New Drawing Classes in September and October, Plus More Student Work

Attention: past, present, and future adult students! I'm planning for Fall classes and am excited that so many of you wish to continue exploring ways to Draw the Moment! It's also WAY cool that a lot of people are interested in taking our beginners Level 1 class. A special thanks to Gretchen, Linda, and Rhea at the Art Center for helping with scheduling and providing such an awesome facility for our sessions. I look forward to drawing with everyone soon! --Rob



New! Beginners Class (Level 1) at the Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center

Explore drawing for enjoyment, work, and school. Draw the Moment is a fun and informative series of 4 adult workshop/classes for beginners, especially those who think they can't draw! Students are encouraged to express their own styles as they build confidence in spontaneous doodling, sketching ideas, and drawing realistically.

•Wednesdays, September 8, 15, 22, 29, 7:00-9:15 p.m.

To register: Click here

New! Advanced Class (Level 3) at the Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center

By popular request, I'm combining the previous Level 1 and Level 2 groups (Val, Kirsten, Helen, Sharon, Matt, Michele, Penny, Allison) for an advanced Draw the Moment session. We'll further explore techniques and principles including composition, form, and light and shadow.
Here are the schedule options:

• Wednesdays, October 6, 13, 20, 27 7:00-9:15 pm
• Fridays, September 3, 10, 17, 24 7:00-9:15 pm

Wednesdays are probably the preferred evenings to meet, but please let me know what works for you. This session with the Santa Cruz Mountains Sketchers will be a lot of fun! Cost is $100 for members, $125 non-members; $10 material fee

Please let me know asap if you can join us and which schedule works better for everyone: email

Attn: Val, Kirsten, Helen, Sharon
I'm offering 2 special classes to help you prepare for Level 3. We all decided that it would be nice to have a couple of lessons to catch up with the Level 2 group. If you're still interested, here are the evenings available at the Art Center: Wednesday, August 25, 7:00-9:15pm. Wednesday, September 1, 7:00-9:15pm. Cost is $50

Please let me know asap if you can join us: email

Please scroll down (including 'older posts' at bottom of page) to view student work from both Level 1 and Level 2 classes.



Clockwise, starting upper left, drawings by Michele, Val, Matt, Kirsten

Level 1: Week 4: Contour Lines, Form, Roundness

Our study sketches of squash and artichokes from real life was a great way to finish up with our 4-week course. Great to draw with all of you!



Kirsten



This is a great set of study sketches, Kirsten! During our 4-week session I think the strongest aspect of your work has been your willingness to draw on top of mistakes while mapping out construction lines and contour lines. You started these sketches with confident, curved strokes; then added layers of tones and textures showing the roundness of the squash. The contours of the area where the stem attaches are very well drawn. And the contour shading is a nice touch.

Helen



Helen, you've made steady progress during our weeks of drawing together!!! From basic lessons with lines and shapes, to sketching realistic form and contours, you've continued to build confidence in your line work. Your observational skills skyrocketed with the study sketches of the squash and artichoke! The natural looking contour edges and textures show solid skills in depicting realistic, accurate form.

Val



Your observational skills have steadily improved with each new drawing that you made during our classes. I really enjoyed seeing your confident line work emerge in the Van Gogh drawing, followed by the contour sketches of the squash and artichoke. Your final study sketch of the squash was a big step in showing curved surface planes and realistic 3-dimensional space, especially where the stem attaches. Val, your knowledge of the visual arts has been a wonderful addition to this group; hope you'll join us for the new Level 3 session. :-)

Levels 1 & 2: Sketching From Van Gogh and Degas; Learning About Proportions, Realism

The past four weeks has been filled with excitement as students have been learning to Draw the Moment. Everyone continued to advance their observational skills, sketching techniques, and experimentation with materials.

Level 1 students studied 1 and 2-point perspective, composition, and sketching like Van Gogh.

Level 2 students learned to measure proportions of the face and study the contours of organic forms. (Scroll down, below Level 1 student work to view Level 2 drawings.)

Attention everyone: Classes for Level 2 are finished and this Wednesday will be the last class for Level 1. I'm hoping to combine both groups into one 4-week session and start a new group of beginners in the near future. I'll be in touch with everyone regarding scheduling.

Awesome to draw with all of you! --Rob



Above: Skull by Penny; Profile of Young Woman by Michele; Portrait of a Girl (After Degas) by Matt; Flower Study by Michele (Scroll down for more Level 2 drawings.)

