DOMINIQUE MILLAR - Artist
  • Home
  • About
  • Teaching
    • Current / Upcoming Courses >
      • Drawing for Beginners: How Simple Geometric Shapes Can Help You Draw Anything You Want
      • The Fundamentals of Drawing for Beginners
      • The Fundamentals of Drawing for Beginners
      • Sketching with Pen & Ink
      • The Principles of Life Drawing - Beginners to Intermediate
      • Chalk Pastel Techniques of the Masters - Beginners to Intermediate
      • Chalk Pastel Techniques of the Masters - Beginners to Intermediate
      • John Ruskin - Victorian Art Critic & Social Activist
      • William Morris - Socialism & the Egalitarian Values of Craftsmanship
    • Previous Courses >
      • 2017 >
        • The Principles of Life Drawing from the Masters
        • Sustained Life Drawing with Red, Black and White Chalk on Buff and Blue Coloured Paper
        • Painting the Nude - the limited palette approach
        • Portraiture and the Passions
        • Fundamentals of Drawing
        • Fundamentals of Drawing for Beginners at The Makery
        • Principles of Beginners Life Drawing Workshop
        • Artistic Anatomy for Beginners: In the Footsteps of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners – from Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • The Union of Art History and Practice: the Renaissance and the "Rebirth" of Art
      • 2018 >
        • The Creative Conventions of Portraiture
        • Fundamentals of Drawing Weekend Workshop
        • Landscape Drawing Lessons from the Masters Weekend Workshop
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • Fundamentals of Drawing
        • Drawing the Nude - 1 Day Intensive Sustained Pose
        • Pastels for Beginners and Intermediate
        • Portrait Drawing: Beginners to Advanced
        • The Elements of Drawing for Beginners
        • Oil Painting for Beginners
        • The Art of Competition: From the High Renaissance to the Baroque
        • Sketching with Pen and Ink
        • Drawing the Animal Kingdom - One Day Workshop
        • Drawing the Nude in Chalk Pencil
        • The Creative Conventions of Portraiture
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • The Elements of Drawing for Beginners
        • Drawing 101: A Beginner's Guide
        • Drawing the Figure from Life - Beginner to Intermediate
        • Drawing the Figure from Life - Beginner to Intermediate
        • Chalk Pastel Techniques of the Masters
        • Learning to Draw with Traditional Mixed Media
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • Learn to Draw with Pastels - Beginners & Beyond
        • Paradigms of the Baroque: The Art of Italy and the Dutch Golden Age
        • Drawing for Beginners - From Shapes to Figures from Life
        • Drawing for Beginners - From Shapes to Figures from Life
      • 2019 >
        • Drawing Essentials for Beginners - One Day Workshop
        • Drawing with Red, Black & White Chalks on Coloured Paper
        • Drawing the Nude in Chalk Pencil
        • The Principles of Life Drawing from the Masters
        • The Elements of Drawing for Beginners
        • The Elements of Drawing for Beginners
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • Life Drawing for Beginners
        • The Sensual and the Sexual in the Art of the Renaissance and the Baroque
        • Learning to Draw with Traditional Mixed Media
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • Drawing with Traditional Mixed Media
        • The Political Artist: David, Delacroix and Courbet
        • Life Drawing for Beginners & Beyond
        • The Fundamentals of Drawing for Beginners
        • Life Drawing for Beginners & Beyond
        • Learning to Draw with Traditional Mixed Media
        • The Creative Conventions of Portraiture
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • The Principles of Life Drawing from the Masters
        • Drawing Animals Workshop
        • The Creative Conventions of Portraiture
        • Learning to Draw the Landscape with Traditional Mixed Media
        • Life Drawing Beginners to Intermediate – The Sustained Pose
        • The "Divine" Raphael
      • 2020 >
        • Drawing for Beginners
        • Draw with Red, Black & White Chalk Pencils on Coloured Paper
        • Drawing the Nude in Chalk Pencil
        • Drawing Portraits
        • Drawing Landscapes
        • The Creative Conventions of Portraiture
        • Life Drawing Beginners to Intermediate – The Sustained Pose
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners - Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • Figurative Compositions with Mixed Media
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners - Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • Joseph Mallord William Turner - the Sun is God!
        • The Cultural Disconnect of “Contemporary Art” - How Did We Get Here?
        • Draw with Red, Black & White Chalks on Coloured Paper
        • The Elements of Drawing for Beginners (Online Class)
        • Sketching with Pen and Ink
        • How to Compose a Still Life Composition (Online Taster Class)
        • Drawing for Beginners: How Simple Geometric Shapes Can Help You Draw Anything You Want (Online Taster Class)
        • Painting in Spain: From the Escorial to the Enlightenment (Online Class)
        • Goya - A Painter for his Age (Online Class)
        • Still Life & the Art of Composition (Online Class)
        • Learning to Draw the Landscape with Traditional Mixed Media (Online Class)
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms (Online Class)
  • Short poses
  • Studies
  • Portraits
  • Istoria
  • My Collection
  • Contact

