Life Drawing Monday Evening

Life drawing is one of the most fascinating things to do in art and design. It is a superb way of starting your drawing journey if you have never been there before, and it is a never-ending theme for more advanced artists at all levels.

In everyday life, we are tuned into observing and interpreting the bodies and movements of our fellow humans. This makes us experts in knowing about the theme of this course!  As we 'own' and use our own physical bodies, we bring a lot of observational and embodied experience to drawing the model.  As the nude comes without visual distractions on its surface like buttonholes, textile patterns, shoelaces, and shape-changing garment silhouettes, drawing is all about observing the shape and how it transforms in its various poses. A beautifully simple and elegant concept.

We will try out the many different ways of using drawing (working with line) as an expressive tool to document our individual observations. We will work with pencils, ink, charcoal, and combine line work with some colour.

We will do quite a bit of sketching: Drawing simplified shapes for what we observe, correcting our drawing's previous steps and adding further detail as we go along. We will also explore to work with line as a continuous, organic flow of movement as a way of documenting our vision's observational journey along the shapes of the model.

Sabine will support each learner individually in as much or as little as they wish and she gives plenty of demonstrations of a selection of drawing processes.

Beginners to life drawing are very welcome.  Learners are encouraged to engage with each other about their unfolding drawing journeys and there are opportunities in each block to walk around and see and talk about others' work.

Learners should bring one or two B4 or softer pencils and a sharpener and a colour medium of their choice – e.g. watercolours (watercolour paper is only needed if you want to go for the full watercolour-layering technique) or acrylic paints. Just a few colours will do. E.g. red, yellow, blue, white (in the case of acrylics) and black. Bring inexpensive tape to paste papers down onto the board.

Inexpensive A2 size cartridge paper can be purchased in class (A2 cartridge paper, 130 g, 18p/sheet). Learners will draw on tables and drawing boards/trestles. The Guild does not supply easels. But learners are also welcome to bring their own materials and papers. The course includes model costs and models change on a weekly basis.

The course is suited for beginners and experts alike.

Please note that Sabine also teaches half-day and full-day life-drawing events in the Guild. These are one-of sessions and happen on Saturdays. You find information and booking for them under the Guild’s EVENTS section of the website.

Sabine Kussmaul is a visual artist and fashion designer who has many years of experience in teaching drawing. She holds a PGCE(FE) and a Masters Degree in Fine Art and is now researching drawing and installation at the University of Chester.