CAEL1001 Contemporary Drawing: Experimental
The Complete Study & Assessment Guide · S2 2026CAEL1001 Overview
- First-year studio drawing unit
- Sydney College of the Arts
- S2 2026
- Thirteen studio weeks
- No written paper
- Student-grade materials kit
CAEL1001 Contemporary Drawing: Experimental is a first-year studio unit at The University of Sydney, taught at Sydney College of the Arts and open to students from across the University.
- Assessed by A zero-weight quiz, an in class presentation, a visual diary and a self-directed project, all studio work.
- Watch for Three of the four published rows are hurdle tasks, and 35 per cent is decided in week 6.
- Hardest step Critical reflection: evaluating your own decisions rather than describing what you made.
- How to prepare Two visual diary pages every week from week 1, with reflections written on the day.
- Start early on Photographing stages, because process is assessed and a finished sheet cannot show it.
How CAEL1001 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Core Vocabulary Quiz | 0% | Ten questions taken outside class, about five to ten minutes, on the key concepts, terms and artists introduced in the unit. The University records it as an early feedback task. The unit states that it is mandatory and that it does not count towards your final grade. Due 17 August 2026 at 09:00 on the unit page and on the unit's own schedule; the quiz page itself shows 23:59 the same day, so confirm the time on Canvas. |
| In class presentation of curated project work · hurdle | 35% | You present and discuss a curated selection of the work developed in weeks 1 to 5, explaining your creative decisions and reflecting on how your practice has evolved, then upload the work. The University names the task 5 Selected Drawings and publishes it as a creative work hurdle task. Presented in class in week 6; due 11 September 2026 at 09:00, with the unit's schedule giving Friday 11 September as the upload date. Studio presentations cannot be extended. |
| Visual diary and research file · hurdle | 25% | The working record of the semester, uploaded through Canvas. The unit asks for at least two pages a week, each carrying your own drawings, images of other artists and a few lines of reflection, and it must not repeat material submitted for another task. Published as a portfolio or journal hurdle task. Due 16 November 2026 at 23:00, with a closing date of 1 December 2026. |
| Self-directed creative project · hurdle | 40% | An independent body of work you develop, resolve and document, building on the experimentation, research and reflection of the semester, uploaded through Canvas. Published as a creative work hurdle task. Due 22 November 2026 at 23:00. |
The four published rows sum to exactly 100 per cent, with the quiz carrying zero. Three things are worth keeping separate. The quiz is mandatory and worth nothing, and both halves of that are stated by the unit. Three of the four rows are published by the University as hurdle tasks, which is a condition attached to a component rather than a weight, and the exact consequence is not spelled out on the pages this guide can see, so confirm it on Canvas. And the unit separately states a 90 per cent attendance requirement, which is a requirement of the unit rather than a row in the assessment table; nothing available here calls it a hurdle, so ask your tutor what happens if you fall below it.
Current CAEL1001 dates
| Date | Item | Control |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-17 | Core Vocabulary Quiz due | 09:00 on the unit page and the unit schedule; the quiz page shows 23:59. Zero weight, mandatory. |
| 2026-09-11 | Presentation work uploaded | 09:00. The presentation itself happens in class in week 6, from Monday 7 September. 35 per cent, hurdle task. |
| 2026-11-16 | Visual diary and research file due | 23:00, closing 1 December 2026. 25 per cent, hurdle task. |
| 2026-11-22 | Self-directed creative project due | 23:00. 40 per cent, hurdle task. |
Dates are as published in the University of Sydney unit page for CAEL1001 and the unit's own weekly schedule for Semester 2, 2026. Confirm exact deadlines and submission settings in the live LMS.
What CAEL1001 covers
CAEL1001 runs across thirteen studio weeks, moving from line and gesture through tone, collage and erasure to scale, perception, diagrams and colour, and then into a self-directed project. The last three chapters cover what is actually marked: the visual diary, the Studio Learning Rubric applied to all three graded tasks, and the final project. Each chapter links to its free guide.
