Fine Art Painting and Drawing BA (Hons)

Course Content

• Course Details

  Year 1 on the University of Northampton’s Fine Art Painting and Drawing BA (Hons) degree is exciting, fast moving, experimental and exploratory in nature. At the end of year 1, students begin to settle into an individual set of concerns, methods and processes as they begin to build a body of personally directed work. In year 2, this personally directed approach is continued where it begins to develop and become more focused. In year 3, students continue to consolidate, deepen and refine their practice to create a consistent, high quality body of work which will culminate in a public exhibition. Here is a breakdown of each year:

  Year 1

  Painting and Drawing students explore a wide variety of technical and conceptual approaches to Fine Art painting and drawing. This is supported and underpinned by an engagement with contemporary theory.

  A number of targeted projects introduce key themes and debates in contemporary painting and drawing. The year culminates with a personally directed project.

  The specialist module Introduction to Drawing also introduces a range of approaches to drawing from objective drawing to animation and video, including inductions into adobe photoshop and adobe premiere pro.

  Year 2

  Students now establish, develop and refine their own individual studio practice within a highly supportive environment. This is informed by our specialist theory module Painting in the Expanded Field. Through regular individual tutorials and group crits students continue to develop their own personal painting, drawing or printmaking practice.

  The Professional Studies module promotes external activities and gives our students the ability to engage in external and collaborative projects, helping prepare for future careers.

  Year 3

  Students continue to consolidate, deepen and refine their own personal visual and theoretical position, culminating in a high-quality public exhibition at the end of the year. This is supported by regular individual tutorials and group crits.

  Alongside practical work students undertake a critical study, which includes a dissertation option along with a number of other approaches.

  The Critical Study module has the flexibility for our students to target the specific area of interest to them, either academically or in terms of employability.

  The Professional Practice and Employability module continues on from the stage 2 Professional Studies module. Again, the various choices mean our students can select the option, which is of greatest interest and use to them individually (either academically or in terms of employability).

  To see our students’ work, please visit our Instagram page: paintingdrawing.uon

  Industry Links

  Fine Art Painting and Drawing students will benefit from spacious and well-equipped facilities and links to galleries such as MK Gallery (Milton Keynes) and NN Contemporary Art (Northampton).

  In addition, Northampton can boast some of the finest visiting speakers including the internationally known artists such as Marcus Harvey, Simon Callery, Ian Davenport, Mark Francis, Svetlana Fialova (Jerwood prize winner), Richard Patterson, Ian McKeever (RA), Alexis Harding, Ian Hartshorne (Teaching Painting Group), Claude Heath, Michael Craig-Martin. David Batchelor and Mark Wright, Paul Winstanley, Lisa Milroy, Margarita Gluzberg and Brett Littman (former Executive Director of the Drawing Center, New York).

  Please note the modules shown here relate to the academic year 24/25. The modules relating to the academic year 25/26 will be available from June 2025.

  • Stage 1
    • Introduction to Media Practice (40 Credits)
      Module code: ART1013

      Status: Compulsory
      This module offers a introduction to studio practice. Students will be introduced to a range of briefs exploring materials, practitioners, concepts, theories and approaches; and is expected to form personal procedures to developing ideas. Students will be assessed by the exhibition of artworks, supported by a range of research materials.
    • Extended Studio Practice and Context (40 Credits)
      Module code: ART1033

      Status: Compulsory
      This module offers a introduction to studio practice. The student will be introduced to a number of different concepts, theories and approaches; and is expected to form personal procedures to developing ideas. Students will be assessed by the exhibition of artworks, supported by a range of research materials.
    • Understanding the Visual (10 Credits)
      Module code: ART1045

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to enable students to develop a core set of skills in relation to the visual analysis of images and objects and to explore how artworks acquire meanings within a broader set of contexts. Students will be introduced to a range of theoretical material, and will be encouraged to develop effective research and written skills.
    • Art Today: Theories, Contexts and Methods (10 Credits)
      Module code: ART1046

