Introduction to Drawing Fundamentals | Line, Tone, Figure and More

Drawing is the foundation of any visual art. Before one becomes a painter, designer, etc, having basic drawing skills is a huge asset. Having a fundamental understanding of composition, lighting and tone will benefit any visual artist, including a photographer. 

I've designed simple drawing exercises to help students drop old habits like drawing something without actually looking at it first. This course invites students to see things in a new way - the way a classically trained artist would. These exercises are explored at a manageable pace in a supportive, interactive environment.

*For students repeating this course, new drawing samples/exercises will sometimes be provided. Alternately, student can repeat exercise but using a different medium/method to challenge themselves.

Leave colours in the drawer - we'll be using line and tone for this class.

LINE, TONE, FIGURE and LINEAR PERSPECTIVE are the four main "chapters" in this class.
 
There are also single lessons dedicated to one theme such as PATTERN, TEXTURE, DEPTH and more.

Learn art terms like contrapposto, and chiaroscuro (and impress your family)! But more importantly, you’ll know what they are, how to demonstrate it in a drawing and discover they’re easier to actually “do” than to spell. See how using them improves your range of drawing skills.

Besides art terminology, we’ll also examine basic traditional art materials, tools and how to use them. 

Better outcomes if your student can have the list of supplies. Some materials can often be substituted if you don't have easy access to art supplies. A list of required ones and some possible substitutes are listed below. 

*If your learner wants to substitute some or all of the traditional art supplies with Procreate, I welcome that. Learner must be familiar/proficient enough with it, as I do not teach how to use Procreate.

FIGURE "chapter"concludes week of July 20. Class will resume after a two week break; beginning with Linear perspective (Aug 10). Your student can drop in on whatever topics they want or stay the duration.

 1 LINE: Intro to Types of line: Calligraphic line 
 2 LINE: Mechanical and Expressive line
 3 LINE: Contour and Cross contour 
 4 LINE: Hatch and Crosshatch
 5 LINE: Topographical line and pointillism
6 TONE: Classical lighting / sphere and cube
 7 TONE: Man-made objects (chess piece, cup, vase, etc)
 8 TONE: Organic forms (plants, fruit, flowers, vegetables, etc)
 9 TONE: Human head/face **Printout needed
10 Depth
11 Texture
12 Pattern
13 Negative & Positive space
14 Proportions: How to measure still life in units
15 FIGURE: Gesture/week of April 13
16 FIGURE: Contrapposto/ week of April 20
17 FIGURE: Proportions of the Figure / How to measure/week of April 27
18 FIGURE: Three main body masses/week of May 4
19 FIGURE: Complex poses & foreshortening of figure/week of May 11
20 FIGURE: Eyes/week of May 18
21 FIGURE: Nose/week of May 25
22 FIGURE: Lips: smiling mouth/week of June 1 
23: FIGURE: Ears/week of June 8
24: FIGURE: Proportions of the Face/week of June 15
25 FIGURE: Hair/week of June 22
26 FIGURE: Hands/week of June 29
27 FIGURE: Feet/week of July 6
28 FIGURE: Draw Someone famous/week of July 13
29 FIGURE: Draw a self portrait/week of July 20

30: LINEAR PERSPECTIVE: 1 point /week of Aug 10
31: LINEAR PERSPECTIVE: 2 point /week of Aug 17
32 LINEAR PERSPECTIVE: Combining 1 and 2 point-room interior/week of Aug 24
33: LINEAR PERSPECTIVE: 3 point *Printout needed/week of Aug 31
34: LINEAR PERSPECTIVE: Diminishing scale-railroad track/week of Sept 7
35: LINEAR PERSPECTIVE: Create a simple grid; design a scene/week of Sept 14
36: LINEAR PERSPECTIVE: Create a simple grid continued/week of Sept 21
37: Draw rounded 3D Shapes: Cylinders and cones/week of Sept 28
38: Draw planar 3D Shapes: Pyramid and dodecahedron/week of Oct 5
39: Draw a household environment: sofa, area rug to look 3D/week of Oct 12
40:Draw small table, lamp and window to look 3D/week of Oct 19
41: Find Heights in a simple room-add figure and 1 piece of furniture/week of Oct 26
42: COMPOSITION: Still life *Printout needed/week of Nov 2
43: COMPOSITION: Continued (figures)/week of Nov 9
44: DRAPERY: Draped fabric; good for fantasy art: capes, veils, etc/week of Nov 16
45:DRAPERY: Clothing (current day clothing & details like zippers, etc/week of Nov 23
46: DRAPERY: Footwear (spanning various styles and time periods)/week of Nov 30
47: Outdoor environment: Rocks, mountains, caves/week of Dec 7
48: Outdoor environment: Trees, shrubs,clouds, smoke/week of Dec 14


*Please refrain from eating or drinking during class. This keeps art supplies from co-mingling with food, is less messy and is common practise for an art studio - Thank you ;)