Course Description: This course will give students an introduction to the fundamental skills and knowledge of portrait drawing. Students will learn techniques for drawing and seeing which form the foundation of all great works of art and will allow them to view their world both abstractly and objectively. This course will examine great artists of the enlightenment and beyond into the 21st century including: Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, David Hockney and more.
Students will learn the techniques of these artists used to create their works of art and get a brief understanding of how the history of art evolved into present day contemporary art. They will learn how life drawing is an integral piece of that history and how contemporary art continues to contend with the tradition of life drawing and its relationship to conceptual freedom in art.
About the Instructor: Graham (he/him) is a fine artist based in Montreal, QC who specializes in life drawing with his main genre of focus being still-life. He graduated from the Studio Arts program from the University of Guelph in 2013 and since then has continued to pursue his artistic practice creating paintings and drawings from life. “The focus of my art practice is the relentless pursuit of discovering how I perceive the world around me. Each picture I create is a snapshot of a moment during my practice which will one day create a body of work that summarizes my artistic studies. I wish to share with you everything I have learned so far about my endeavour to draw what I see. My hope is that after these 8 weeks, you will draw and perceive the world through a fresh lens. You will remove some of the fog that may have been obstructing your view of light, shape and shadow and perhaps see new connections in your world which you may have missed because you were never truly looking or observing.”
Examples of his work may be viewed at: www.grahamraganart.com
Location: University Centre (in-person) – Room B29
Required Materials: (Shop online or in-store: DeSerres, Michaels, Hachem Art Supplies, Avenue Des Arts, La Cohop Saint-Laurent des Arts, and Dollarama).
- 11 x 17 pad of mixed media paper or larger, (the bigger the better)
- A ballpoint pen, pencil, charcoal sticks (have some may be provided)
- White eraser
- Watercolour paint
- Watercolour brush
- Ruler
Required Knowledge: None