The foundation for every student’s creative journey, drawing embraces many styles and media, from sharp-edged renderings of natural forms to conceptual combinations of text and image. Employing both observation and invention, PAFA drawing students acquire a wide range of skills.
Technical abilities and a deep appreciation of drawing as a visual language are encouraged at all levels, fostering unique ways for students to formulate and express their ideas.
Drawing is also recognized as an independent art form in its own right with its own methodologies, techniques and manners of expression. A personal approach to seeing and expressing ideas develops through classroom and independent studio practice, discussions with faculty, research into historical and contemporary uses of drawing and philosophical inquiry.
Cast drawing cultivates a high level of skill in modeling and the use of light to describe form. The life model -- one of the most interesting and inspiring tools in drawing -- is also featured in most of PAFA's painting and sculpture courses. From the life model, students learn basic rendering skills to help advance interpretive drawing and understand the use of drawing materials, from the more simple charcoal to the more complex mixed-media techniques.
Faculty
Renee Foulks (Chair)
Jan Baltzell
Patrick Connors
Al Gury
Michael Gallagher (Graduate and Cert/BFA)
Scott Noel (Graduate and Cert/BFA)
Roberto Osti
Carolyn Pyfrom
Jill Rupinski
Bruce Samuelson (Graduate and Cert/BFA)
Patricia Traub
Peter Van Dyck
Ron Wyffels
Facilities
All advanced Certificate and BFA students are provided with studio working space. Students have 24-hour access to the studios, which are maintained in a facility with safety and security features.
The Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building has outstanding facilities for drawing and painting. These include two skylit studios, a number of large painting classrooms, drawing studios and painting studios, and a rooftop terrace often used for cityscapes.
Cast drawing classes and life drawing classes are held in the breathtaking cast halls of the Historic Landmark Building. These six studios have 20-foot vaulted ceilings and skylights with northern exposure. PAFA’s famous cast collections of antique and Renaissance sculpture have been part of the curriculum for nearly 200 years.
