Fundamentals of Drawing Weekend Workshop
This two day workshop aims to systematically set out the basic principles of drawing for the very beginner or lay intermediate student. Each exercise will progressively build upon the last. Starting with the most elementary geometric shapes, the course aims to gradually introduce the student to more complex forms and challenges within the process of learning to draw. The class will be well suited to any beginner or individual who has wanted a solid grounding in the basic elements of drawing.
COURSE OUTLINE
- Saturday Morning – Geometry and Perspective: We will start by drawing basic shapes, such as circles and squares; followed by spheres, cubes and cylinders. Having observed these shapes, we will attempt to draw them in relation to perspectival space and the directional fall of light. We will end by examining how more complex forms can be understood in terms of these basic shapes. Building on the knowledge gained from employing the structure of basic shapes to express more complex forms, we will make a copy of a lithograph from the late Nineteenth Century drawing course of Charles Bargue. This classic drawing course was used as a common learning aid by such artists as the French Post-Impressionist painters Van Gogh and Seurat.
- Saturday Afternoon – Luca Cambiaso and the Figure as basic geometric forms: In the first hour we will make a copy of the Genoese painter Luca Cambiaso’s drawing of very basic cubic figures on watercolour paper. Students will then take short turns posing, and we will attempt to see the figure in terms of the same basic cubic and cylindrical shapes.
- Sunday Morning – Antique Cast Drawing: A copy of an antique cast will be set up to draw. In this class we will build upon the structural exercises from the previous classes while addressing the human form in more detail. The benefits of inanimate cast figures as aids to drawing the human figure will also be discussed.
- Sunday Afternoon – Life Drawing: We will aim in this last class to integrate the lessons gained from the past two days to an examination of the living model.
PLANNED LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Gain a sound structural approach to drawing.
- Accurately conceive of objects in relation to linear perspective.
- Make use of and/or inventing a light source to model form.
- Understand the basic principles of suggesting form with line alone.
MATERIALS LIST
Note: Only the first four materials are initially required
- Pencils 2H, F
- Kneadable Eraser
- Stanley knife for sharpening pencils
- A3 sketch book
When:
Saturday 17 Feb - Sunday 18 Feb 2018
Where:
WEA Sydney
72 Bathurst Street
Previous student feedback:
'Art history background gives great texture to his classes. Individual and class balance is perfect. I started as a total beginner and finished the term confident I can learn to draw.'