The Fundamentals of Drawing
with Sophie Newnham
This course is designed to help those wishing to learn or improve their fundamental drawing skills. Knowing how to purposefully observe and translate what we have seen onto the page is a practice that is an essential starting point to any drawing or painting we create. Over the course we will be taking inspiration from the works of a wide range of accomplished artists and learning new methods to aid personal expression of the world around us whilst developing our own styles.
Beginners to Intermediate
Course Dates Autumn Term 2025
Wednesdays 12:45-3:15pm
17, 24 September
1, 8, 15, 22 October
(Half term 29 October)
5, 12, 19, 26 November
3, 10 December
Course Programme
Module 1: Still Life Drawing
Week 1: The Power of Line
Introduction to contour line drawing using simple still life objects. Focus on observation, accuracy, and continuous line techniques. Exercises include blind contour and cross-contour drawing.
Week 2: Shape & Form
Learn how to break down objects into basic shapes and forms. Practice drawing geometric solids to understand volume, proportion, and perspective.
Week 3: Shadow, Tone & Shading
Explore light and shadow on form using shading techniques. Introduce hatching, cross-hatching, and blending to depict tonal values.
Week 4: Composition in Still Life
Apply learned techniques to build and draw a composed still life. Focus on arranging objects for visual balance and depth.
Module 2: Portraiture
Week 5: Eyes & Nose (Facial Features 1)
Study the structure and placement of the eyes and nose. Use mirrors for self-observation and practice drawing with attention to proportion and detail.
Week 6: Mouth & Ears (Facial Features 2)
Focus on the mouth and ears. Continue self-observation and explore expressive shapes. Begin combining features into a simple facial framework.
Week 7: Full Portrait Study from Reference
Use simplified grayscale portraits to study head proportions. Draw from famous portrait references and apply shading techniques (Matisse)
Week 8: Portrait Refinement
Refine full portraits from previous week. Improve tonal depth and feature accuracy using shading and form techniques.
Module 3: Landscapes
Week 9: Mark Making & Texture
Explore textures in natural elements (trees, rocks, grass) using varied line quality and mark-making tools. Focus on expressive drawing.
Week 10: Space & Depth in Landscape
Learn how to show depth using foreground, middle ground, and background. Practice using scale, overlap, and aerial perspective.
Week 11: Landscape Study in Ink
Introduce ink drawing techniques. Use grayscale references to explore value and texture through ink wash and linework (Victor Hugo).
Week 12: Final Landscape Composition
Create a complete landscape drawing. Combine composition, texture, and perspective skills to produce a finished piece.
Fundamentals of Drawing: Recommended Materials
A few links for recommended materials are given below but anything similar would be fine.
Good quality drawing paper- according to preference, smooth/ grain.
A set of graded pencils, H’s to B’s
Ink pens
Tortillons/ stumps
A soft eraser
Masking tape
Ruler
N.B. Drawing boards and clips will be provided.
Spiral sketchpad, drawing paper:
https://www.cassart.co.uk/Fabriano-1264-Spiral-Bound-Drawing-Pad-50-Sheets-180gsm-A4/
Mid-toned paper
https://www.cassart.co.uk/Fabriano-Toned-Paper-Pad-120gsm-50-Sheets-Clay/
Set of pencils- Hs to Bs
https://www.cassart.co.uk/faber-castell-9000-pencil-art-set-of-12--c/
Tortillons/ paper stumps
https://www.cassart.co.uk/loxley-paper-stump-tortillion-assorted-set-of-5--c/
Eraser (soft)
https://www.cassart.co.uk/cretacolor-monolith-eraser/
Sandpaper-
Charcoal
https://www.jacksonsart.com/nitram-academie-fusains-square-stick-charcoal-pack-of-5-hb
Fine-liners 0.3, 0.5
https://www.cassart.co.uk/staedtler-pigment-liners/
Fixative