绘画是普拉特艺术系最大的重点领域。在绘画课程中，学生将学会目标感，同时学习以视觉语言有效表达想法并发展成熟的工作室实践。本科绘画课程刻意包含了多种样式和工作方法，从直接观察生活到从照片作品到完全由抽象思想驱动的作品，一应俱全。普拉特获奖教授的作品反映了这种多样化的方法，他们全都活跃在纽约艺术界。通过对材料熟练使用的培训以及对绘画历史和批判传统的专题讨论，学生将为毕业后的年轻艺术家作好充分的准备，以促进他们的职业生涯。高三时，会为学生分配一个独立的工作室，以发展他们最先进的作品。最后一年的论文着重于与工作室
Develop a sense of purpose while learning to express ideas effectively through visual language and a mature studio practice. Our program intentionally embraces diverse styles and working methods, from direct observation from life and photographs to making work entirely driven by abstract ideas. All first-year students take the Foundation program's core curriculum, along with required art history and liberal arts courses, and begin the fine arts major curriculum in the fall of the second year. While continuing with their required art history and general education coursework, second-year students take more focused courses in their chosen area of emphasis, whether painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture and integrated practices, or jewelry. In addition to their studio requirements, all fine arts students take a series of departmental seminars that address social, historical, and critical issues in contemporary art. Beyond their major requirements, students may use elective credits to take courses of their choosing, to pursue a minor in a second field or discipline, or to gain internship experience. The senior year is focused on developing a self-directed body of work for the senior thesis exhibition in the spring semester. Departmental courses in professional practice help students prepare their portfolios and make a realistic plan for sustaining their careers after graduation through approaching funders, galleries, residency opportunities, and employers.<br><br>Students will: Understand basic design principles, concepts, media and formats, and the ability to apply them to a specific aesthetic intent, Have functional knowledge of the traditions, conventions and evolutions of painting as related to issues of representation, illusion, and meaning, Have the knowledge and skills in the use of basic tools, techniques and processes sufficient to work from concept to finished product, Be familiar with historical and contemporary movements and issues in the field of painting, Understand the expressive possibilities of various media and the diverse conceptual modes available to the painter, Be able to work independently and develop a final project related to the exhibition of original work.