The Fundamentals of Drawing for Beginners


This two day workshop aims to systematically set out the basic principles of drawing for either the very beginner or lay intermediate student. Each exercise will progressively build upon the last. Starting with the most elementary forms and 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.

This class will be delivered face-to-face at WEA Sydney. Enrolling students need to ensure they have read the current COVID-19 Safety Guidance that WEA Sydney has put in place before enrolling.


COURSE OUTLINE

  • Leaf Drawing Exercise: Using an image of a leaf, a sheet of tracing paper provided, will be placed over the image and traced. Placing the tracing paper on a new sheet of paper, students will mark multiple points to indicate the leaves perimeter. Looking back at the original drawing, students will then fill in the spaces between these points with the remaining contour of the leaf’s outline, as accurately as possible. We will then repeat this with plant specimens. This exercise introduces the student to the fundamentals of observation and contour, while also putting the student at ease in fostering a habit of erasure and correction.
  • Shading Exercise: Between two parallel lines, students will take great care to shade as carefully and as softly as possible, from left to right, from the darkest gradation of the pencil to its lightest. The aim of this exercise is to produce a seamless ascent in tonal gradation.
  • Silhouette Study: Using the image of a tree, students will shade in the form of the trees branches and foliage without the initial use of outline. The aim of this exercise is to ultimately gain an intuitive proficiency at determining the parameters of an object’s volume. Students will make continuous use of the eraser to refine the contours of their silhouette.
  • Rock Study: Students will be given an assortment of small round rocks. Employing a peep hole, students will attempt to record the tonality of the rock as accurately as possible.
  • Aerial perspective and the landscape: In this exercise, we will focus on a section of a landscape print, in order to both observe and replicate its use of line, hatching and shading in the depiction of distant foliage. This practice will help us gain an understanding of how artists communicate the ephemeral characteristics of the landscape at greater distances. The exercise will then be applied to photographic images of distant trees and foliage.
  • Basic geometric shapes 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.
  • Drawing and linear direction: Starting with a stick figure – an invaluable tool in describing the major centre lines of any form – we will gradually work towards conceiving of more complex forms in terms of two directional lines and basic geometric shapes, such as cylinders and cubes.
  • The Charles Bargue drawing course and the figure as directional lines: In this class, we will look at how a nineteenth century drawing course undertaken by Van Gogh, Seurat and Picasso can help us to better simplify the basic forms of the human figure
  • Antique Cast Drawing: A copy of an antique cast will be set up to draw. The benefits of inanimate cast figures as an aid to drawing will be addressed.



PLANNED LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

  1. Gain a sound structural approach to drawing objects.
  2. Accurately conceive of objects in relation to linear and aerial perspective.
  3. Learn to observe form, tone and volume in any object.
  4. Make use of and/or inventing a light source to model form.


MATERIALS LIST

  • Pencils 2H, F
  • Needable Eraser
  • Stanley knife for sharpening
  • A3 sketch book


When:
Wednesday 27 Jan - Thursday 28 Jan 2021
(Rescheduled. Previously 11-12 January)

