[image_with_animation image_url=”9446″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] For the past couple quarters I’ve been teaching beginning figure drawing shorties. “Shorties” are Seattle Artist League shortened classes – shorter by hours, by weeks, or both. These are run like cardio exercise classes, fast paced and intensive, but short enough to not be too overwhelming. I’ve been adding more shorties to the schedule because they’re super fun for me to teach, and they’re great for people who aren’t ready to commit to an 8 session, 4 hour studio class. Many of these students have never taken a drawing class before, almost all of them are new to figure drawing. I’m going to say this again, because it’s amazing. These are BEGINNERS.
Rather than learning one style, I offer a completely different stylistic approach every session, so by the end of the class the students have learned a different drawing style for every week. We’ve done straight line measures, site sizing, envelopes, kites, mass shapes, shadows, gestures, contours, volume, cross-hatching, and more. They even did a stylistic approach that a student named “Chocolate Bar Drawings” because they used the side of brown conte to make volume, and everyone’s drawing looked like it was made with a bar of chocolate. Recently I’ve started collecting photographs of this work, so that I can share it with you.
Remember, at the beginning of every class, the concept is new. The students have never done this before. The first drawings are usually pretty awkward, but midway through each class, they’re making high quality work. These do NOT look like beginner drawings. They’re gorgeous, I’m thrilled, and I wanted to share.
To start with, here are drawings in which the class combined big shadow shapes with thin contour lines. We were also thinking about implied lines, leaving some areas of the drawing purposefully open and undefined.
Needle felting: the art of poking a ball of fluff until it becomes solid, or I get bored and walk away, likely the latter will happen first. The above statement could not be written with more ignorance. Truth is, I’ve never actually done needle felting, but I’m about to, and I tend to get anxious …
[image_with_animation image_url=”9773″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Draw a tool. Focus on negative space: the space around the object, not just the object itself. Artists’ choice to collage, trace, draw, cut, or integrate multimedia. Inspirations by Richard Diebenkorn and Jim Dine. Thank you for sharing your work! I love seeing these artworks online. People who post …
People posted hundreds of drawings for our 30 day January challenge, in which artists are invited to respond to a daily prompt posted on our V. Notes blog. Unlike other drawing challenges, these prompts are wildly varied, open to non-typical materials around us, and are designed to feed a broad spectrum of creative skills at …
[image_with_animation image_url=”10246″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Water is notoriously difficult to draw or paint, but there are a few tricks. Instead of making the paint translucent or see-through, consider mixing the colors carefully, and applying the color just as opaquely as you would for a solid object. If you have reflections coming in over still …
Beginner’s Drawings That’ll Knock Your Socks Off (Part 1)
[image_with_animation image_url=”9446″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] For the past couple quarters I’ve been teaching beginning figure drawing shorties. “Shorties” are Seattle Artist League shortened classes – shorter by hours, by weeks, or both. These are run like cardio exercise classes, fast paced and intensive, but short enough to not be too overwhelming. I’ve been adding more shorties to the schedule because they’re super fun for me to teach, and they’re great for people who aren’t ready to commit to an 8 session, 4 hour studio class. Many of these students have never taken a drawing class before, almost all of them are new to figure drawing. I’m going to say this again, because it’s amazing. These are BEGINNERS.
Rather than learning one style, I offer a completely different stylistic approach every session, so by the end of the class the students have learned a different drawing style for every week. We’ve done straight line measures, site sizing, envelopes, kites, mass shapes, shadows, gestures, contours, volume, cross-hatching, and more. They even did a stylistic approach that a student named “Chocolate Bar Drawings” because they used the side of brown conte to make volume, and everyone’s drawing looked like it was made with a bar of chocolate. Recently I’ve started collecting photographs of this work, so that I can share it with you.
Remember, at the beginning of every class, the concept is new. The students have never done this before. The first drawings are usually pretty awkward, but midway through each class, they’re making high quality work. These do NOT look like beginner drawings. They’re gorgeous, I’m thrilled, and I wanted to share.
To start with, here are drawings in which the class combined big shadow shapes with thin contour lines. We were also thinking about implied lines, leaving some areas of the drawing purposefully open and undefined.
Enjoy.
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Felt Artist: Andrea Graham
Needle felting: the art of poking a ball of fluff until it becomes solid, or I get bored and walk away, likely the latter will happen first. The above statement could not be written with more ignorance. Truth is, I’ve never actually done needle felting, but I’m about to, and I tend to get anxious …
SAL Challenge: Tool
[image_with_animation image_url=”9773″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Draw a tool. Focus on negative space: the space around the object, not just the object itself. Artists’ choice to collage, trace, draw, cut, or integrate multimedia. Inspirations by Richard Diebenkorn and Jim Dine. Thank you for sharing your work! I love seeing these artworks online. People who post …
30SAL Faves: Week 3, Part 1
People posted hundreds of drawings for our 30 day January challenge, in which artists are invited to respond to a daily prompt posted on our V. Notes blog. Unlike other drawing challenges, these prompts are wildly varied, open to non-typical materials around us, and are designed to feed a broad spectrum of creative skills at …
SAL Challenge: Water
[image_with_animation image_url=”10246″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Water is notoriously difficult to draw or paint, but there are a few tricks. Instead of making the paint translucent or see-through, consider mixing the colors carefully, and applying the color just as opaquely as you would for a solid object. If you have reflections coming in over still …