demonstrate sound relief printmaking technique and safe and efficient studio habits with respect to the communal environment.

  • Participate in discussions and critiques. Take an active role and make contributions applying concepts and terminology used in the discipline.

  • Evaluate both technical approaches and conceptual directions in prints through comprehensive written responses.

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

Themes

  • Visual communication.
  • Contextual awareness.

Concepts

  • Formal and aesthetic considerations.
  • Connections between content and meaning.
  • Process, technique and material choices.

Issues

  • Understand the graphic aesthetic, the specific possibilities and limitations inherent to relief printmaking.
  • Historical knowledge of relief printmaking.
  • Personal expression through the medium of relief printmaking.
  • Environmental awareness related to materials and proper disposal of waste.

Skills

  • Learn methodologies for designing and completing print editions in relief
    • Strategies for generating ideas
    • Image making—bridging ideas with relief methods to create images of both formal and conceptual power
  • Plate preparation—become familiar with the different qualities of relief surfaces
  • Carving—safe and effective use of carving tools—knives, gouges, chisels
  • Printing— demonstrate sound technique when inking and pulling relief prints on the press and by hand; set and safely use the etching press
  • Curating prints
  • Presentation—selecting the most effective presentation for a particular image
  • Critique and self-reflection strategies for evaluating prints
  • Studio safety