Reading Matter - online course
Lesson release dates: 17 - 28 Jun 2024 and 4 - 15 Nov 2024 (click SELECT OPTION to choose)
Continued access period: LIFETIME.
SYLLABUS: the aim of this course is to inspire fascination with materiality. It is about helping you to look primarily at the physical attributes of matter, as opposed to focusing purely on the form and function of an object. The exercises in this course were originally developed to help design students to push their use of materials; guiding them to curate, configure, and communicate their ideas with ingenuity and flair. In Reading Matter, we focus on sketching and visual research to generate compositions arising from the wonderment that comes with deep, slow engagement with a single entity. Each lesson will focus on observing and responding to a different material, providing a starting point for exploration and abstraction. In some lessons this will be a specific singular substance, such as steel or glass. In others it will be a collective material, such as foliage. Some materials will be manmade, some natural; some will be useful, others aesthetic. Many will be imbued with cultural meaning, and historic significance. Lessons consist of exercises designed to help you “read” (i.e. understand and appreciate), represent, and be inspired by matter, as we experiment with ways to combine and adapt drawing media and methods to describe material qualities (such as translucency, texture, sheen, and density) as they change in different light conditions, moisture levels, stages of decay and so on.
DISCOUNT: This course perfectly complements Reading Matter. They both come from my background in and love of architecture and landscape architecture. If you buy both courses, please add discount code BOTHFORLESS at checkout to receive £20 off the combined cost of your courses. Material requirements are the same.
FORMAT: a new session (ten in total) will be uploaded to a course page on my website every weekday at around 9am UK time (GMT or BST, depending on month) during the dates you select. Each daily session will include a learning objective, topic overview, contextual description, and video tutorial. In addition, two short bonus films, with briefs for weekend activities, will be shared on the two Friday afternoons. Once content is activated, it will remain accessible to you for the lifetime of the course. When I eventually decide to retire the course, I will email and give you four months notice of its removal. You therefore get the pace and rhythm of a real-time course, with the benefit of recorded content being replayable repeatedly anytime regardless of time zone or schedule.
ACCESS: I will email a link and password for the course page on the Friday before your course commences. Please be sure to type your email address correctly, so your access email doesn't go astray. If you haven't received your access link and password 48 hours before the course commences, please check your junk folder and/or email me at [email protected].
PRICING: The concessionary price is offered on an honesty-box basis. If your income is low, for whatever reason, please select concession. No explanation necessary.
MATERIALS:
• Sketchbook (A5 or larger, with cartridge paper pages)
• Ruler, scissors, pencil sharpener, eraser, 2 small binder/bulldog clips, low-tack masking tape, sharp knife, cutting mat, and paper glue
• Black fineliner pens (with a range of nib widths)
• Graphite pencils (HB to very soft)
• Watercolour paint (red, yellow, and blue, plus any other colours)
• White plate or palette for mixing colours
• Watercolour brushes (flat and round in a range of sizes)
• Fountain pen (with soluble ink in any dark colour)
• A selection of the following: pastel pencils, aquarelle sticks or pencils, non-soluble coloured pencils, and acrylic markers (any colours, but at least one light, one dark, and one mid tone in each)
• White fineliner pen
• White paint (gouache, bleed proof white, or a good quality watercolour)
• Printed/found collage papers
• Tracing paper
• A couple of loose A3 (or equivalent) sheets of each of the following: watercolour paper, cartridge paper, black paper, tonal paper (such as brown Kraft paper, or Mi-Teintes, Rico, or Tiziano paper in earthy colour)
• Scraps of lightweight card (like the sort from a tea bag or cracker box)
COPYRIGHT: all content is my own. Bookings are for personal, individual use only. Sharing and reproducing course content is prohibited. If you are a teacher looking for lessons, please contact me to discuss the various options available for bringing me (electronically or in person) into your classroom.
