Foundations of Observational and Expressive Drawing

Do you want to learn to draw in a way that’s responsive to the unique qualities of your subject, but also sensitive to the expressive effect of your drawing’s abstract elements of line, rhythm, shape and tone? Discover how to draw with pencils, chalks and ink from subjects including plaster casts, the life model and the historic National Art School campus.

This course presents the crucial but often overlooked fundamentals of drawing and is intended for beginners as well as anyone who feels that they missed out on these fundamentals in their artistic training. Learn to see and record your subject in a unified way through attention to proportion, alignment, structure, perspective, and light and shade, and increase your awareness of the expressive effects of your drawing’s abstract elements by studying artists’ drawings that are outstanding for their responsive and expressive qualities. You'll draw in pencil, chalks and ink from subjects including plaster casts, still lives, the life model and the historic National Art School campus.

* Please note: The course is not held on Saturday 5 September due to the NAS Open Day. The course will continue the following Saturday. You are welcome to attend the NAS Open Day with friends, family and colleagues.

* NAS Short Courses are open to students of ages 16 years and over. The NAS Art Club is open to students between 15 - 17 years of age.

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

* What to bring? Please refer to the list of required materials in the Art Materials field below. 

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

Materials required for the first class:

• A4 sketchbook (visual diary)
• Progresso (solid woodless graphite) pencils – 2B, 4B
• Pencil sharpener or Stanley knife
• Pencil eraser

Additional materials (to be discussed in first class):

• Cartridge paper A2/A3 size – loose sheets or pad
• 2 bulldog clips
• Black and white conte crayons
• Stick of vine/willow charcoal
• Kneadable eraser
• Grey/brown toned paper
• Selection of fine point pigment ink pens
• Small (A5 or similar) sketchbook with smooth paper for ink drawing

Enclosed footwear is essential in all studios on campus.

Dr David Briggs is a classically trained artist, art educator and researcher who studied at the Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney. He taught life drawing, artistic anatomy, painting and colour courses at Ashton's for 25 years and for National Art School Short Courses continuously since 2011, and he has also taught life drawing programs for trainee animators at Disney's Sydney studio from 2000 to 2006 and for the Animation course at UTS from 2018 to the present.