Since I started to get back into traditional artwork last year, I have been increasingly interested in studying Classical drawing and painting more thoroughly. In researching this topic, I have discovered that there is a growing demand for the kind of private Atelier training that was fairly commonplace up until the early part of the 20th Century. While there are several well known academies in Europe (primarily in Florence) and North America, there are only a couple of schools in the UK. These are LARA and Lavender Hill Studios, with the addition of Sarum Studio for Summer & Easter Schools.
By sheer chance, the details of Sarum Studio were listed in the back of a book that I recently ordered: Cast Drawing Using the Sight-Size Approach. I got in touch and managed to get a place on the last two weeks of the summer course. As I write, I am half way through and have completed my first figure and cast drawings using the sight size technique.
There are plenty of references on the internet to ‘sight size’, and I have included links above that give more information on what is involved, so I won’t re-iterate here. I have also read many articles that discuss the pros and cons of training using this technique exclusively. At this point in time, I am drawn to practising a mixture of sight size and observational methods and seeing where it leads me. What I am clear on however, is that this training isn’t about defining ‘what Art is’, it’s about giving you the foundations to build your creativity upon. Figure and cast drawing should be thought of in the same way as a musician practising their scales; they are exercises to master your craft. Intense study and academic observation introduces the artist to a new way of seeing. One that I believe will be extremely valuable to me in all of my artistic and design endeavours going forward.
To round off, here’s a few snapshots of work in progress on the figure drawing of this week. In very basic stages, you can see the form is carefully measured to be proportionally correct in linear fashion. The shadow line is then added in flat tone, followed by the artistic stage of modelling, softening edges and applying half-tones.
And finally, my less successful – but mostly proportionally correct – cast drawing.
