During this course, you will work on drawing exercises and a portrait master copy under the guidance of your tutor.

The course is designed to help those of you wishing to learn or improve upon existing drawing skills by introducing key concepts such as values, light and form to build upon this understanding when working on your own projects.

For the first hour of the course, we will start a couple of simple exercises in graphite designed to improve your understanding of drawing fundamentals, as well as material handling. The exercises will help you to simplify value arrangements and create three-dimensional form, which can be completed in your own time.

For the rest of the course, you will be working on a portrait master copy. Starting with a two-dimensional block-in, you will then work through to a fully rendered portrait drawing in either pencil and/or charcoal. Proportion, gesture, the importance of shapes in capturing a likeness, keying the drawing (establishing our darks and lights), form modelling, edges and line quality will be discussed.

You can expect multiple critiques tailored to your individual requirements, and you should come away from the course with a sound overview of classical drawing methods that you can use to approach future work.

Included

On this course the College will supply paper, charcoal and drawing fixative.

What students need to bring

• Graphite drawing pencils - 2B and H; any brand is fine
• Craft knife and sharpening pad
• Putty rubber
• Tombow hard eraser pen
• Small soft brush for moving graphite and charcoal around
• Knitting needle (or something similar for measuring)
• Something to carry work home in (suitable for carrying A2 paper size)

Additional information

Please wear appropriate clothing/aprons for the workshop or studio, this includes stout covered footwear (no sandals or open toes).

Daily Timetable

Course teaching: 11am–5.15pm
Students arrive: 10.30am-11am (coffee optional)  
Morning teaching: 11am-1pm
Lunch break: 1pm-2pm (lunch is not included)
Afternoon teaching: 2pm-5.15pm (15 minute break, 3.30pm–3.45pm)
Teaching finishes: 5.15pm  
 

Short courses are open to anyone aged 18 and over. The course fee covers tuition and materials where stated. You will need to bring all other items listed under the ‘Materials to bring’ section.

Refreshments Coffee and tea are included in the course fee, but you will need to bring lunch with you to eat in the refreshments room. There are also plenty of other local venues to purchase food.

Access If you have any specific access needs, we will need to know about your access requirements in advance. Please tell us about your needs in confidence by emailing: [email protected]

This venue has steps to the front reception, with limited access via a side gate to the ground floor. There is a small lift to higher floors or stairs.

Safety Short course students are required to sign a safety compliance form as part of West Dean Health and Safety regulations.

Refunds and cancellations Please refer to our terms & conditions below

Disclaimer The information given is accurate at the time of publication. However, West Dean College reserves the right to cancel or amend courses if circumstances require.

Terms & Conditions