Life Drawing Thursday Afternoon

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.

In this course, we will not only work with drawings, meaning to use line as our main form of expression, but we will also use colour techniques. We will alternate between blocks of working with painterly approaches and blocks of focussing on working with line-making techniques.

When drawing, we will work on sketching, continuous line drawing and exploring line-based representational techniques like hatching. Such drawing is also aimed at working towards our painting sessions. In our painting sessions we will work with acrylic paints or, if the learners wish, with oil paints. For painting, model's poses will change less frequently and last longer. We will explore how to paint the whole canvas, figure and background, by building the image gradually, using a range of ways how to layer colours and create textured paint surfaces. Depending on the learners' interests, this could even lead us a little away from precise representation of the figure but instead work more freely with paints, surface and the observed scene and let the image become a bit more abstract.

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.

Work in the painting sessions will require acrylic paints, brushes, a water container and canvas or acrylic painting paper. What to bring exactly will be discussed in the first session.

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.