Drawing the Unseen: Line, Energy and Invisible Forces
Week 1. Five short exercises with line as the only tool, seven named invisible forces, and the three variables of weight, density and rhythm.02Performative and Gestural Drawing
Week 2. The body as the instrument, frottage and site, paired performance and documentation, and a sheet of at least A1.03Light and Tone: Form Without Outline
Week 3. A seven-step value scale, a tonal map of five to seven values, an A2 drawing without outline, and the same drawing cut into squares.04Drawing Back into Collage
Week 4. Collage used as a starting point rather than an outcome, an ink ground made first, and the drawing that happens after the glue dries.05Addition and Erasure as Drawing Processes
Week 5. A compressed charcoal ground, three removal tools, a subtractive portrait and a subtractive text piece photographed as a pair.06Variable Scale: When Size Changes Meaning
Week 8. Repeated symbols, then one small textured object drawn at life size and at an exaggerated scale, with the factor stated.07Sense and Perception Beyond the Eye
Week 9. Tactile drawing, description as a channel, chance and gravity, and the exercise where somebody redraws your work from your words.08Data, Diagrams and Machine Generated Images
Week 10. Objects turned into visual systems, maps that are not about geography, and one written description sent down two routes.09Colour as a Visual Language
Week 11. Painted fragments before composition, four independent colour variables, transparency in layers, and the greyscale test.10The Visual Diary as a Working Record
Assessment 3, 25 per cent. Two pages a week, the four elements of a marked spread, the double dip rule, and the difference between a caption and a reflection.11Reading the Studio Learning Rubric
All three graded tasks. Five criteria out of twenty each, two published band tables, and the criterion that exists only in what you write and say.12The Self-Directed Creative Project
Assessment 4, 40 per cent. Three studio weeks, one constant held across the set, and the unit's own definition of resolved.It treats drawing as a way of thinking rather than as a way of producing pictures: across thirteen weeks you work through line as a record of invisible forces, performative and gestural mark-making, light and tone, collage as a drawing process, addition and erasure, variable scale, perception beyond sight, diagrams and machine generated images, and colour as a visual language.
Nothing is assessed by recall and there is no written paper.
The mark is made of four published rows that sum to 100 per cent: a Core Vocabulary Quiz at 0 per cent that is mandatory and does not count towards your final grade, an in class presentation of curated project work at 35 per cent in week 6, a visual diary and research file at 25 per cent due 16 November 2026, and a self-directed creative project at 40 per cent due 22 November 2026. The University publishes the last three as hurdle tasks.
All three graded tasks are marked against the same Studio Learning Rubric, whose five criteria are Creative Inquiry, Experimentation and Process, Creative Communication, Critical Reflection and Studio Engagement, each out of twenty. The unit also states a 90 per cent attendance requirement and asks you to check that you can meet it before enrolling.
A student-grade materials kit is estimated at around 100 to 130 dollars, and the unit says more than once that professional artist brands are not required. Confirm every date and rule on Canvas and the current unit page.
Assigning five tonal values before touching the large sheet
- 1Sort what you can see into three groups by squinting, which collapses the range into light, mid and dark. Lit faces and near table go light; the cylinder's turning side and far table go mid; the mug interior, the shadow side of the fold and all cast shadows go dark.
- 1Assign a scale number to each group rather than a description. Lit faces at step one, near table at step two, mid-tones at step four.
- 1Split the dark group, because it contains two different things. Cast shadows at step five so they read as shadow; the mug interior at step seven, the heaviest the pencil makes.
- 1Check the range. Confirm that something on the page actually reaches step seven, since stopping at step five is the most common reason a tonal drawing reads flat from three metres away.
- 1Check for collisions. No object may sit at the same value as the surface immediately behind it, or it will disappear; here the cylinder at step four sits against a step two table, so it separates.
Key terms
- Experimental drawing
- Drawing that investigates ideas, materials and processes through curiosity and testing, where the aim is learning through experimentation rather than a perfect finished image. It is the unit's own definition and the standard the work is held to.
- Visual diary
- A record of ideas, experiments, sketches, research and reflections built across the semester. In this unit it is also a graded submission at 25 per cent, and the unit asks for at least two pages every week.
- Studio Learning Rubric
- The single marking sheet used for all three graded tasks, with five criteria each out of twenty. The unit uses one rubric all semester because the qualities of good creative practice stay the same while the task changes.
- Creative Inquiry
- The first rubric criterion. It asks how effectively you develop ideas through observation, investigation, experimentation and research, and whether those ideas have developed over time rather than arriving fully formed.
- Critical Reflection
- The rubric criterion that asks you to evaluate rather than describe your creative decisions, experimentation, research and feedback, and to identify future directions. It is the criterion most often left underevidenced.
