Reading Matter - online course
This is a recorded version of this course. All content is already activated and ready to be enjoyed. Once you purchase the course, you will need to wait for the access email to be sent manually to you. Depending on the time of day and your time zone, there may be a few hours between purchase and email. Please type your email address carefully and check your junk folder.
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.
FORMAT: a new session (ten in total) was uploaded to a course page on my website every weekday during the live run of this course. Each daily session includes a learning objective, topic overview, contextual description, and video tutorial. In addition, two short bonus films, with briefs for weekend activities, were shared on the two Friday afternoons during the run. Content will remain accessible for the "lifetime" of the course. When I eventually observe that the course is no longer being accessed by students, I will email and give you four months notice of its retirement.
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.
