Drawing Fundamentals for Beginners

Do you want to learn practical drawing techniques and encourage your creativity to emerge in a supportive studio environment? Discover how to see and draw with proportion and perspective, and how to work from small studies to larger, sustained drawings. Learn about the importance of line, tone, composition and mark-making and explore the mediums of graphite, charcoal and ink.

Rachel Fairfax sets projects and gives you the opportunity to draw still life scenes and to work from the life model. Through demonstrations, group exercises and one-to-one tuition, she guides you in developing your own way of seeing and drawing.

*NAS Short Courses are open to students of ages 16 years and over. The NAS Art Club is open to students from ages 15 years and over.

*Drawing and painting short courses may be held in upstairs studios. If access to stairs is not suitable, please contact NAS Short Courses Administration at short.courses@nas.edu.au

Rachel Fairfax is a figurative artist, working in mediums of painting, drawing and ceramics; her practice involves making paintings in acrylic and oil paint, starting from a plein-air drawing base.  Rachel holds Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) from the National Art School, East Sydney (1998-2002) and has lectured in drawing and painting at NAS since 2002.  She received the Reg Richardson Fellowships and her paintings and drawings are regularly selected for national art prizes and was named as one of Australia’s leading artists by the Sydney Morning Herald. She has undertaken artists’ residencies at Hill End, Taronga Zoo, Bundanon and
PLC Croydon and participated in over 80 group exhibitions since 2000. Rachel exhibits regularly and is represented by Stella Downer Fine Art in Sydney and Harvison Gallery in Perth.  Her works are held in numerous private and public collections including Artbank, Bathurst Regional Gallery, Defiance Gallery and St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. 

Students must supply their own art materials, please refer to the list below.

• A4 sketchbook
• Set of graphite pencils from 2B to 8B
• Charcoal pencil
• Pencil sharpener or Stanley knife
• Pencil eraser
• 2 bulldog clips
• Willow charcoal
• Compressed charcoal
• Fixative spray
• 1 pad of A2 cartridge paper

Other materials (not required for first class)

• 1 sheet of grey Canson paper
• 2 sheets of brown Craft paper (around 280gsm)
• 1 white pastel pencil or white charcoal pencil

Enclosed shoes are essential