Level 1: Weeks 2 & 3: Form, Contours, Perspective, Sketching Like Van Gogh

Lots of focused work has really paid off for this stellar group of sketchers! During the past couple of weeks each student has shown tremendous progress in their skills. Last Wednesday we warmed up with lessons in 1 and 2-point perspective; then we launched into studying composition and the energy of Vincent Van Gogh's pencil strokes. Using a sketch by Van Gogh for reference, Tonya (upper left) and Susan (upper right) pulled together brilliant drawings. It was a great session as everyone learned about depth of space and how to suggest different textures.

The intrepid sketchers took on the challenges of drawing the realistic form of a dragonfly. Students made several study sketches to find positioning and angles of the wings and body. The focus of their final drawing was accurate proportions and contour edges. At left is Adam's wonderful final drawing in progress.

Learning about positive and negative space is one of the most important skills in drawing. It's exciting to watch students map out the rough proportions of the egret. During the process they begin to realize the power of seeing positive and negative space while finding the contour edges of form. One of Susan's study sketches (upper left) shows her effort in measuring the 's' curve in the neck. In her final drawing (upper right), she confidently shows the negative space that forms the neck.

Click 'Read more' below to view everyone's work...

eXpReSsiOn sEsSiOn: Faces and Proportion

Recently, a few of our Level 2 students got together for an evening sketch session. With music playing, everyone got into the Zone to produce fantastic portraits. Kirsten (above, left) maps out guidelines for facial features while working from a sketch by Degas. Helen (above, right) lays down guidelines for the proportions of her daughter's face.

Working from a drawing by the painter Corot and one of my How-to-Draw books, Allison (above, left and right) sketches the facial features of the Girl With a Beret.

While I was out of town some of the Level 2 sketchers (Val, Helen, Kirsten, Allison) got together a few times to prep for our upcoming Level 3 session in October. Below are pages from Kirsten's sketchbook showing careful studies of a skull made during those meetings.

After an intense evening of drawing, Allison finally laid down her pencil and breathed a gratifying sigh of relief... the Girl With a Beret (left) was finished at last! Excellent contour lines and proportions.

View more pics from this very productive eXpReSsiOn sEsSiOn...

Level 1: Week 1: Lines, Shapes, Patterns, Overlapping

It's always exciting to start with a new group of sketchers at the Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center. Welcome to Tonya, Susan, and Adam! Everyone jumped on the fast track in measuring accurate proportions and controlling the pencil. Moving through a series of fast-paced lessons, everyone learned how to hold the pencil on its side, using the whole arm while drawing.

 Drawing guidelines for basic shapes and measuring proportions from fun reference lesson pictures was our focus for the evening. Adam's second sketch of the crab (above, right) shows corrections in the size of the body, claws, and eyes (compared to the reference). Great job improving the angled lines for the legs.

It's important to draw on top of your mistakes. Tonya's drawing of the puffer fish (above, left) shows how she kept her pencil to paper, drawing light guidelines for the overall shape of its body. Excellent job in drawing accurate, darker outlines for the final shapes.

Susan's sketch of the lizard (above, right) shows a keen eye for accuracy and details (notice the corrections to guidelines on the tail). Overall, the body and head are drawn accurately compared to the reference. Her wonderful style of sketching shows the texture of the skin and wood.

 We also got into overlapping shapes to show depth of space. Tonya's frog (above, left) shows how she overlapped the front legs. Notice her corrections to the left side of the face :-) The last part of the evening we switched from observation to imagination. Working on larger paper, everyone combined shapes shapes and patterns from their sketches to create wonderful compositions.


View everyone's sketches and reference pictures...