Introduction to Drawing:
Drawing is one of the oldest art forms known to our world, with the oldest drawings dating back 73,000 years.
When you draw you are studying something very intently with the goal of recording it as a sketch or drawing usually.
You learn a great deal about a subject when you draw it because you are forced to concentrate as if you are seeing it for the very first time....always think this and it will help you.
In our classes we will be doing many things pertaining to drawing, including looking at historically important examples by masters.
This is an Exploration, Experimentation, Expression class where the lines you use, the textures you choose and the medium employed will all speak to the characteristics of the subject, whether it be still life, landscape, portrait or other.
Things we will be starting with will be discussing composition and looking at successful and unsuccessful examples. If you look at an art work and have no idea what the artist wants you to look at, it's likely due to poor composition. It is a powerful skill!
We will be also looking at the following:
1) Drawing tools and what they do...each has its own range of possibilities and characteristics.
2) Line weights, types of line, direction of lines, rapidity of lines to express.
3) Shape, form, texture, shadow, cast shadow
4) Applying tone with each medium...What do you want to say about the subject?
5) Setting up a still life and rendering it with soft pencil.
6) Positive and Negative aspects in art...both extremely important to the success.
7) Drawing the human hand with line only, then with tone added.
8) Drawing a portrait with line only, then with tone added.
9) Creating an ink drawing using hatching, and cross hatching.
10) Creating an ink drawing of a still life with dots of ink...felt tipped pen.
11) Creating a linear ink drawing of a still life, and applying pencil crayon.
12) Incorporating abstraction into a still life...overlapping edges.
13) Creating a black and white design based on plant shapes using ink or acrylic.
14) Creating a landscape sketch in pencil, marker, and wash.
15) Creating an illustration for a children's story.
16) Incorporating collage into your drawing.
These projects and the spin offs they can offer will greatly affect your ability to draw, how you draw, what you draw, and cause you to appreciate the skills artists have applied for centuries.