Portraiture & Character Design

Catalog description

The investigation of the human face and body through portraiture and character design is the basis for drawings of both representational and expressive styles, using both analog and digital media. The student will study the human face by means of fundamental shapes, axes, and formal devices as guides for correct proportions and structured compositions. The student will learn the names of the various bones that make up the skull and the musculature of the human head. The students study facial expressions and caricature. Students will design their own characters based on unique scenarios and environments. The history of portraiture and character design will be examined as well as its aesthetic and cultural implications as a genre in society. The course examines how portraiture and character design may express ideas about power, status, stages of life, gender, and identity and considers the many functions of portraiture as work of art, design, biography, document, commemoration and memorial. (CSU/UC) ***A required fee of $20 will be charged for materials.