Advanced Drawing and Composition 2016 week 8

The eighth and final session of the Advanced Drawing and Composition class for Winter 2016 was held on Wednesday, March 2. We finished up our study of composition by sharing our final assignment: ‘Compose a Sketch’, and spent most of the class on a long and thorough critique. The variety of results was a testament to how uniquely we each see the world, with diverse areas of focus and interpretation. We also enjoyed a poetry reading from a surprise visitor who shared with us a very special homage to our teacher! Please read the full post to see the images, hear the audio portion of class, and join us as we wrap up an exciting and challenging session of Advanced Drawing and Composition.

Advanced Drawing and Composition 2016 week 7

The seventh session of the Advanced Drawing and Composition class for Winter 2016 was held on Wednesday, February 24. We critiqued the previous homework, shared the merits and challenges of keeping to a predetermined structure, and how different the results are when choosing between a plane or recessional composition. We discussed the famous painting, The Fighting Temeraire, by J.M.W. Turner, and went through a ‘checklist’ for what choices Turner had to make to create this masterpiece. We finished the class with a conversation on the differences between sketching and drawing, while Dick shared some of his beautiful sketches set in Hawaii and California from the late 1950s. Please enjoy the full post, which includes videos and audio recordings.

Advanced Drawing and Composition 2016 week 5

The fifth session of the Advanced Drawing and Composition class for Winter 2016 was held on Wednesday, February 10. We spent most of the class on a thorough critique of the homework, using worksheets and handouts to guide our thoughts, and discussed the importance of having relationships between all components of a piece. We were made aware of the differences between a value statement vs. a judgment, and Dick talked about why, as an artist, it is so important to identify your theme before beginning your work. We received a new homework assignment, and wrapped up our session with a fun game that conveyed the difficulty in communicating an accurate visual message.

Advanced Drawing and Composition 2016 week 4

The fourth session of the Advanced Drawing and Composition class for Winter 2016 was held on Wednesday, February 3. We shared and critiqued our skull drawings, discussed surface differences in more detail, and refreshed our memory on the ‘six phases of creative problem solving’. We spent a good portion of class discussing our next challenge, COMPOSITION. What is it, and why is it important? Read an excerpt, and listen to the full discussion near the end of the post.

Advanced Drawing and Composition 2016 week 3

The third session of the Advanced Drawing and Composition class for Winter 2016 was held on Wednesday, January 27. We spent time reviewing the corrected or re-drawn images from last week’s assignment, with more questions about light and shadow angles; visualizing the whole shape even when it is invisible from our vantage point; and fine-tuning your rendering technique to achieve the suggestion of form through gray values. Valérie again provided many useful videos covering these topics. The last portion of our class time was spent drawing a cow skull with our new medium, charcoal.

Advanced Drawing and Composition 2016 week 2

The second session of the Advanced Drawing and Composition class for Winter 2016 was held on Wednesday, January 20. We studied shadows in more detail, critiqued the homework, and watched another demonstration on plotting spherical shadows. We discussed the challenges of the paper clip drawings, the idea of a ‘surface scale’ to show the qualities of reflectiveness in an object, and had a brief introduction to a new medium, charcoal.

Advanced Drawing & Composition 2016 week 1

The first session of the Advanced Drawing and Composition class for Winter 2016 was held on Wednesday, January 13. We discussed the relationships between light and shadow, and how to use these relationships to create convincing images. Dick showed us how to plot a cast shadow using perspective, how to gauge the values of light vs. shadow, and talked about the different qualities of H and B pencils. Thanks to Valerie, this week’s summary includes almost 45 minutes of video from the class, and an additional 15 minutes of audio, providing an opportunity to (re-)experience a significant portion of the class.