BA (Honours) Drawing | Open University

England

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Accessibility statement

An image to illustrate the BA (Honours) Drawing

Explore the rich possibilities of drawing with our BA (Honours) Drawing degree. This online programme encourages you to push the boundaries of traditional drawing, embracing both time-honoured techniques and innovative approaches. You'll develop your skills, critical thinking, and artistic voice under the guidance of experienced tutors. Our flexible study model allows you to learn at your own pace, integrating your artistic development with your daily life. Join a diverse community of artists and discover how drawing can become a powerful tool for expression and understanding.

Key features:

Course highlights:

This honours degree in drawing has three stages, each comprising 120 credits.

Stage 1 (120 credits)

You'll begin your journey by exploring the fundamentals of drawing. Throughout this stage, you'll experiment with various processes and approaches, covering aspects like material properties, gesture, performance, space, and time. As you progress, you'll develop your research skills and critical engagement with other artists' work, learning to analyse and draw inspiration from diverse sources. You'll also build relationships with peers and tutors, becoming an integral part of the learning community. This foundational stage will help you discover your strengths and interests within the broad field of drawing.

Stage 2 (120 credits)

Building on your foundation, you'll develop a more personal approach to drawing. You'll engage with current themes and practices in contemporary art, learning to situate your work within broader artistic discourses. Throughout this stage, you'll be encouraged to celebrate your unique context as a distance learner, embedding your practice in daily life. You'll explore material experimentation, personal and social themes, and environmental concerns, pushing the boundaries of what drawing can be. This stage will challenge you to take creative risks and develop a more sophisticated understanding of your artistic practice.

Stage 3 (120 credits)

In this final stage, you'll refine your individual drawing practice through challenging intellectual inquiry. You'll develop and carry out personal research projects in your chosen area of drawing, synthesising your technical skills with conceptual depth. Throughout this stage, you'll focus on creating a sustainable research practice to support your studio work, develop professional relationships and networks, and establish a meaningful drawing practice. You'll learn to articulate and share your knowledge through various means, from academic essays to artist talks. By the end of this stage, you'll have produced a substantial body of work that demonstrates your unique artistic voice and your readiness for professional practice or further study.

This open-access degree welcomes students from all walks of life. No formal qualifications are required – just bring your enthusiasm for art and readiness to learn. You'll need basic computer skills, a stable internet connection, and a good grasp of English to fully engage with the course materials and community.

This online course is available through our college dedicated to the creative arts, the Open College of the Arts.

This degree is delivered by The Open University's Open College of the Arts.

To explore this course in detail, including entry requirements, fees and funding options, and how to apply, visit the Open College of the Arts website.

This online course is available through our college dedicated to the creative arts, the Open College of the Arts.