EXPLORATIONS INTO CONTEMPORARY DRAWING
adults, all skill levels
9 week term, 2.5 hour class, Thursdays 6.30-9.00 pm
Term 1 starts 4th February
Each week a series of exercises to start the lesson. Students then proceed on their own project based on skills developed during the exercises.
Each week will comprise a combination of some or all of the following, according to student needs: discussion, practical exercises (where required), demonstrations, work on personal projects, tutor feedback, group critique, resources – podcasts, videos, printed handouts.
Course description
This experimental drawing course will stretch your creative thinking and assist the development of your work into new areas. Examining the work of other artists and their processes while focusing on composition, mark making, observation and tone, we’ll use creative exercises to unlock ideas to use on personal projects.
By term’s end you’ll have made a small body of unique artworks, and have a head full of new techniques and processes. You will also have a journal filled with ideas, notes and experiments that will provide an amazing resource for your future projects.
Relevant videos and podcasts will be played and discussed during class, and resource sheets will be provided where appropriate.
Course Outline
Weeks 1-3
CLASSICAL OBSERVATIONAL DRAWING: A SPRINGBOARD TO CREATIVITY
Techniques covered include rendering tone, compositional impact and observing proportion.
Artists TBA
Materials and equipment
Dry materials e.g. pencil, charcoal, conte crayon, oil sticks, pastels, biro, felt pen.
Wet materials e.g. watercolour, ink, coffee, tea
Various papers e.g. watercolour paper, cartridge paper, black paper, heavy kraft pa nper, coloured paper (e.g. Canson)
Visual art diary
2 or more large bulldog clips
Weeks 4-6
LOOSENING UP: DRY MEDIA AND WASH
Techniques include line work, wash and collage.
Artists TBA
Materials and equipment As for weeks 1-3 +
Acrylic or gouache paints and appropriate mediums
PVA glue
Paper and textile scraps
Brushes for acrylic or gouache paints, palette, water jar
Canvas boards / wood panel (prepared with gesso if using) / heavy paper e.g. watercolour/mixed media
Weeks 7-9
STITCHING AS DRAWING
Exploring pinholes and stitching as drawing tools.
Materials and equipment
Watercolours and brushes, palette, water jar, a few pearl headed pins, heavy watercolour paper, selection of needles, coloured thread, a piece of plain coloured fabric (cotton or linen) – A3 size or larger, scissors, pencil, white tissue paper sheet
EXPLORATIONS INTO CONTEMPORARY DRAWING - THURSDAYS 6:30pm-9.00pm
Rhonda completed a Master of Fine Arts and Master of Studio Arts at Sydney College of the Arts (University of Sydney) and Bachelor of Fine Arts College of Fine Arts (University of New South Wales), Sydney. She exhibits regularly and has completed numerous artist residencies, most recently in Japan. Her work is held in private and public collections.
Rhonda’s visual arts practice encompasses textiles, painting, drawing and photography. Her work focuses on memory and how it functions within the cultural spaces of textile, object and place, and is particularly interested in history, emotion and imperfection.
I am drawn to working with textiles for many reasons: their intimate relationship with the body, their close association with memory, and their visual beauty and tactile appeal. For me, textiles are a natural, but not exclusive, medium of expression for my concerns. The invisible narratives within cloth speak of hidden histories, making, industry and identification. The DNA carried on cloth can no doubt reveal many stories.