Project: Reference is a Spectrum | Course: Intermediate Drawing

The idea of abstraction as a spectrum, from literal to abstract, is introduced. Students collect three fine art references and make a new work, with each reference on a different region of this spectrum: one reference is used literally, one abstractly, and one from somewhere in the “middle” (open to their interpretation).

Project: Metaphor Still Life | Course: Beginning and Intermediate Drawing

I like at least one project to necessitate student interaction, as this one does. Students are randomly given a word on a slip of paper (like FAMILY, MORTALITY, EMBODIMENT, PRECARIOUSNESS) and paired with a partner. They then interview their partner about their word and create a still life meant to metaphorically represent, discuss, or question their partner’s response. Students are limited to achromatic materials of their choice, illusionistic representation, and 18″x24″ paper. Title as an important element of a work is explored.

Project: FROTTAGE // COLLAGE | Course: Intermediate Drawing

Students create frottage rubbings with dry media. They then use wet media on Bristol to recreate the frottage rubbings and, further, learn about the basics of pattern and create their own. They use the frottage and pattern drawings as collage materials to create new pieces that are a combination of collage and drawn elements.

Project: LOCK IN | Course: Intermediate Drawing

For the end-of-semester project, students are introduced to the idea that, as an artist, one’s practice is research. Students develop a research topic, develop it into a question, and create an image that is an investigation of that question. They end with an artist statement about the work.

Chelsea, 2025. This student had birthed a child at the beginning of the semester, and this drawing—a 24″x52″ triptych—was a meditation on motherhood and loss.

Mads, 2026. Mads researched Floridian LGBTQ history, including the ‘70s Florida orange juice boycott, and pulled from lesbian culture as a means to use her work to proudly take up space as a Southern lesbian.

Doha, 2026. A student from the SWANA region with family currently impacted by military conflict, Doha’s work investigated the personification of war.

Project: They Might Be Giant | Course: Beginning Drawing

After leaning about linear perspective, students are given the option to create either a one, two, or multi-point perspective scene. The scene can be from life or from life with imagined liberties. The student must then insert an object into the scene that is either far too big or far too small for its environment.

Project: Balance | Course: Beginning Drawing

The goal is for students to foster a “feel” or intuition for composition without the use of an armature. First, they organize 10 skewers to create a sense of balance and trace the skewers in black ink. They then obscure and collage with white and colored paper and end with observational drawing of still life objects, with each step focusing on the feeling of balance.