The High Museum in Atlanta invites participants to explore the dynamic energy of the human figure through an introductory figure drawing class, utilizing charcoal, graphite, and white chalk on toned paper. This course focuses on drawing from museum objects, anatomy props, and live models. Participants will learn to identify essential shapes and gestures, transforming loose sketches into developed drawings that convey form and weight. Additionally, the course includes the practice of merging drawings of live models with studies from the High’s collection to create multi-figure compositions.
- Week 1: Participants will learn to hold the pencil with the forefinger and thumb, emphasizing drawing from the shoulder and elbow to produce large, light, and loose marks. The week will begin with brief poses to capture action lines, followed by the development of loose gesture drawings. The session will also include techniques for measuring height and width in a pose to create angular silhouettes.
- Week 2: The session will start with gesture drawing warm-ups. Participants will then use contour lines to turn angular silhouettes into structured poses. Focus will be on identifying large forms such as the pelvis, ribcage, and skull, while ensuring that the energy of the gesture is retained. Participants will connect joints with straight lines and flesh out the skeleton with outer contours.
- Week 3: Following warm-ups, the class will focus on describing the structure of the head, feet, and hands. Students will examine values—light, medium, and dark tones—in the figure and will learn to articulate each shadow’s shape clearly. The practice will emphasize the relationship between light and shadow.
- Week 4: Participants will visit the museum galleries with sketchbooks, creating studies of figurative paintings. As the model poses throughout the museum, students will draw inspiration from the foreshortening and dramatic lighting present in the artworks.
- Week 5: This session involves combining multiple figures on a single sheet of drawing paper, while varying the scale and positioning of the drawings to form improvised compositions. Attention will be drawn to the shapes that emerge between the figures.
- Week 6: In the final week, participants will integrate lessons learned into a longer-form drawing. Time will be dedicated to gesture and proportional drawings, building shadow and light shapes, and combining figures—along with cropped portions of figures—to craft an emergent composition.
This class is designed for beginners and accommodates all levels of skill and talent. It offers an excellent starting point for those who have not previously taken an art-making class, providing valuable new skills for artistic practice.
Please note that in the event of a session cancellation, November 17 will be reserved as a makeup date.