- Studio Engagement
- The rubric criterion covering active participation, constructive peer feedback, safe studio practice, care of shared spaces and regular use of the visual diary.
- Resolved
- The unit's word for work that is complete, cohesive and intentional. Its opposite, unresolved, means incomplete, inconsistent or requiring further development, and neither term is about how polished something looks.
- Iteration
- Any reworking, alternative or next attempt at a piece. The unit counts one whether or not it is finished, and even when it stands as a complete work by itself, so an abandoned version still counts as development.
- Mark-making
- The range of marks a drawing material can produce, from bold to soft, rough to smooth, quick to carefully controlled. The unit treats the mark as a subject rather than as a by-product of drawing something.
- Tonal value
- How light or dark each area of a drawing reads, from its brightest point down to its deepest shadow. Week 3 asks you to build a seven-step scale and then work with five to seven values.
- Frottage
- A rubbing taken by laying paper over a surface and working charcoal or graphite across it, so the drawing records a place rather than an idea. Introduced in the performative and gestural week.
- Chance
- Letting a random event, or a result you did not expect, do part of the drawing. In this unit it means a procedure decided in advance and then followed, which is why it can be described and assessed.
CAEL1001 FAQ
Is there a written paper in this unit?
No. All four published assessment rows are studio work: a short online quiz worth zero, an in class presentation of curated project work at 35 per cent, a visual diary and research file at 25 per cent, and a self-directed creative project at 40 per cent. The last two are uploaded through Canvas during the formal assessment period, six days apart.
How much of the mark is decided before the mid-semester break?
Thirty-five per cent. The presentation happens in class in week 6 and draws only on work made in weeks 1 to 5, with the upload following on 11 September 2026. That makes the first five studio sessions assessment preparation, and the unit states that studio presentations cannot be extended.
What does hurdle task mean here?
The University publishes three of the four rows, the presentation, the diary and the project, as hurdle tasks. A hurdle is a condition attached to a component rather than a weight, so it changes what happens if you do not complete it. The pages available here name the tasks without spelling out the consequence, so confirm it on Canvas.
Do I need to be able to draw before I enrol?
The unit describes itself as a foundation unit and states that you do not need previous drawing experience. What it names instead are curiosity, experimentation, participation and a willingness to try new things. The cohort is drawn from around seventeen different disciplines rather than from art students alone.
What is the attendance requirement?
The unit states a 90 per cent attendance requirement and asks you to make sure you can meet it before enrolling. Attendance is recorded weekly with four codes for present, absent, sick and late, and arriving more than thirty minutes late is recorded as late. Two absences reach the warning threshold.
How much do the materials cost?
The unit estimates around 100 to 130 dollars for a student-grade kit, and says more than once that professional artist brands are not required and will not advantage you. Budget brush sets are named as suitable, and it encourages recycled, found and second-hand materials throughout the semester.
What goes in the visual diary each week?
The unit asks for at least two pages, with two to four images to a page at around six by eight up to ten by fifteen centimetres, putting your own drawings, images of other artists and a few lines of reflection together on one page so comparison is built into the layout. It also says not to put diary material into your other submissions.
Are the marking criteria different for each task?
No, and that is unusual. One Studio Learning Rubric covers all three graded tasks, with the same five criteria each out of twenty, because the unit takes the view that the qualities of successful creative practice stay the same even when the task changes. Only the focus shifts between tasks.
How to prepare for the assessments
Treat this unit as a set of methods to acquire rather than a set of drawings to hand in, because that is how it is marked: the same five criteria are applied to all three graded tasks, and four of the five reward development over time rather than a single good sheet.
(1) Start the visual diary in week 1 and keep it at two pages a week, since it is worth 25 per cent in its own right and is also the evidence for three other criteria. (2) Understand that 35 per cent is decided in week 6 from work made in weeks 1 to 5, so the first studio class is already assessment preparation and studio presentations cannot be extended.
(3) Photograph every stage of every piece, because process is assessed and a finished sheet cannot show it. (4) Learn the two sentences the rubric actually rewards: a decision with its result, its limit and the next test; and a material choice set against the alternative you did not take.
(5) Read the Studio Learning Rubric in week 2 rather than the night before week 6, and use the week 6 feedback on the diary and the project, since the criteria do not change. (6) Keep everything, including the pieces that failed, labelled with why they failed.
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