Last Updated: Mon, 04/06/2026
Syllabus
General Class Information
Academic year:
2026
Semester:
Spring
Course prefix:
ID
Course number:
4863
Section:
PDC
CRN
34678
Department (you may add up to three):
Instructor first name:
Roger
Instructor last name:
Ball
Catalog Description

Sketching for Creativity

With AI transforming how we create images designers are being challenged to rethink the role of drawing. Yet even in this era of AI, one truth hasn’t changed: designers think with their pencils. Sketching by hand sharpens the eye and the mind, building an instinctive understanding of form, scale, proportion, and construction. More than a technical skill, it’s a creative engine—tapping into parts of the brain where inspiration sparks, imagination flows, and creative ideas come alive.

The Sketching Creativity is a screen free course that develops students’ skills through hand-drawing exercises that sharpen both imagination and technique. Students practice the fundamentals of perspective drawing, sketching from observation, quick gesture studies, cartooning and doodling, character design, and storyboarding. The course introduces a variety of media and materials used in sketching and drawing, encouraging experimentation and personal expression.