Between Drawing and Painting: Ink Exploration

Ink Exploration
Ink Exploration

Cost: $705.00

9 online sessions

Wednesday, October 8 to December 10, 2025 (Skip date: November 26)

6:30 pm–9:30 pm

Registration opens: Wednesday, September 3

REGISTER ONLINE HERE

The origins of ink take us back around 4500 years ago, when both the Egyptians and Chinese invented the medium around the same time. Our class engages with the unique materiality of ink and paper and the interaction between the two. Highly fluid and offering both rich opacity and luminous translucencies, precise lines and soft washes, ink provides limitless possibilities for exploration. Both beginner and advanced students are welcomed as we work from observational study, capturing the world around us with line and shape. Our course begins with an introduction to traditional ink techniques utilizing pens, markers, and brushes on various paper types. We look at art historical examples and create a portfolio of works utilizing these varied approaches and tools. After grounding ourselves in classical techniques, we will shift to contemporary and experimental approaches, focused on process and discovery. Considering line, shape, form, texture and composition, our projects in this course will explore the space between drawing and painting, and both figuration and abstraction.

Mondays, October 6 to December 8, 2025

 

Required supplies:

  • A computer or device with stable internet connection and Zoom app installed
  • A workspace (tabletop, easel, or drawing board) next to your computer or device that allows you to work while on Zoom
  • Assorted black ink pens and/or markers of any kind
  • 3 sumi ink brushes in assorted sizes
  • Higgins Ink (black) 2.5 ounces
  • 1 pad 30-60 sheets white paper intended for “Mixed Media” (approximately 16 x 20”, or 18 x 24”)
  • 1 pad newsprint paper (approximately 16 x 20” or 18 x 24”)
  • 1 cup or jar with water for cleaning brushes
  • Rags or paper towels

Course Code: inkex1025

Instructor(s): Natalie Westbrook

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.