[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.
Today instead of “See and Respond” your challenge is to “Hear and Respond.” Check out this series by Jason Moran for inspiration. Jason Moran Pianist and jazz composer, Jason Moran is interested in the cultural and political history of African American music. You can listen to a 7 minute piano piece here. Recently, his musical …
Sketches in Charcoal Continued from Yesterday…. William Scott William Scott (1913 – 1989) British artist, known for still-life and abstract painting. He is the most internationally celebrated of 20th-century Ulster painters. (wikipedia) From Yesterday: Inspired by my recent trip to see the Diebenkorn/Matisse exhibit, I chose these drawings specifically to share how vine charcoal can be …
[image_with_animation image_url=”10600″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (c. 1484-86). Tempera on canvas, 67.9 in × 109.6 in We’ve all seen Botticelli’s Birth of Venus until we could just about throw up. But have you ever noticed the feet? I hadn’t noticed them until recently, now that I’m preparing to teach …
In art school, our art history course included a section on German Expressionism, featuring some paintings by Ludwig Kirchner. They looked something like this: Ludwig Kirchner, “Street, Berlin” (1913) I remember not liking them at the time. Expressionism? Everyone’s squeezed in like bristling sardines! The darkness behind the colors, the acidic contrasts, the dampening black, …
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.
Related Posts
30SAL Challenge: Listen and Respond
Today instead of “See and Respond” your challenge is to “Hear and Respond.” Check out this series by Jason Moran for inspiration. Jason Moran Pianist and jazz composer, Jason Moran is interested in the cultural and political history of African American music. You can listen to a 7 minute piano piece here. Recently, his musical …
William Scott’s Sketches
Sketches in Charcoal Continued from Yesterday…. William Scott William Scott (1913 – 1989) British artist, known for still-life and abstract painting. He is the most internationally celebrated of 20th-century Ulster painters. (wikipedia) From Yesterday: Inspired by my recent trip to see the Diebenkorn/Matisse exhibit, I chose these drawings specifically to share how vine charcoal can be …
Botticelli’s Squidgy Feet
[image_with_animation image_url=”10600″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (c. 1484-86). Tempera on canvas, 67.9 in × 109.6 in We’ve all seen Botticelli’s Birth of Venus until we could just about throw up. But have you ever noticed the feet? I hadn’t noticed them until recently, now that I’m preparing to teach …
Unexpected Happiness in Landscapes by Kirchner
In art school, our art history course included a section on German Expressionism, featuring some paintings by Ludwig Kirchner. They looked something like this: Ludwig Kirchner, “Street, Berlin” (1913) I remember not liking them at the time. Expressionism? Everyone’s squeezed in like bristling sardines! The darkness behind the colors, the acidic contrasts, the dampening black, …