Moore College of Art and Design

Moore offers a wide range of courses in the Fine Arts. Basic instruction for making distinctive jewelry, ceramics, prints or photos leads to more advanced techniques. Appreciation of the resources and mission of museums and galleries enable students to grasp the close connection of art and education.

• Digital Photography
• Figure Drawing
• Painting from Nature
• Jewelry Studio
• Children’s Book Illustration
• Ceramics Studio
• Raku

Digital Photography
Discover the basics of shooting, manipulating and printing your digital photographs. Students first learn about the settings and functions of their digital cameras, as well as the basic techniques of shooting digital photos. Adobe Photoshop is introduced to import images and students will learn the endless possibilities for creating special effects before printing. Finally, images are printed in both black and white and color using state-of-the art printers. Group discussion and one-on-one instruction are provided to meet the specific needs and experience level of each student.

Figure Drawing
Develop strong observational skills and learn about composition and proportion through interpreting the human figure, the traditional prerequisite to all visual disciplines. Through a series of creative exercises, you will investigate new ways of seeing and drawing the figure using a variety of drawing media. The unclothed model allows for the study of gesture as well as skeletal and anatomical structure. Students will learn how to capture a pose with quick gestures, develop a quality of line with contours and solve foreshortening problems by understanding aspects of perspective. Short drills will lead to long poses and the development of more complete, detailed drawings.

Note: This class uses both nude and clothed models.

Painting from Nature
Using the natural world as inspiration, gain skills in realistic rendering through exploring techniques for depicting an object’s form, structure, texture and pattern. Demonstrations and hands-on exercises encourage experimentation with colored pencil, watercolor and acrylic. Projects include learning how to choose, mix and apply color and how to exploit lighting to heighten the realistic qualities of such objects as plants, birds and animals. Students will increase their sensory awareness, confidence in basic art making skills and understanding of composition in order to create more complex and expressive works of art.

Jewelry Studio
Learn the basics of forming and joining to transform your ideas into wearable art, such as rings, pins, pendants and or linkages or chains. Techniques include design layout, piercing, forming, filing, basic cold joining, soldering, bezel making, simple stone setting, coloration and finishing. Students will combine these technical steps to create several pieces that are uniquely their own.

Children’s Book Illustration
Designed to help you get the children's book inside you onto paper and into book form. Assignments during the first half of the course will focus on storytelling and illustration techniques, creating a book dummy and marketing your book to publishers. Students may then use the second half of this course to apply these skills to their own personal children's book project. A published children's book illustrator will be featured as a guest speaker.

Ceramics Studio
Beginners and advanced students are welcomed to work at their own pace in this open studio. Weekly demonstrations will cover basic hand building and wheel throwing techniques as well as surface treatments for functional and sculptural ware. Students are encouraged to develop their own personal expression through the process of bringing their creation to final completion.

Raku
Raku can be described as a low-fire glaze technique, in which pieces are placed in a pre-heated kiln and brought to maturity quickly. The red-hot pieces are then removed from the kiln to be either cooled in the open air or placed in a container to be "smoked" which creates beautiful luster and ash patterns. This course not only provides an introduction to the history of ceramics, hand-building and wheel throwing, but experiments with unique surfaces, colors and textures that can only be achieved through the ancient Japanese process of Raku. Bring your sketchbook and pencil. Previous ceramic experience is not necessary.