ART 390 - The Artist Naturalist

Credit Hours: 4
Frequency of Offering: Offered annually in the spring semester

This course explores the world of nature from the perspective of the artist naturalist in history and in studio practice. Key figures such as Aristotle, Pliny, Robert Hooke, John James Audubon, Mark Catesby, Ernst Haeckel, Maria Sybilla Merian, and Charles Darwin provide examples of the diverse approaches to documenting and studying the natural world. In studio projects students learn drawing and painting techniques that have direct applications to illustration including the use of pencil, pen and ink, and watercolor painting. Throughout the semester each student keeps a nature journal of writing and art. Lecture and discussion, writing and research, studio projects and fieldwork.

Course Satisfies: This course satisfies a Humanities Track elective in the Environmental Studies major and minor.