Visual Arts Workshop
Basic Drawing
with Ben Rosenberg
Series January-March | Beginning January 11
Ten sessions | Wednesdays 1:00pm-4:00pm
Tuition $360
Hoffman Center for the Arts | 594 Laneda Avenue | Manzanita
Basic Drawing with Ben Rosenberg
Ben Rosenberg
“There is no way to make a drawing – there is only drawing” Richard Serra
Drawing centers on creative problem solving, developing perceptual awareness and understanding, and establishing critical skills and artistic vision. Students use a broad range of materials, techniques, and projects to explore drawing and design concepts with reference to historical and contemporary perspectives.
We will concentrate on the development of fundamental drawing skills, which includes learning how to see and articulate a vision of the world around us.
This class is a place to engage your interests and begin to explore your personal vision; become excited about your ideas and willing to take them further! This is your time to soak up everything you can, so take risks! Absolutely no experience is necessary. Beginners are welcome.
Examples of student work
Class syllabus:
Week 1
Introduction, syllabus, and course content. Drawing is Seeing. Learning to draw is about learning to look. Focusing on measurement and line.
Week 2
Drawing from an image upside down. Contour and proportion; perspective, angles, plumb lines. Birds eye view of one object; rotated views; views larger than actual size. Drawing Picasso upside down.
Week 3
Paying attention to negative space to understand the positive. Learning about line through contour drawing of shapes and spaces. Focus on line, space, and value; Negative/Positive drawing.
Week 4
Perspective issues. Angles and space. Learning about line through contour drawing of shapes and spaces. Structure—plane, volume,
and perspective.
Week 5
Focus on line and hatching for value space and tone—drawing texture. Cross hatching, hatching, scumbling, stipple, contour curve hatching.
Week 6
White objects, strong light, rendering values. Drawing light-dark, dark-light. Using the tortillon, eraser, and blending tools. Light and dark interior—tone and value in shading.
Week 7
Drawing from the portrait. Self-portraiture. Drawing expressive eyes, nose, and mouth.
Week 8
Drawing from the clothed figure. Learning about the figure and proportions.
Week 9
Introduction to multimedia. Working with collage materials in a small format and blowing up proportions to a larger scale. Expressive line and mark making. How formal decisions (mark making, value, composition, etc.) make meaning. Creating the composition in a collage.
Week 10
Collage assignment wrap up. Final class.
Materials (to be provided by student):
Mars soft white vinyl eraser or equivalent
Kneaded eraser
Higgins waterproof black ink 1oz. or equivalent
Small brushes (e.g., round #6)
Sharpie fine black
B pencils (e.g., 2B, 4B, 6B; The higher the B number, the softer and darker the lead).
Charcoal sticks or similar
Blending stumps (tightly wound paper for blending pencil-shading)
Pencil sharpener
Glue stick
Drawing paper – sketch pad of at least 9 x 12 inches (white; 60 lb weight minimum). If you can obtain an 18 x 24 inch pad, this will be beneficial in many of the drawing exercises. Spiral bound is helpful for turning pages.
Optional items:
Exacto knife or scissors for doing collage
Acrylic water-based ink/paint – black, earth tones.
Sketch and wash pencil
Conte crayon black
H pencils (e.g., 2H, 4H); H pencils are lighter and the higher the number H the harder and lighter the lead.
Art Supply Stores:
Fred Meyer (Warrenton, Tillamook)-Arts & Crafts section
Astoria Art Supply (Astoria; 303 Marine Drive) (formerly Dot & Doodles)
Always tell art supply stores you are a student taking a class; they will often give you a discount.
Websites:
Dick Blick
Columbia Art Supply
I’ve Been Framed Art Supplies
Artist and Craftsman Supply
