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Skillshare

Learn to Draw: A Comprehensive Intro to Drawing Foundations & Style

via Skillshare

Overview

Do you want to improve your drawing, but have difficulty staying motivated to practice the basics? We all know how important having strong drawing foundations is. This class teaches fundamental drawing skills using fun and beautiful exercises and my signature mindful approach. This class is for beginner artists and intermediate artists who want to learn the foundational tools to take their drawings to the the next level ✨ 

Our class will use cover five key topics using an 80/20 approach: 

  1. Lines & Shapes: How to see like an artist and construct your drawings
  2. Value & Form: Finally get a grip on value and learn how to communicate form
  3. Color & Light: Learn to see, understand, and use color in an intuitive way
  4. Portraits: A simplified approach to constructing the face and hands
  5. Depth & Composition: An overview of perspective and how to bring it all together

Our class is also anchored by our Drawing Explorer hero illustration, which combines the skills you will learn in each lesson into a beautiful Class Project. 

However, this class is not only about copying what you see or even just drawing realistically, even though you will learn how to do that as a result of completing the class. Rather, the purpose of this class is to understand how the artist's toolkit works, so you can use it to practice and express your own creative vision. 

Materials: This class will work for both digital artists and traditional artists, with drawing demos using Procreate, colored pencils, and acryla gouache. A full list of the materials I use in the class, along with drawing references and my favorite resources for further study, is available here: Class Materials & Resources

Downloadable Workbook: This class includes a 30+ page workbook with summaries of the key concepts and exercises from each lesson. You can follow along with the workbook by downloading it in the Resources section of the Class Project tab. 

Syllabus

  • Introduction
  • Getting Started: Artist Toolkit
  • Lines & Shapes 1: Learning to See
  • Lines & Shapes 2: Exercise
  • Lines & Shapes 3: Observational Drawing Techniques
  • Lines & Shapes 4: Class Project Part I
  • Lines & Shapes 5: Summary & Further Practice
  • Value & Form 1: Intro to Value
  • Value & Form 2: Value Study Exercises
  • Value & Form 3: Intro to Form
  • Value & Form 4: Form Rendering Exercises
  • Value & Form 5: Value for Artists
  • Color & Light 1: Seeing Color
  • Color & Light 2: Plant Study
  • Color & Light 3: Understanding Color
  • Color & Light 4: Color Theory Exercise
  • Color & Light 5: Using Color
  • Color & Light 6: Class Project Part III
  • Color & Light 7: Summary
  • Portraits 1: Head & Face Basics
  • Portraits 2: Upper Body & Hands Basics
  • Portraits 3: Portrait Study Demo
  • Portraits 4: Class Project Part IV
  • Portraits 5: Summary & Further Study
  • Portraits 5: Summary & Further Study
  • Depth & Composition 1: Intro to Perspectives
  • Depth & Composition 2: Creating Depth in Planar Perspective
  • Depth & Composition 3: Intro to Composition Techniques
  • Depth & Composition 4: Class Project Part V
  • Depth & Composition 5: Summary
  • Final Thoughts & Tips

Taught by

Mimi Chao

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