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to introduce students to a range of practioner-led debates. It explores the relationship between instances of contemporary practice and a related set of theoretical ideas and debates. The module offers the students a wide-ranging set of examples that collectively engage with the diversity and complexity of contemporary fine art practice.
    • Introduction to Drawing (10 Credits)
      Module code: ART1049

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to introduce students to the discipline of drawing. Workshops facilitate a variety of drawing methods and processes through a creative dialogue between traditional and contemporary approaches to drawing. Work is assessed through a portfolio submission
    • Expanded Drawing Practice (10 Credits)
      Module code: ART1050

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to build upon the semester 1 module ART1015 (replacement) by extending approaches to drawing through 2D, 3D and 4D methods and processes. This module aims to test past and current boundaries of drawing culminating in the development of a personal body of work, assessed through a portfolio submission.
  • Stage 2
    • Painting and Drawing 40 (40 Credits)
      Module code: ART2023

      Status: Compulsory
      This module aims to provide Painting and Drawing students with the opportunity to develop and progress practical and conceptual skills. The rationale being that self development time in the studio, supported by tutorials, will provide students with appropriate time to develop the breadth and depth of their study.
    • Painting, Drawing & Printmaking (40 Credits)
      Module code: ART2054

      Status: Compulsory
      This module aims to provide Painting, Drawing and Printmaking students with the opportunity to develop and progress practical and conceptual skills across the disciplines of painting, drawing and printmaking. The rationale being that self development time in the studio and workshop, supported by tutorials, will provide students with appropriate time to develop the breadth and depth of their study in either an interdisciplinary or specialised way.
    • Professional Studies - Directions (10 Credits)
      Module code: ART2060

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to provide students with a range of tools needed to promote the student's own practice within the creative and cultural industries and the direction that they can take in their working practice and careers. Models that inform their working knowledge of these industries will be provided in order to further enhance professional ambition and communication.
    • Professional Studies- Positioning Your Practice (10 Credits)
      Module code: ART2061

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to provide students with a range of tools to inform their working knowledge of the visual arts sector. Models that promote the positioning of the student's own art practice via the exhibiting of art and online promotion will be provided in order to further enhance professional ambition, experience and communication.
    • Painting and Drawing in the Expanded Field (10 Credits)
      Module code: ART2064

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to provide the introductory theoretical element at level 5 of the BA Hons Painting & Drawing degree. It builds on the theoretical component of level 4 and prepares students for the next theoretical element at level 5 by offering a more focused dialogue around a specialist set of practices and their related contexts and discourses.
    • Critical Debates in Contemporary Painting and Drawing (10 Credits)
      Module code: ART2065

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to further develop knowledge and understanding established in the first theoretical element at level 5 of the BA Hons Painting & Drawing degree. In addition to providing an expansion and intellectual awareness of students' studio practice, it prepares students for independent work on ART3018 in level 5.
  • Stage 3
    • Critical Study (20 Credits)
      Module code: ART3018

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to enable students to develop a sustained, independent investigation and analysis of a specific topic within the field of Fine Art. It will require the demonstration of advanced personal and independent scholarship skills on a topic selected and approved through consultation with staff. To this end, the module will provide the opportunity for students to negotiate the form the outcome will take.
    • Professional Practice and Employability (20 Credits)
      Module code: ART3019

      Status: Compulsory
      The aim of this module is to provide students with a range of skills and strategies to prepare both their artwork and themselves for the external world. This will include developing the ability to professionally present artwork and manage the many other facets of exhibiting and making both artworks and ideas visible and available to a wider audience. They should build their working knowledge of the creative and cultural industries established at level 5 in Professional Studies.
    • Practice Exhibition (Fine Art Painting and Drawing) (80 Credits)
      Module code: ART4014

      Status: Compulsory
      This module consolidates creative and theoretical interests through a body of work and exhibition informed by contemporary painting and drawing practice. It makes complex demands on the student in the production and dissemination/exhibition of artefacts intended for intellectual and aesthetic consideration.

