Note: These "Throw Back Thursday" entries are meant to be useful to prospective students wanting to take a closer look into the graduate program inStudio Arts in Emerging Media at UCF, as I found no such resources available (from a student's point of view) when I was in the same position, back in 2021-2022.I entered the program in the fall of 2022 and graduated in the spring of 2025. Feel free to drop me a line in the post's comments section if you have any questions. ; )
With the exception of Studio Concentration class, graduate studio classes in the MFA in Emerging Media in Studio Arts are blended, meaning made of upper level undergrads and grad students. Graduate students are expected to know their stuff, have skills and create work that demonstrates mastery of a chosen medium while developing a cohesive body of work. This was an intimidating notion to me at first because I didn't feel confident in myself or my abilities at the time. But I had a strong artistic past, convinction on my topic of research, dreams and a renewed, loving attitude towards myself, so I gave it my best. The program is not centered on instruction of techniques at the graduate level and it is one hundred percent self guided artistic research, which I found to be the perfect aproach at this stage, openning endless posibilities for me. That's part of the reason I chose to come here and not another program with more restrictive expectations in a specific discipline.
In the spring, I took Advanced Drawing with Lecturer Theresa Lucey and Advanced Painting with Professor Carla Poindexter. In both classes, the upper level undergrads were inspirational and created superb work. The professors are admirable in their own disciplines and their expertise, care and love of teaching were present in every interaction I observed.
The Advanced Drawingclass provided students with much needed drawing practice from live models, complex still life set ups twice a week, and weekly homework assignments. This class provided an excellent opportunity for me to not only refresh my basics, but also rebuild my confidence as a representational artist. Graduate students were not expected to create homework but rather take their drawing practice into their independent work. Class time became serious brain-gym time for me, as I reacquainted myself with academic drawing concepts learned thirty years prior and blended them into my observations of the UCF instructional method for drawing. I challenged myself to capture someone's likeness from life, so that was my focus. Prior to this class I heard of the specificity of the drawing teaching technique at UCF, so I was not only curious but honestly, I a little intimidated about it. If you have ever walked the hallways of the second floor of the VAB, you know what I mean. These students can draw!
Turns out the method uses inspection of intersecting lines to determine angles. It specifies making marks as the eye moves naturally while inspecting the subject. The aproach is similar to what I learned in New York as an art student, but not quite the same. I recently reviewed this concept as explained in the titleOn Drawing Trees and Nature(ISBN-10: 0486442934), one of my favorite classic drawing instruction books, written by the victorian artist J.D Harding.
My first portrait after instruction of the inter-descending line inspection technique as taught at UCF.
Although the approach is similar to what I experienced before, the results of my first attempt after Lucey's expert explanaition was shockingly agreeable to me. The thing that I find unique and beautiful here is the encouragement to keep many of the marks made during the initial and continuous scanning of reference points that compose a drawing, as part of the end result. These marks show how the artist's eye moves throughout the work, keeping evidence of the drawing process at all times and giving it a raw beauty that draws the viewer in. Thanks to this approach, I now have a deeper understanding of the process of drawing, as well as a new appreciation for this aesthetic and teaching method, even if I don't always choose to use it in my finished works.
Left: Base/ First Drawing of the semester. Charcoal on newsprint, 24"x30". Right: Portrait Drawing of the same model. Polychromos pencil and conte chalk on coffee stained rag paper, 16"x 20"
There are two books recommended by every drawing professor at UCF: The Art of Responsive Drawingby Nathan Goldstein, 1999 (ISBN: 9780135979310) and The Natural Way to Draw by Kimon Nicolaides, 1990 (ISBN: 9780395530078). I have not read these titles yet but look forward to using them in my effort to further understand the drawing methodology emphasized here; because it definitely works!
Note: These "Throw Back Thursday" entries are meant to be useful to prospective students wanting to take a closer look into the graduate program in Studio Arts in Emerging Media at UCF, as I found no such resources available (from a student's point of view) when I was in the same position, back in 2021-2022. I entered the program in the fall of 2022 and graduated in the spring of 2025. Feel free to drop me a line in the post's comments section if you have any questions. ; )
May 16, 2023
I have just finished the last assignment of my last class of my second semester. This brings my first year (out of three) of my MFA in Studio Arts in Emerging Media at UCF to an end. Yay!
It has been a challenging and frustrating year, mainly because I felt I had to prove myself and my skills, as this year I am the "outsider" and only student who is not a recent graduate of UCF. My classmates in the incoming cohort are about half my age, giving me a new appreciation for the trials and tribulations that I have lived, while inspiring me with their lust for life, optimism and focus. Everyday, I tried my best while kicking myself for being so rusty, seeing only a shadow of what I could be, if only I had not been distracted and had not distanced myself from my personal artistic practice for so long. It was a painful experience and one that I had to face and move through regardless of how I felt about it.
First Semester
A view of my studio space as I first encountered it.
The other side of my studio space as I first encountered it and began to deep-clean it.
Besides from the required Studio Concentration class, I did not take a studio elective in my first semester. Instead, my time was occupied with an Advanced Art History class and Design Principles class (both theory), academic research, reading and writing. Knowing fully well where I stood in relation to where I once was, I both dreaded and looked forward to the spring semester. But first, I had to take a few days after school had started to deep clean and set up my chosen studio space, which had been well loved the year before. Generally speaking, it was clean enough for a working studio, but apparently not for me. I had to get on my hands and knees, scrub baseboards, fill holes, sand walls and repaint with a favorite wall color to truly make it my space.
At this time I was also still working as a full time substitute teacher in my (former) classroom at the middle school located an hour + away from UCF, so time was (and contiues to be) my most precious commodity. At the benginning of this semester I also decided to get tested for ADHD, which turned out to be a very real thing for me. Finally, after 53 years of torturous self deprication and confusion at my inability to be "normal", I was forced to show myself some compassion and to look for resources to help me suceed on this new endeavor. For this, I am grateful.
Midterm came extraordinarily quick! Midterm at the graduate level at UCF consists of each student setting up their work in their studio and inviting professors to view and give feedback on it. Although it is an informal review, I found it to be extremely helpful and a great opportunity to talk to professors whose expertise was new to me due to scheduling. Attending professors are there by inviation only and drop by anytime from 9:00am to 4:00 pm, while the event takes place. As this was the first time I encountered the large majority of professors, I incorporated some of my previous work into my set up, to familiarize my visitors with my ideas and aproach. Food is provided throughout the day.
There are two special events every fall semester at the School of Visual Arts and Design: The annual Faculty Show andArt Knight! Here are my impressions of the 2022 Faculty Art Show, from posts found in my personal Facebook page: Part I and Part II. I will elaborate on my first Art Knight! experience in a future post.
The final critique came equally fast eight weeks later. Final critique is a formal event, attended by invited professors, program administrators, prospective students from SVAD or/and family members. Students choose specific times and locations in which to hang their chosen works in the studio's common area walls and are given a 20 minute time frame in which to present their work and respond to audience questions. The audience moves from one location to another, asking questions and/or providing feedback as they see fit. This is also an all-day event and food is provided for all attendees. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous when I saw the number of people who showed up. It was well attended by many new faces, including former professors and notorious allumni from out of state. Students support each other by taking notes during their presentations. Midterm and final critique days are exciting and exhausting but also, key to a student's development.
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