*ONLINE LESSONS ARE ON HOLD UNTIL NOVEMBER

(Please Scroll down the page for more info about the lesson and the materials you will need)

*Unless booking on the day of the lesson, you will receive the zoom link and the portrait we’ll be drawing on the day before the lesson (PLEASE CHECK JUNK MAIL IF YOU DON’T RECEIVE THE EMAIL)

Online Portrait Drawing Lessons - Wednesdays, 6.30-7.30pm, £5

• All are welcome, from beginners to the more advanced!

• Learn the process of starting and beginning to develop a convincing portrait drawing

• Discover how to achieve a solid structure and accurate proportions when drawing the human head

• Train your eyes to see tonal values more clearly and give your portraits the illusion of 3 dimensions

You don't need to finish the portrait in the hour (I usually spend much longer!) but you can make a very good start, and continue to develop the drawing in your own time if you wish. The session is really an exercise, a chance to learn, to make mistakes, ask as many questions as you like and develop your skills without feeling like you have to make a masterpiece. (more info on lesson at bottom of page)

MINIMUM MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED:

Charcoal, Rubber (putty is best), Paper (A4-A3), Drawing Board or something rigid to rest paper on

or

Pencils (range of grades if you have), Sharpener, Rubber (Putty is best), Paper (A4 - A3), Drawing Board or something rigid to rest paper on

*As long as you have the minimum materials, or something else that makes a mark and you can actually draw with, you can join in!

For these sessions I will generally be using willow charcoal and a putty rubber on newsprint paper. My paper will be taped to a drawing board with masking tape, and the drawing board will be resting on an easel. I will have the image of the portrait printed out and taped next to my paper. This is the ideal setup for these sessions, although if you don’t have an easel you can rest your paper/board on the edge of a table or however you’re comfortable. If you don’t have a printer you can simply display the portrait on your computer screen (scroll down for lesson setup).

Charcoal is preferable as it allows you to work into the tones much faster and it's quicker to correct. Putty rubbers are ideal as can be moulded into points, as well as flat and round edges, and are every bit as much a drawing tool as the charcoal. Newsprint paper is great for practice because it’s very cheap. It’s not recommended for anything other than practice, so if you’re wanting to keep your drawings don’t use this.

Recommended Paper - Textured paper works well for charcoal as it holds it better (canson mi-tientes is good), and a smooth cartridge paper works well for graphite pencils as it will allow for more detail. Ideally you will tape your paper to a drawing board with masking tape, however if you don’t own a drawing board/masking tape, work with what you’ve got!

RECOMMENDED MATERIALS FOR DEVELOPING YOUR DRAWINGS FURTHER:

Willow Charcoal (medium), White Chalk or Pastel Pencil, Putty Rubber, Blending Stump, Scalpel blade and Sand Paper for sharpening, Toned and Textured Paper (any neutral colour), Masking Tape, Drawing Board

If you are unsure about materials feel free to email me any questions you may have.

LESSON SETUP:

I will be using Zoom for these sessions, so once you have booked a place and received your confirmation email, I will then send you an email with a link to the lesson (please allow a little extra time for this email, and check your junk mail if you don’t receive it). Unless you are booking on the day of the lesson, you will receive the link and portrait on the day before the lesson. All you will need to do is click the link when it's the date/time for the lesson to begin (6.30pm Wednesday) and you will be prompted to either “Open Zoom Meetings” or if you haven’t used Zoom before “download & run Zoom”.

In seconds you will be directed to the lesson! (Check image below)

You don't need to have a Zoom account.

You will however need a laptop/desktop computer (preferably with a webcam and mic).

Attached to the email there will be the image of the portrait we'll be drawing. You can either print this out and attach it to a drawing board next to your paper, or simply download it onto your computer and draw it from your laptop screen.

If drawing from your computer screen, you'll just need to split the screen (as seen above) so you can see both the portrait and the Zoom session. I will have one screen on my drawing board showing you everything I'm doing and talking through the process, and another screen for my face so I can also talk directly to you.

You are welcome to talk, ask questions and show your work through your webcam if you'd like extra help, although if you prefer to have your webcam off and just listen, that's fine too. There is also a chat window if you prefer to type your questions.

Lesson Details:

In these lessons we will go through the process of starting a portrait drawing and beginning to develop it. Firstly we'll block in the larger shapes and angles of the head to give ourselves a decent foundation to build onto. To do this we need to ignore details and keep our marks loose and flexible so that we can continually adjust them with better accuracy. The more details we add early on, the more reluctant we are at remodelling the shapes as we become more invested in them.

Drawing portraits is hard, but very rewarding and full of surprises and little revelations. Always remember, the marks you make don't have to be the ones that stay! Make marks, shift them, remove them, then add more marks, while constantly looking back and forth at your subject, gradually seeing more!