DRAWING BASICS

Students start by being introduced to various mechanical aspects of pencil handling, along with basic concepts such as light, value, and three-dimensional form.

The value scale introduces artists to the idea of tonal simplification and homogenous consistency of pencil application. This in tern helps lay the foundation for the importance of empirical observations and optical accuracy.

This is followed by the gradation exercise, where students try to replicate a consistently smooth and constantly changing value gradation in an effort to replicate the effect of light.

Finally students apply these skills to creating the illusion of the three-dimensional sphere to begin grasping the relationship between light, value and form.

BARGUE PLATE DRAWINGS

Students copy feature and figure drawing plates reproduced from works of the 19th century French academician Charles Bargue. These drawing studies represent unparalleled training for artists, with an emphasis on proportion, gesture, simplification of abstract shapes, line quality, and sub-dermal anatomy.

PLASTER CAST BLOCK-INS

Students begin working with 3-d forms by drawing plaster cast sculptures, learning to construct the images using comparative measurements, while perfecting abstract shape arrangements and design. Moving on to rendered tonal drawings, and working from the life model is dependant on successful understanding and application of block-in drawing.

FULLY RENDERED CAST STUDIES

Students proceed on to working through (up to 3) fully rendered drawings of plaster cast studies in pencil, allowing focus to be placed on accurate drawing of shapes, and successful understanding of light and form, to create the illusion of a three-dimensional object on paper.

SHORT POSE FIGURE DRAWING

Students work on short pose figure drawings (up to 20 minutes) to focus on fundamental qualities of pose such as proportion and gesture. Being able to visualise the bigger picture of each pose allows artists to make decisions on composition as well as emotive content.

FIGURE BLOCK-IN AND SKETCH

Students begin to apply what they have learned from their Bargue drawings, plaster cast block-ins, and quick figure sketches, to clarify a process for working from life. These linear ‘construct’ drawings last from one to five days in duration.

LONG POSE FIGURE DRAWING

These longer poses follow on from the preceding block-ins and shorter pose studies, allowing students to invest up to 60 hours of time with the life model to render the form with careful observation and a considered approach.

PORTRAIT SKETCHES

Students learn fundamentals of portrait drawing by following the same methods used with the figure and plaster cast. Focus goes towards basic landmark structure and unique shape creation, to create a three-dimensional likeness of the model.