Having good basic drawing skills is the foundation to most art disciplines and anyone can learn to draw. This class is suitable for beginners to intermediate students wanting to discover their hidden drawing skills or develop their own technique further using a variety of drawing mediums. Drawing Fundamentals can now be enjoyed face to face or online.

Artists and Materials

Continuing on from last term we will look at particular artists and examine how they have used specific materials. We will do exercises to explore the use of that material and create our own drawings following in the example of the artist we observe.

WEEK 1: Leonardo da Vinci: Heads and Faces using pencil and charcoal

Going straight to the Renaissance master we will observe carefully some of the many drawings of heads and faces by Leonardo da Vinci. We will touch on anatomical structure and facial proportions as we do exercises in pencil and charcoal based on Leonardo’s beautiful drawings.

Leonardo da Vinci drawing

WEEK 2: Leonardo da Vinci: Heads and Faces using pencil, conte crayon and charcoal

Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci we will continue our exploration of drawing heads and faces with pencil, conte and charcoal.

WEEK 3: Degas: Dancers and soft pastel

Edgar Degas explored the human form particularly through his pastel drawings of dancers. We will consider the whole human body, as well as colour, movement, composition and mood in doing exercises in soft pastel based on Degas’s evocative drawings.

Edgar Degas Dancer

WEEK 4: Degas: Dancers and soft pastel

Continuing our exploration of Degas’s dancers we will create drawings of the human form using soft pastel.

WEEK 5: Van Gogh, Brett Whiteley and Ink Landscape

Van Gogh made many ink drawings of landscape, embodying his unique vision. Brett Whiteley was influenced by Van Gogh’s drawings in producing his energetic signature ink landscape drawings. We will experiment with the use of ink in exercises based on the ink drawings of both these prodigious artists.

Brett Whiteley Ink Giraffe