Essential Drawing Foundations – Autumn 2021
I wanted to ‘learn to draw’ but that was completely turned on it’s head. Instead I have learnt to see.”
Joanne G
It’s always inspiring to meet a new group of students and guide them to a new way of thinking and approach to drawing. The course is both about reframing students’ attitudes to what drawing can be and teaching them drawing techniques that allows them to capture their ‘critical looking’ on the page. Always a privilege when students entrust this process to me. I was blown away by the transformational journey this group of students went on and seeing the change in their drawings was profound. A pleasure and joy to teach them.
Read further to find out what the students thought of their experience.
Student Comments
“This is a fantastic course if you want to think differently and see differently in order to be creative. The main thing I learnt is around the importance of not looking but seeing and doing this with full attention – mindfully!” My course highlight was “putting all the learning together at the end and seeing the input it had on my approach to drawing. The course has exceeded my expectations and I have learnt more than I would have anticipated.”
Rachel R
“It really got me out of my own head to be able to explore my creativity. The reason I joined the course was to open up my creativity so its been such a good experience.” I have learnt “to not just ‘copy’ what’s in front of me. I usually get fixated with recreating an object ‘perfectly’ on paper. This course has helped me stop doing this.” My course highlight was “all of it! Its been a really good overall experience. Its exceeded my expectations. I thought it would be more technical and although I have learnt some new techniques along the way its been more about opening my mind to what drawing is.”
Kiellie B
“You will be challenged to move outside (way outside) of what you expect and this may be frustrating at times but also empowering, insightful and satisfying! I have learnt to spend most time looking and less time drawing flat outlines… more importantly, though, I have learnt to put perfectionism away and explore instead.” My course highlight was “feeling the different lessons coming together. I wanted to ‘learn to draw’ but that was completely turned on it’s head. Instead I have learnt to see.”
Joanne G
“Challenging and stimulating to think about the creative process in such different ways.” I have learnt “to try and let go of the need to ‘represent’ and to begin somewhere else. I think this will free me up to explore mark-making more fully.” My course highlight was “drawing from the inside and the hanging ivy challenge.” The course ” took an approach that was completely new to me but there was plenty of guidance and support alongside the challenges. Thank you for the stimulation to think about art and drawing differently.”
Eleanor H
“I really enjoyed this course. It taught me new ways of looking at things and thinking about things.” I learnt “different techniques for drawing and an understanding of how to look at things differently.” My course highlight was “contour drawing”. The course has “exceeded my expectations – I felt like I learnt a lot in a short period of time.”
Stacy J