10.00 AM - 3.30 PM

Where:
WEA Sydney
72 Bathurst Street

Enrol at the WEA
  • Home
  • About
  • Teaching
    • Current / Upcoming Courses >
      • Drawing for Beginners: How Simple Geometric Shapes Can Help You Draw Anything You Want
      • The Fundamentals of Drawing for Beginners
      • The Fundamentals of Drawing for Beginners
      • Sketching with Pen & Ink
      • The Principles of Life Drawing - Beginners to Intermediate
      • Chalk Pastel Techniques of the Masters - Beginners to Intermediate
      • Chalk Pastel Techniques of the Masters - Beginners to Intermediate
      • John Ruskin - Victorian Art Critic & Social Activist
      • William Morris - Socialism & the Egalitarian Values of Craftsmanship
    • Previous Courses >
      • 2017 >
        • The Principles of Life Drawing from the Masters
        • Sustained Life Drawing with Red, Black and White Chalk on Buff and Blue Coloured Paper
        • Painting the Nude - the limited palette approach
        • Portraiture and the Passions
        • Fundamentals of Drawing
        • Fundamentals of Drawing for Beginners at The Makery
        • Principles of Beginners Life Drawing Workshop
        • Artistic Anatomy for Beginners: In the Footsteps of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners – from Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • The Union of Art History and Practice: the Renaissance and the "Rebirth" of Art
      • 2018 >
        • The Creative Conventions of Portraiture
        • Fundamentals of Drawing Weekend Workshop
        • Landscape Drawing Lessons from the Masters Weekend Workshop
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • Fundamentals of Drawing
        • Drawing the Nude - 1 Day Intensive Sustained Pose
        • Pastels for Beginners and Intermediate
        • Portrait Drawing: Beginners to Advanced
        • The Elements of Drawing for Beginners
        • Oil Painting for Beginners
        • The Art of Competition: From the High Renaissance to the Baroque
        • Sketching with Pen and Ink
        • Drawing the Animal Kingdom - One Day Workshop
        • Drawing the Nude in Chalk Pencil
        • The Creative Conventions of Portraiture
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • The Elements of Drawing for Beginners
        • Drawing 101: A Beginner's Guide
        • Drawing the Figure from Life - Beginner to Intermediate
        • Drawing the Figure from Life - Beginner to Intermediate
        • Chalk Pastel Techniques of the Masters
        • Learning to Draw with Traditional Mixed Media
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • Learn to Draw with Pastels - Beginners & Beyond
        • Paradigms of the Baroque: The Art of Italy and the Dutch Golden Age
        • Drawing for Beginners - From Shapes to Figures from Life
        • Drawing for Beginners - From Shapes to Figures from Life
      • 2019 >
        • Drawing Essentials for Beginners - One Day Workshop
        • Drawing with Red, Black & White Chalks on Coloured Paper
        • Drawing the Nude in Chalk Pencil
        • The Principles of Life Drawing from the Masters
        • The Elements of Drawing for Beginners
        • The Elements of Drawing for Beginners
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • Life Drawing for Beginners
        • The Sensual and the Sexual in the Art of the Renaissance and the Baroque
        • Learning to Draw with Traditional Mixed Media
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • Drawing with Traditional Mixed Media
        • The Political Artist: David, Delacroix and Courbet
        • Life Drawing for Beginners & Beyond
        • The Fundamentals of Drawing for Beginners
        • Life Drawing for Beginners & Beyond
        • Learning to Draw with Traditional Mixed Media
        • The Creative Conventions of Portraiture
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • The Principles of Life Drawing from the Masters
        • Drawing Animals Workshop
        • The Creative Conventions of Portraiture
        • Learning to Draw the Landscape with Traditional Mixed Media
        • Life Drawing Beginners to Intermediate – The Sustained Pose
        • The "Divine" Raphael
      • 2020 >
        • Drawing for Beginners
        • Draw with Red, Black & White Chalk Pencils on Coloured Paper
        • Drawing the Nude in Chalk Pencil
        • Drawing Portraits
        • Drawing Landscapes
        • The Creative Conventions of Portraiture
        • Life Drawing Beginners to Intermediate – The Sustained Pose
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners - Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • Figurative Compositions with Mixed Media
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners - Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms
        • Joseph Mallord William Turner - the Sun is God!
        • The Cultural Disconnect of “Contemporary Art” - How Did We Get Here?
        • Draw with Red, Black & White Chalks on Coloured Paper
        • The Elements of Drawing for Beginners (Online Class)
        • Sketching with Pen and Ink
        • How to Compose a Still Life Composition (Online Taster Class)
        • Drawing for Beginners: How Simple Geometric Shapes Can Help You Draw Anything You Want (Online Taster Class)
        • Painting in Spain: From the Escorial to the Enlightenment (Online Class)
        • Goya - A Painter for his Age (Online Class)
        • Still Life & the Art of Composition (Online Class)
        • Learning to Draw the Landscape with Traditional Mixed Media (Online Class)
        • The Principles of Drawing for Beginners: Basic Geometric Shapes to Living Forms (Online Class)
  • Short poses
  • Studies
  • Portraits
  • Istoria
  • My Collection
  • Contact