Constructing a City by Dots and Lines: Reporting Exhibition of the Urban Perspective Course from the 2nd Studio of the Department of Oil Painting, CAFA, was inaugurated at the Main Building Exhibition Hall in Building No.5, CAFA, and the exhibition will last until November12. Constructing a City by Dots and Lines: Reporting Exhibition of the Urban Perspective Course from the 2nd Studio of the Department of Oil Painting, CAFA, held by the Department of Oil Painting, CAFA, focusing on the Urban Perspective Course by undergraduates from grade third to grade fourth. The Course was initially prompted by Prof. Xie Dongming, Dean of the Department of Oil Painting, School of Modeling, CAFA, through a collective discussion by all the teachers of the 2nd Studio, and the ultimately determination was that Li Yanzhou and Ma Jiawei were responsible for the course together. The ambition of designing and setting up the Urban Perspective Course is to enhance students knowledge and understanding Perspective through the implementation of this unit. At the same time, students pay attention to expanding and deepening the ways of sketching.

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The premise of the course is to get through and follow the Perspective, and then seek the double expressive ways of drawings: first, the expression of architecture, second, the expression of figure. Firstly, it’s necessary for students to handle the Perspective, and have some abilities to show the different shapes of deformation and reduction about an object in space, on the basis of which, the course guides students to observe directly various images of relativity, objects cut off by light and air, and find out different states of visual clarity. The course takes five weeks, as a independent unit. Students must carry their easels and drawing boards to the locations, sketching directly and complete their works there, avoiding any photographs to complete and get a late-screen picture.

The course emphasizes a combination of scientific research methods and painterly expression, with some tools like a ruler or set square, students analysis the perspective in relation to space, in a most accurate and effective way, and ultimately reach a painted drawing, with respect for the emotion showing through from the materials and techniques, and experience the combination of reason and emotion.

The Urban Perspective Course, attempting to combine the studies of perspective theory and urban landscape sketching, guides students to focus on social development, and at the same time learn the unique role the language of perspective leads in expressing a modern urban space. The course starts from introducing the studies and the expression of perspective in classic painting. Perspective principle and development of the perspective are taken in some real and detailed paintings, and students can analyse and understand those directly, but rather than learning some boring theories and empty concepts, and students can systematically understand how to treat the language of perspective as an important means of composition.

A small-size teaching seminar about the course in the Department of Oil Painting was held by Prof. Xie Dongming, Li Yanzhou, Ma Xiaoteng, Wang Shaolun, Shi Yu, Kang Lei, Ma Jiawei, teachers from the Department of Oil Painting, as well as the students participating this exhibition at 2pm, 30th October. During the meeting, teachers not only gave some valuable advice, but also summarized the course, and thoughts on the basis of teaching were very important. When each student spoke of his/her ideas and the problems he/she encountered during his/her creation, he/she expressed that he/she gained more understanding of himself/herself with the works. In short, it was a very happy experience of learning and exchange between teachers and students.