The exploration of the various shapes and postures of the human body has been a major subject of human creative production since prehistoric times. Especially since the Accademia degli Incamminati was founded in Bologna in the 16th century the drawing from live human models has become a centre-piece in the education of fine artists in particular, yet also designers benefit from an advanced understanding of the proportions and features of the human body to inform their creations.

Anatomical correctness however is only the initial concern in life drawing, as the artist's kinaesthetic response to the changing poses of the model, and other compositional choices open a space for deeper and more mature creative reflection on the 'condition humaine', i.e. the question of what makes us human.

The setup of VART3117 Life Drawing focuses on this more conceptual aspect of life drawing. It initially briefly introduces students to the specific skills and techniques necessary for working with life models, based on skills, which students are required to have built in previous courses. The course continues by exploring advanced manipulation of pictorial structure, colour and gestural expression, possible re-interpretations of the body/space relation, and the effects of form distortions. These techniques and their variations will serve as starting points when students move on to experiment with complex visual expressions that use representations of the human body as the subject for articulating advanced conceptual ideas.

While VART3117 Life Drawing allows the students to further their skills in various self-selected imaging media, both traditional and new, it is the main intention of the course to establish drawing as a methodology for conceptual artistic creation beyond mere representation of a perceived reality. It requires students to think in complex systems, to critically reflect their own practice, and to re-evaluate the human body as it encompasses and expresses the features of being human.