The Fundamentals of Drawing
with Sophie Newnham
This course is designed to help those wishing to learn or improve their fundamental drawing skills. Knowing how to purposefully observe and translate what we have seen onto the page is a practice that is an essential starting point to any drawing or painting we create. Over the course we will be taking inspiration from the works of a wide range of accomplished artists and learning new methods to aid personal expression of the world around us whilst developing our own styles.
Beginners to Intermediate
Course Dates Spring Term 2025
8, 15, 22, 29 January
5, 12 February
(Half term 19 February)
26 February
5, 12, 19, 26 March
2 April
Course Programme
WEEK 1- The line- shapes, spacing & mark-making continuous line. PICASSO
WEEK 2- Tones and Volume- Blending tones- 5 shades of tone. MORANDI
WEEK 3- Spacing, Subtraction- Negative space and placement of objects WENDY JACOBS
WEEK 4- Measuring and perspective. Adding depth and dimension, VAN GOGH
WEEK 5- Drawing a composition of objects. Foreground vs background, heights and widths
WEEK 6- Bringing our drawings to life. Drawing our hands in different positions 2D/3D ESCHER,
WEEK 7- Reflections vs shadows. Glass of water
WEEK 8- The world around us- Observing and drawing the room (or outside- weather dependent)
WEEK 9- Mirrors and angles, drawing snapshots of ourselves and others.
WEEK 10- Architecture- drawing classical sculpture and architectural details. MICHELANGELO
WEEK 11- Amalgamating skills. Recreating an artwork of your choice. Simplification vs detailing- what to include, what not to include. Where is the focus.
WEEK 12- Amalgamating skills. Fine-tuning and finishing off our drawings.
Undecided? contact us to arrange for an initial taster. If you decide to continue to the end of term, the taster is deducted from the fee for the remaining sessions.
For a taster session, all materials are included. For regular students, we can advise you on obtaining materials at the taster.