The academic tradition of drawing in the creative and pedagogical heritage of Vasyl Markelovych Shevchenko

Abstract

The article highlights the need to study the achievements of Vasyl Markelovych Shevchenko’s creative and pedagogical activities, an artist and pedagogue of drawing and painting at the Faculty of Architecture of the Kyiv State Institute of Engineering and Civil Engineering.

The available scientific sources were analyzed, revealing the continuity of the academic drawing methodology’s use in European academies, which was studied by Ukrainian artist-teachers, including Vasyl Shevchenko, and applied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Kyiv and other higher education institutions. Therefore, they prepared a new generation of artist-pedagogues based on the academic tradition. The methodology of academic drawing is constant – linear-constructive drawing - and is diversified, such as the use of the principle of the sphere, as seen in the Munich School of drawing, led by Anton Ažbe at the end of the 19th century. It was this creative approach to teaching that motivated students to actively master the methods of analyzing the form using lines and tonal gradations.

It is noted that, in modern conditions of using artificial intelligence algorithms to create artistic products, the basis for mastering the methods of artistic form analysis remains academic drawing, performed using traditional methods. Accordingly, a more thorough study and generalization of the creative and pedagogical activities of Vasyl Shevchenko is relevant, whose legacy is a vivid example of success in mastering the techniques and methods of drawing on the principles of the truthfulness of reflecting the real three-dimensional world in compositions on the two-dimensional plane of drawing material, which is an invaluable contribution to the formation and establishment of the Ukrainian academic school of drawing.

The conclusion is drawn that, firstly, the indirect influence of the methods of teaching drawing in European art academies contributed to the formation and development of the Ukrainian academic school of drawing from its inception to the present day. Secondly, the indirect influence of the bullet method in teaching academic drawing is manifested in the works of Vasyl Shevchenko, which became the sources of our research. Thirdly, the steadfastness of the traditional academic drawing methodology, its preservation, and its involvement in the educational process of training future artist-pedagogues form the foundation for mastering the analysis of artistic form.