"If nature had a fixed model for the proportions of the face, everyone would look alike and it would be impossible to tell them apart; but she has varied the pattern in such a way that although there is an all but universal standard as to size, one clearly distinguishes one face from another." --Leonardo da Vinci

If you haven't seen it yet: New music video featuring SCMAC students! See it: Click here

Level 1: Week 3: Sketching Like Van Gogh and Perspective

An amazing night of progress, to say the least! We started with a warm-up exercise in 1-point and 2-point perspective--without using rulers! Then everyone loosened their line work, got sketchy and rose to the challenge of the Van Gogh composition. It was awesome to see the shift from tentative pencil lines to full-throttle exploration of bold, expressive strokes! Confidence levels rose dramatically as the 2D surface of the paper was transformed into the illusion of spacial depth.

We'll continue exploring the world of 3D by drawing from real objects next Wednesday night. See you then! --Rob

Val


Alright, Val!! You've done an excellent job of putting 1-point perspective to work in your Van Gogh composition. The angles of the walls and the road converge toward the building in the distance. By showing lighter buildings and the hill on the horizon and darker pencil strokes in the foreground you've successfully shown depth of space. Great use of energetic lines suggesting the form of the large tree and garden area. Really like the shadow of the grass standing against the wall in the foreground. Nice work on the 1 and 2-point perspective sketches. Check the angle of the guidelines for the floating box in the 2-point lesson. Do all they all angle correctly to the vanishing points?



Kirsten


Your Van Gogh sketch does a wonderful job of depicting the illusion of depth of space, Kirsten! Nice work in pulling together the 1-point perspective used to show the angles of the walls and grassy area of the road. What works really well is spacial depth shown by overlapping buildings and trees, especially to the right side of the composition. Also, the delicate balance between darker line strokes in the foreground and lighter strokes toward the horizon effectively suggests spacial depth. The layering of angled and vertical lines on the wall in the garden area and cast shadow on the ground add a nice 3-dimensional point of interest. Cool 1-point and 2-point perspective studies!



Helen


Your inner artist was unleashed in these sketches, Helen!! The 1-point and 2-point perspective studies gave you the understanding needed to launch into a couple of fantastic compositions. The lighter and darker strokes in your Van Gogh are very successful in depicting spacial depth as well as various textures. The illusion of depth is especially effective where you used lighter strokes for the building behind the large tree and the hill in the background. The layering and cross-hatched strokes in the garden area bring it to the foreground, creating depth and interest. And your sketch investigating the atmospheric perspective of the mountains is awesome! We really get a sense of spacial depth with the delicate shading of the lightest mountains in the distance. Check the floating box in the 2-point perspective drawing. Are the guidelines angled correctly to the vanishing points?

Level 2: Week 4: Faces, Sketching From Life

For four weeks I kept throwing challenges at this group and all of you kept stepping up to deliver extraordinary work! Upon Penny's suggestion, I brought in a variety of plants and flowers for doing study sketches of contours from real life. Everyone thought that drawing faces would be a good direction, so for our final lesson we studied the proportions of the skull and facial features, all with great success.

It was truly a wonderful experience working for eight weeks with this group. I look forward to continuing our wildly sketchy adventures in the future! --Rob

Matt


You really put your ability for drawing accurate proportions to the test with this set of sketches, Matt. The results are superb!! In your sketch of the Degas girl, you show the realistic form of her face by sketching bold and delicate tonal values. Great work in lifting out highlights with the kneaded eraser, especially the reflective light under the nose. I'm liking your exploration of sketching the texture of skin and structure of facial features. Your studies of the skull are executed with a confident sketching hand and sharp eye for proportion. Nice shift to tighter line work in the contours and textures of the young woman's profile! Check the reference picture of the girl's profile. Is the proportion of the back of the head correct?



Your ability to draw accurate, realistic contours from nature really shows in your study sketches of the flowers! Your distinctive sketching style has really started to emerge in your work, especially when you add spontaneous elements from your imagination. Keep experimenting in your sketchbook.




Michele


The past two lessons have had a BIG impact on your work, Michele! Your observational skills jumped up several notches in your drawing of the young woman's profile!! Doing a quick study of the skull profile helped you in drawing accurate proportions and to position her facial features correctly. The realistic contours of the eye and ear are very well drawn! REAL nice how you loosened up your line work for the sketchy front view of the skull, especially where you drew correct measurements on top of mistakes--without erasing! :-) The contour lines in your studies of the flowers are exquisite. Definitely continue with exploring drawing from nature and taking your studies into larger, stylized compositions. (The primed canvases await you!)




Penny


These drawings show major progress in drawing accurately from observation, Penny!!! In your skull studies, by sketching correct proportional measurements on top of mistakes, we're seeing your observational/thinking process right on the paper--really cool! This helped you to set up correct and realistic proportions on the faces of the man and young woman. The contour edges and positioning of the woman's features are particularly well drawn; the measurements are right on. In watching you sketch the flowers from real life, I noticed how you shifted from drawing what you thought they should look like to seeing the actual contours and organic forms. These were major steps in adding more realism to your artwork. Keep it going by sketching from nature.