Drawing Skills: Tuesday Evenings, Spring Term
with Edith Dormandy
With an understanding of the three key elements of drawing - shape, value and edge - you can draw anything accurately from observation.
Spring Term 2026 Course Dates
7-9:30pm each Tuesday
6, 13, 20, 27 January
3, 10 February
(Half term 17 February)
24 February
3, 10, 17, 24, 31 March
Edith Dormandy Annunciation (Glove Stretchers) 2022
Spring Term programme
Shape, Value, Edge: a Drawing Course
This course aims to provide you with a technical understanding of these elements, and also invites you to investigate them from a critical, artistic perspective.
We will begin each class with a short drawing exercise prompted by an artwork. The rest of each class will be dedicated to an extended project: a single drawing which you will return to over the whole term.
The aim of this project is to dig down into the technical problems of drawing. It will result in a highly rendered realistic drawing and will provide an opportunity for intense, mindful focus on your subject. We will discuss in the first class what your options are for this project and what would make a good subject for your extended study.
Long drawings can be daunting if you haven't done one before. But don't worry! You'll be guided every step of the way.
Edith Dormandy Self Portrait in Charcoal and Chalk, 2018
Each student will leave the class with:
· A highly realistic charcoal drawing which they will have produced over the course of the whole term
· A series of quicker, more exploratory drawings
· An understanding of the foundational elements of drawing, including but not limited to:
blocking in (how to start a drawing)
shape recognition (proportion, angle etc.)
value (light, shadow and how to tell the difference)
edge (soft and hard transitions and the effect of each)
composition
mass vs. line drawing
charcoal, paper and other materials
comparative measurement
sight-size measurement
texture
mark making
finishing techniques
· A more personal understanding of what drawing means to you, and hopefully an expanded sense of what it can be
· Art historical knowledge about the artworks discussed and skills in visual analysis
· a reading list for recommended further study
Edith Dormandy Robin Studies 2016, pencil on paper
Materials:
You will need to bring your own materials. They will all be drawing materials so shouldn't cost too much. We will discuss this further in class, but please arrive with:
- a sketch book and/or some cartridge paper. A5 or larger.
- some pencils (HB and/or 2B ideally) and the means to sharpen them
- some willow charcoal
- a decent putty rubber (I recommend the Faber Castell ones)
- a hard rubber
- some fine sandpaper (for sharpening)
- fixative or hairspray (to fix the charcoal drawings when finished)