  Collapse
• Student Perks

  At the University of Northampton, everything we do, from funded trips to paid internships, is to give you everything you need to make a difference when you leave.

  If you join this full time fine art painting and drawing degree at Northampton, you will receive a laptop when your course begins*. The laptops are built to a bespoke custom specification ideal for use in the seminar room, collaborative group work or studying at home.

  Whatever your ambitions, we’re here to help you to achieve them. We’ll support you to identify the skills you’re learning during your Fine Art Painting and Drawing course, find your strengths and secure practical experience so that when it comes to applying for jobs or further study you’ll feel confident in standing out from the crowd. We’ve created the Northampton Employment Promise because we are so confident that if you focus on your studies and complete one of our awards you’ll be highly employable by the time you graduate. Putting you in a great position to secure employment or continue your studies.

  To check out the full list of perks, visit our Student Perks page or dedicated International Perks page.

  *UK fee payers only (see Terms and Conditions for further details).

  Collapse
• Integrated Foundation Year (IFY)

  The Integrated Foundation Year (IFY) offers a new and exciting route into studying for a degree, attracting ambitious and driven students who are willing to learn and advance.

  If you have non-standard qualifications or do not quite meet the admissions requirements we can offer you a fantastic opportunity to study a four year programme which includes an Integrated Foundation Year. The Integrated Foundation Year will help you develop the theoretical/practical and academic skills you need, in order to successfully progress to the full award.

  Our four-year courses will enable you to successfully follow the degree pathway of your choice while gaining essential study skills. The foundation year of your chosen degree will be studied on a full-time basis and is aimed at supporting the transition to higher education. Years two, three and four are then studied as a standard degree programme.

  Collapse
• FAQs

  How is Fine Art Painting and Drawing BA taught?

  You will be taught through studio practice tutorials (both one to one and group crits), specialist media workshops, professional study components and a programme of lectures and seminars.

  How will I be assessed on the Fine Art Painting and Drawing degree?

  Feedback for studio modules is given on an informal basis at regular tutorials while formative (indicative only) assessments are strategically placed within the year to allow time for students to reflect and act on advice. The final (summative) assessments for studio practice come at the end of the year. The final (summative) assessment in year 3 takes the form of a public exhibition of selected works.

  Will I get the chance to participate in live industry projects?

  We encourage our students to engage in live projects, competitions and exhibitions throughout the course with a number of them achieving success in competitions such as The BP National Portrait Award, The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize and the John Moores Painting Prize. Entry for competitions is actively encouraged in the year 3 module, Professional Practice and Employability. Our students produce amazing quality work and we encourage them to be ambitious with their applications.

  Are there any study trips?

  International study trips on this fine art painting and drawing degree have included destinations such as Venice Biennale, New York, Berlin, India, Vietnam (international study trips are optional).

  The New York trip along with visits to galleries included studio visits to the internationally acclaimed painters Fabian Marcaccio and Lydia Dona.

  In addition, there may be study trips to London and exhibitions such as the John Moores Painting Prize (Liverpool)

  A trip to the Gagosian gallery (London) included a personal tour and talk about his one person show from the internationally famous painter Glenn Brown (this was exclusively for our students).

  Does the course take part in Symposiums?

  The Drawing & Painting course has also co-ordinated and hosted International symposiums, including:

  • The Sketchbook Today International Symposium and Exhibition. In collaboration with the Rabley Drawing Centre and in conjunction with the Tate Gallery, London. Students and associated artists work was selected to be headlined on Tate Albums, Tate Gallery website.
  • Painting Drawing and the Digital International Symposium (two-day symposium) in collaboration with the Drawing Center New York, USA.
  • Painting Drawing and the Digital (two-day symposium) in collaboration with the Drawing Centre New York.

  Collapse