Beginning Drawing 2: Tools for Accuracy SATURDAY AFTERNOON 4 weeks begins 7.12

• Teacher: Ruthie V.
• Course Length: 4 sessions
• Class Days: Saturdays, beginning July 12
• Time: 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm

Evolving Accuracy: Drawing Methods for Keen Observation

Course Description:
This course explores drawing methods that enhance accuracy through a meditative and process-oriented approach. Using classically informed methods—including proportional dividers, sticks, plumb lines, envelopes, angles, negative space, freeform grids—students will develop patience, keen observation, and a non-judgmental relationship with their drawings. The emphasis is on process rather than perfection, allowing accuracy to evolve naturally through thoughtful mark-making and refinement.

Inspired by Jenny Saville, Antonio López García, Euan Uglow, Giorgio Morandi, Anne Gale, Peri Schwartz, and the contemporary teachings of Cézanne, students will break form and line, constructing their drawings incrementally. This approach supports both realism and abstraction, making it an excellent primer for figure drawing, exploratory drawing, and beginning painting. Students will also explore drawing styles that emphasize structure, proportion, and the passage of time within a composition.

Students will draw from still lifes, paintings, and sculptures, creating works that range from 20-minute warm-ups to developed sketches. The presence of pentimenti—ghosted revisions and remnants of measuring marks—will be embraced as evidence of process, depth, and the passage of time within the drawing. Whether seeking to refine observational skills or explore drawing as a meditative practice, students will leave with a versatile set of methods applicable to any subject. They will develop a deeper awareness of how they see, fostering an approach that values curiosity over self-criticism. By embracing process over perfection, students will cultivate their own perspectives on realism, abstraction, and the evolving nature of mark-making.

Prerequisite:

Beginning Drawing 1. An openness to slow, attentive looking and problem-solving is encouraged. If you have the patience and curiosity to read the class description above, you will be fine!

Materials List:

• • Paper:
    • 5 sheets Arches 90lb cold press watercolor paper (22×30”)
    • Sketch or drawing paper (18×24”, 11×14”)
  • Drawing Tools:
    • Range of pencils (H-B)
    • Colored Pencils or Felt Tip Pens (at least 5 of any mix of colors)
    • Vine/willow charcoal (4mm-9mm)
    • Plastic eraser
    • Chamois
    • Blade and 220 grit sandpaper for refining pencils & charcoal into smooth points
    • Plastic X-shaped proportional divider ($7-$9, not wood or metal)
    • Long ruler or inexpensive T-square (we have 12″ rulers to share)