Sydney Community College

Drawing for Beginners

Develop drawing skills and explore your own expressive ideas as you learn about composition, line, tone, perspective, texture and proportion with a variety of subject matter.

If you want to learn about drawing in Sydney, then this course is for you. Includes two sessions of life drawing.

Agenda

During this course the intention is that the following topics will be covered, but not necessarily in the order given. Due to the variable nature of Adult Education classes, parts of the curriculum may be adapted to suit the needs of the class.

• Introduction to handling and use of materials, techniques
• Develop hand eye co-ordination
• Insights into how artists see and interpret their surroundings
• Understand composition and picture making
• Understand form and structure in order to simplify what you see and then build on this
• Use perspective, tone and shading to create depth focusing on still life objects
• Create harmony and contrast in your pictures
• How to draw trees and water and from this create a landscape
• How to draw portraits and the human figure
• Two sessions of life drawing (subject to model availability)

There will be exercises, demonstrations and discussions throughout the course aided by handouts and art books to illustrate techniques and concepts. Students will also receive individual attention as much as possible.

Objectives

The intended Learning Outcomes for this course are as follows.

By the end of the course the student will have:

• An understanding of the fundamentals of drawing
• Knowledge of materials and techniques
• An understanding of composition and picture making
• Covered a wide range of subjects including still life, landscape and the human figure
• Insights into how artists see and interpret their surroundings
• Experienced the fundamentals of Life Drawing

Other Information

Students please bring:

• A3 Cartridge drawing pad, around 110gsm paper (get one with a stiff backing)
• 4B or 6B graphite stick (the ones that look like ordinary pencils, not the thick, stubby ones or the water soluble ones)
• Eraser (normal, not putty eraser)
• Pencil sharpener (normal, not the ones with a container)

For the class at Cleveland St English High, with Melissa Becker, please bring the following:

• 2B, 4B, 6B pencils (a quality brand is recommended)
• Several sticks of willow charcoal (medium thickness preferred but thin is also OK – these are irregular in shape as they come from burnt twigs)
• 1 stick of medium soft compressed charcoal (these are cylindrical or flat sided)
• 2 sticks of conte crayon – one white and the other reddish brown (these are short flat-sided and chalky and are always called by the name ‘conte’)
• A Japanese bamboo pen OR a dripping pen with a post office nib (i.e. a straight detachable nib that is not flat across the top like a calligraphy nib). The bamboo pen is thicker and the ink runs out more gradually. The dipping pen is finer and more precise. DO NOT GET A MAPPING PEN – small with a very fine nib.
• A small bottle of India or Chinese black ink. DO NOT GET BLUE, RED or GREEN. Sepia is OK.
• A plastic rubber
• Optional – a kneaded rubber (for charcoal)

Please wear closed in shoes.

PLS NOTE: All classes need a minimum number of students to go ahead. If your course does not have enough students it will be cancelled and you will be informed. ***Please be aware that you may be informed of a cancellation &/or change via SMS or E-mail.